Pennsylvania hunting and fishing laws

Hunter-Trapper Education must be completed before a first hunting license. The Mentored Hunting Program, initially open only to youth under 12, has expanded to offer opportunities to unlicensed hunters of all ages. Mentored hunters age 12 and older may participate a maximum of three license years before needing a standard license. A mentor must be a licensed hunter at least 21 years old.

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Mentored hunters need not complete Hunter-Trapper Education, but must do so to move to a standard license. A mentor must possess a valid, current hunting license, or otherwise qualify for a license and fee exemptions.

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Pennsylvania sets no minimum age for mentored hunting: unlicensed hunters of any age may hunt with a Mentored Hunting Permit beside a licensed mentor at least 21, and mentees under 16 must stay stationary and within arm's reach. Mentees under 7 receive no big-game harvest tags. Junior licenses cover ages 12 through 16 (an 11-year-old may buy one if they turn 12 before the license year ends on June 30 and have passed Hunter-Trapper Education).

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250 square inches of daylight fluorescent orange material must be worn on the head, chest and back combined, visible 360 degrees, from one hour prior to the start of legal hunting hours and for one hour past the closing. Orange camo qualifies only if the orange content is at least 250 square inches. Blaze pink is not authorized; the Game Commission specifies fluorescent orange only.

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Fluorescent orange is required in all small game seasons, in deer, bear and elk firearms seasons, in the muzzleloader antlerless deer and bear seasons, and in extended antlerless firearms seasons in designated WMUs and DMAP areas. No fluorescent orange is required during archery seasons when hunting for deer, bear or elk. Woodchuck hunters must wear a hat made of solid fluorescent orange.

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In blinds or enclosed tree stands during firearms seasons, a minimum of 100 square inches of fluorescent orange material, an orange alert band, must be displayed within 15 feet. On State Game Lands it is unlawful to be present during the designated late fall period without wearing a minimum of 250 square inches; this applies to non-hunters too, unless engaged in lawful hunting that does not require orange.

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Act 36 of 2025, House Bill 1431, signed July 9, 2025, fully repealed Pennsylvania's Sunday hunting ban, and authority to set Sundays passed to the Board of Game Commissioners. Nearly all current hunting seasons include all Sundays within the season, and seasons that previously ended Saturday now largely end Sunday.

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The former requirement to carry written landowner permission specifically for Sunday hunting has been eliminated; the Game Commission now only recommends it. Sunday hunting is limited in state parks and preserves within Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery and Philadelphia counties to three designated Sundays in November. Elsewhere, state parks, preserves and forests are open on all authorized Sunday dates.

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Applies to: Waterfowl

Sunday hunting remains closed for migratory game birds, including waterfowl, mourning doves and woodcock, under federal frameworks.

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Applies to: Upland and small game

Sundays are not open for the current spring gobbler season. Sunday spring turkey hunting is scheduled to begin the following spring.

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One-half hour before sunrise to one-half hour after sunset for all small and big game. Spring gobbler is restricted to one-half hour before sunrise until noon during the youth hunt and the opening phase, with the standard window applying later in the season.

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It is unlawful to hunt in or around any area where artificial or natural bait, food, hay, grain, fruit, nuts, salt, chemicals or minerals are used, within 30 days. Non-food lures are permitted; food-based scents are prohibited.

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Applies to: Bear

The use of scents or lures while hunting bears is prohibited.

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Recreational spotlighting is lawful between sunrise and 11 p.m. and is prohibited during firearm deer season. A person hunting raccoons, skunks, opossums, bobcats, weasels, foxes and coyotes on foot may use a handheld light.

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Applies to: Big game

Big game must be tagged immediately after harvest and before the carcass is moved, with the tag on the ear of a deer or bear or on the body of an elk, and it must stay attached until processed. Report deer and turkey within 10 days (five days for mentored hunters or anyone using a homemade tag). Bear and elk must be taken to a Game Commission check station within 24 hours.

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Applies to: Bear

Bear must be checked by the Game Commission within 24 hours at a designated check station.

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Applies to: Big game

Elk must be brought to the Game Commission elk check station at the Elk Country Visitor Center in Benezette within 24 hours. Mistake kills must be reported to a game warden immediately but no later than 24 hours.

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Ignoring purple paint marks, signs or verbal orders to keep out is defiant trespass, punishable by up to a year in jail and a $2,500 fine. Purple paint marks are vertical lines at least 8 inches long and 1 inch wide, 3 to 5 feet off the ground and no more than 100 feet apart; they are not valid in Philadelphia and Allegheny counties. Unarmed people may enter private land solely to retrieve a hunting dog.

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