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PA GAME COMMISSION ANNOUNCES STOCKING PLANS FOR 200,000 PHEASANTS

Thanks to Marcellus Shale revenues, agency returns to pre-2005 pheasant stocking level

 

HARRISBURG – Thanks to a series of Marcellus Shale leases approved by the Board of Game Commissioners in 2011, Pennsylvania Game Commission officials today announced that hunters will see the agency’s pheasant stocking efforts increase to 200,000 birds for the upcoming small game seasons for the first time since 2004.


The 110,090 males and 89,910 female pheasants to be stocked this year includes 15,000 birds for the junior-only season (Oct. 6-13) and 1,500 pheasants allocated for those clubs sponsoring mentored pheasant hunts for juniors on Oct. 6.


“Back in the 2004-05 fiscal year, the Game Commission was forced to make many difficult financial decisions as license revenues failed to keep pace with the increasing costs of doing business,” Roe said. “While the agency’s last license fee increase took effect in the 1999-2000 license year, many operational line-items, such as the price of gasoline and other habitat improvement materials, increased at a faster pace.  The pheasant propagation program was one budget item we were forced to cut, resulting in the closure of one game farm and a 50 percent reduction in the pheasant production level from 200,000 to 100,000.


“During the intervening years, we said that it would take another license fee increase for us to be able to restore the cuts in pheasant production, as well as the other cuts that were made, since reducing the pheasant program was saving the agency more than $500,000 annually.  However, thanks to monies from recent Marcellus Shale-related gas leases on State Game Lands, we have been able to return to the 200,000-bird level this year, which is consistent with the Game Commission’s Strategic Plan and Pheasant Management Plan.”


Going back to full production is a significant accomplishment, according to Robert C. Boyd, Bureau of Wildlife Management Wildlife Services Division chief, who oversees the pheasant propagation program.


“There were some very focused and concerted efforts that went into getting the repairs and upgrades made to the game farm facilities, particularly the two game farms in Lycoming County,” Boyd said. “The dedication and perseverance was above and beyond commendable from the staff of the game farms, the Bureau of Wildlife Habitat Management’s Engineering Division and the Northcentral Region’s local land managers.”


Roe noted that the pheasant stocking efforts will begin Oct. 5, when the agency will release 15,000 birds (7,580 males and 7,700 females) for the junior pheasant hunt scheduled for Oct. 6-13.  A listing of stocking locations for the youth hunt can be found on pages 25-27 of the 2012-13 Pennsylvania Hunting and Trapping Digest, which is provided to each license buyer.   


Opening day of the general pheasant hunting season is Oct. 20, and closes on Nov. 24.  Pre-season stocking of pheasants will take place in each region prior to Oct. 20, followed by four in-season stockings, as well as a late season stocking. 


Only male pheasants are legal game in Wildlife Management Units (WMUs) 2A, 2C, 4C, 4E, 5A and 5B.  Male and female pheasants are legal game in all other WMUs.


During the regular fall season, the agency focuses pheasant stocking on State Game Lands and select state parks and federal lands.  Birds also are stocked on properties enrolled in the Game Commission’s Hunter Access Program.


The Game Commission has an updated publication titled “Pheasant Management Program,” which identifies State Game Lands, and those state parks and federal lands with suitable habitat that receive pheasant stockings.  This publication can be found on the Game Commission’s website (www.pgc.state.pa.us), and can be viewed by putting your cursor over “Hunt/Trap” in the menu bar at the top of the page, clicking on “Hunting,” clicking on “Pheasant” in the “Small Game” listing and then choosing “Pheasant Management Program” in the “Programs” listing.


As part of the agency’s Ring-necked Pheasant Management Plan, the Game Commission is taking steps to restore self-sustaining and huntable populations of wild pheasants in suitable habitats called “Wild Pheasant Recovery Areas” (WPRAs). For the 2012-13 seasons, WPRAs are defined as the Somerset, Central Susquehanna, Hegins-Gratz Valley and Franklin County WPRAs.   


To give these wild pheasants the best opportunity to establish naturally reproducing populations, the Board has banned the release of any artificially propagated pheasants, including Game Commission-raised pheasants, in these areas, and pheasant hunting is closed in these WPRAs.  Also, to limit disturbances to nesting hen pheasants, dog training of any manner and small game hunting, except for groundhog, crows and waterfowl, will be prohibited in these WPRAs from the first Sunday in February through July 31 each year.


“Working with major partners, such as Pheasants Forever, the University of California and local landowners, we already have a jump start on creating WPRAs,” said Carl G. Roe, Game Commission executive director.  “These groups have invested in creating pheasant habitat in four areas of the state. To make the best use of the agency’s resources, and with the support of these partners, we have established these areas as the first WPRAs in the state.”


A regional breakdown for the junior, regular and late season stockings are as follows:  Northwest Region, 13,050 males and 25,380 females; Southwest Region, 29,010 males and 15,470 females; Northcentral Region, 6,980 males and 14,090 females; Southcentral Region, 19,020 and 9,920 females; Northeast Region, 14,770 males and 16,910 females; and Southeast Region 27,260 males and 8,140 females.  Regional allocations are based on the amount of suitable pheasant habitat open to public hunting and pheasant hunting pressure.


To offer hunters better information about the stocking schedule, the Game Commission has posted on its website charts for each of its six regions outlining the number of birds to be stocked in each county, the public properties slated to be stocked and a two- to three-day window in which stockings will take place within the counties.  To view the charts, go to the Game Commission’s website (www.pgc.state.pa.us), put your cursor over “Hunt/Trap” in the menu bar at the top of the page, click on “Hunting,” click on “Pheasant” in the “Small Game” listing and then choose “Pheasant Allocation” and click on the map for the county or region of interest.


Roe reminded hunters that, several years ago, the agency enacted a regulation aimed at improving safety for agency employees and vehicles involved in pheasant stocking. 


“Each year, when Game Commission personnel are releasing pheasants from the stocking trucks, employees and trucks are shot at by unsuspecting hunters in the field.  To prevent this, the agency approved a regulation that prohibits hunters from discharging a firearm within 150 yards of a Game Commission vehicle releasing pheasants.  As we provide better information about when and where stockings will be conducted, we remind hunters that they have an obligation to ensure that no stocking trucks or personnel are in the vicinity.”


This year, the late season is scheduled for Dec. 10-24 and Dec. 26-Feb. 2, for Wildlife Management Units 1A, 1B, 2B, 2D, 2E, 2F, 2G, 3A, 3B, 3C, 3D, 4A, 4B, 4D, 5C and 5D.  During the late season, male and female pheasants are legal game in these WMUs.  All other WMUs are closed during these dates. 


For details on the pheasant seasons, please see pages 21-27 of the 2012-13 Digest.  For more information about the clubs that sponsor junior pheasant hunts, go to the Game Commission’s website (www.pgc.state.pa.us), put your cursor over “Hunt/Trap” in the menu bar at the top of the page, click on “Hunting,” click on “Pheasant” in the “Small Game” listing and then look under the “Junior Youth Pheasant Hunt” category.


To augment the Game Commission’s pheasant stocking program, Roe noted that each January sportsmen’s clubs are invited to enroll in the agency’s “Pheasant Chick Program.” As part of the program, clubs are required to erect appropriate facilities, purchase feed and cover other expenses, and then they can receive, at no charge, pheasant chicks to raise and release for hunting and dog training purposes on lands open to public hunting in their local community. 


“This is a wonderful opportunity for sportsmen to get kids involved in raising pheasants and to learn more about wildlife and habitat requirements,” Roe said.  “Kids can be involved in raising the birds, assist in developing habitat in their community, and help release the pheasants into the wild.  Our game farm superintendents can assist sportsmen’s clubs by providing technical advice and training to get a facility started.


“So, even as the Game Commission increases its stocking efforts back to 200,000 and looks for ways to grow the program to 250,000 birds, sportsmen’s clubs can be part of the solution by raising pheasants, too.”


Also, Richard Palmer, Game Commission Bureau of Wildlife Protection director, reminded hunters that an executive order remains in effect that bans dog training on State Game Lands from the Monday prior to the start of the youth pheasant season until the close of the youth pheasant season, which, for this coming season, translates to Oct. 1-13. The order does not, in any manner, prohibit dog handlers from using dogs as part of a junior-only pheasant hunt activity or for dog training activities on any lands other than State Game Lands.  He also noted that this order does not impact dog training activities statewide during the remainder of the year, including general small game seasons.

WILDLIFE CONSERVATION PARTNERSHIP CELEBRATES 75 YEARS

Pennsylvania has been a prime beneficiary of the Pittman-Robertson Wildlife Restoration Act 

 

By Joe Kosack

Wildlife Conservation Education Specialist

Pennsylvania Game Commission

 

It’s hard to imagine how wild Pennsylvania – in fact, America – would be today without the annual funds provided by 1937’s Federal Aid in Wildlife Restoration Act.


“This landmark legislation, celebrating its 75th anniversary this year, redirected the use of a federal excise tax on sporting arms and ammunition to help restore America’s wildlife,” explained Carl G. Roe, Pennsylvania Game Commission executive director. “Now known as the Pittman-Robertson Wildlife Restoration Act, it is recognized as one of the most important and lasting commitments America has made to wildlife and its conservation.” 


The maneuvering in Washington, D.C., to redirect this excise tax on sporting arms and ammunition – 10 percent on most taxable items – came as the Great Depression was winding down and before the United States plunged into World War II. Sandwiched between these two defining periods in American history, the new Pittman-Robertson Wildlife Restoration Act (P-R Act) had time to get off the ground and running. In fact, had the P-R Act – and subsequent state companion legislation – been introduced five years earlier or later, this extraordinary wildlife partnership would not have had a chance, given the country’s pressing needs.


The P-R Act is named after U.S. Rep. A. Willis Robertson, of Virginia, and U.S. Senator Key Pittman, of Nevada, who were instrumental in securing the bill’s passage in their respective chambers. The bill itself was written by Carl D. Shoemaker, who was a special investigator for the Special Committee on Conservation of Wildlife Resources in the U.S. Senate. 


The bill was adopted by Congress and signed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, who wasn’t quite as “bully” for wildlife as his distant “rough-riding” cousin, President Teddy Roosevelt, who was the country’s 26th president and incredibly instrumental in forging America’s then budding conservation movement. At that time, the Pennsylvania Game Commission was living off the revenues – $1.3 million in 1937 – obtained from a $2 resident hunting license and a $15 nonresident license. It wasn’t enough to adequately manage the more than 450 species of wild birds and mammals the agency was mandated to conserve. That’s why the new P-R funding immediately became so important to the agency. It didn’t hurt that the Commonwealth benefitted greatly from the formula the U.S. Biological Survey – became the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) in 1940 – used annually to disburse P-R funds.


The hefty P-R allocations Pennsylvania receives annually have been and continue to be influenced mostly by the state’s large number of hunters. The USFWS’s formula uses a state’s geographic size – Pennsylvania ranks 33rd – and hunting license sales – Pennsylvania is usually one of the top three states – to establish each state’s funding level.


During the 1940s, hunter numbers dropped as Pennsylvanians enlisted for and fought in World War II. It would have been harder for the Game Commission to fulfill its duties had it not been for P-R funding. Those annual allocations helped keep the agency’s programs on course. Then, after the war, the state’s hunter numbers grew every decade – particularly after the baby-boomers became of hunting age – until they plateaued in the early 1980s.


“Pennsylvania continues to sell 900,000 to one million hunting licenses annually, and that keeps the Game Commission in an enviable position for P-R funding,” explained Roe. “Pennsylvania is grateful for all the Pittman-Robertson Wildlife Restoration Program has done for the Commonwealth. Wildlife conservation in this state wouldn’t be the same without it.”


Pennsylvania currently is surpassed only by Texas in hunter numbers, based on the a statistical analysis of all states conducted by the USFWS in the 2006 National Survey of Fishing, Hunting and Wildlife Associated Recreation, the latest report from which statistical information can be obtained. There wasn’t a close third place among the remaining 48 states.   


“What makes the Pittman-Robertson Wildlife Restoration Act so remarkable is the lasting ecological good it has fostered across America,” said Roe. “Since P-R began giving grant money to states in 1939, it has provided an amazing $7 billion – including more than $275 million to Pennsylvania – for wildlife conservation. P-R money has helped the Game Commission buy more than 185,000 acres of State Game Lands, fund important wildlife surveys and research and improve habitat on State Game Lands. It also helps finance hunter education and was instrumental in the reintroduction of bald eagles.”


The Pittman-Robertson Wildlife Restoration Act also has helped ensure that every dollar raised through state hunting license sales is spent on wildlife management. This came about through a late adjustment in the bill’s development crafted by Rep. Robertson. His amendment created a mandate requiring all participating states to enact laws prohibiting the use of hunting license revenues for any purpose other than operating their state wildlife management agency. Compliance among the states came quickly, but not necessarily enthusiastically.


In the first two years of P-R funding, 48 states split $2.29 million. Two of our now 50 states didn’t receive federal aid, Alaska and Hawaii. Although Alaska began receiving P-R funding in 1942 and Hawaii in 1946, they received their aid because they were United States territories. Neither became states until 1959.


When the Pittman-Robertson Wildlife Restoration Act became law, the country had about 6.8 million hunters and Pennsylvania had about 606,600 licensed hunters. That meant 8.9 percent of America’s hunters resided in the Commonwealth. Today, Pennsylvania’s one million hunters comprise 8.3 percent of the national total, according to the 2006 National Survey of Fishing, Hunting and Wildlife Associated Recreation.


“Our hunter numbers over time reflect a strong hunting heritage that can be traced back to our forefathers,” Roe explained. “Hunting has always been important to many Pennsylvanians, and P-R funding has helped strengthen our state’s and nation’s commitment to hunters, the people who silently have financed wildlife management in this state for nearly a century.”

 

Pennsylvania hunters began purchasing hunting licenses in 1913 to pay for the management of the state’s wildlife. The first year, the Commonwealth sold 305,028 resident licenses at a cost of $1 each. It would take the state until 1967 to sell one million general hunting licenses. Today, hunters continue to finance the management of wild birds and mammals in the Commonwealth. It is a legacy they honor and a responsibility they shoulder with pride.


The USFWS’s Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration Program’s vision is to provide “healthy, diverse, and accessible fish and wildlife populations that offer recreation, economic activity and other societal benefits, in addition to sustainable ecological functions.” P-R funding – coupled with state contributions – helps to support this far-reaching and balanced course in natural resource management. It’s a direction that is green, clear and reasonable. Just the way conservationists prefer natural resources be managed.


“The Service is proud to join our partners in recognizing more than seven decades of wildlife conservation and quality outdoor recreational opportunities,” said Dan Ashe, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service director. “With our nation’s support and our partnership’s renewed commitment, WSFR will help more Americans enjoy wildlife and our great outdoors for many years to come.”


For more information on the Pittman-Robertson Wildlife Restoration Act, visit USFWS’s P-R 75th Anniversary website – www.wsfr75.com – and watch in the September issue of Pennsylvania Game News magazine for an article on Pittman-Robertson’s 75th anniversary by Gary Camus, Federal Aid Coordinator with the Game Commission’s Bureau of Wildlife Habitat Management.

NEW YEAR UNDERWAY FOR MENTORED YOUTH HUNTING PROGRAM
Fall turkey hunting added to list of eligible species for youth participants

 

HARRISBURG – Pennsylvania Game Commission Executive Director Carl G. Roe said the popular Mentored Youth Hunting Program (MYHP) has been expanded for 2012-13 to include fall turkey hunting thanks to a recent change in law and regulations.


“Since 2006, Pennsylvania’s hunters have been taking advantage of a remarkable opportunity to introduce those under the age of 12 to hunting through the Mentored Youth Hunting Program, and we have seen a steady increase in the number of MYHP permits issued,” Roe said.  “Hunting is deeply woven into the cultural fabric that defines Pennsylvania, and it is important that we recruit new hunters to carry on this tradition.”


Roe noted that the logic behind the Mentored Youth Hunting Program is simple and clear: create expanded youth hunting opportunities without compromising safety afield. In 2009, the first year a permit was required to participate in the MYHP, the agency issued 28,542 permits.  In 2010, the agency issued 30,790; and, in 2011, the number of permits issued increased to 33,514.


“This program paves the way for youngsters to nurture their interest in hunting early and allows them to take a more active role in actual hunting while afield with mentoring adults,” Roe said. “The program accommodates hands-on use of sporting arms and can promote a better understanding and interest in hunting and wildlife conservation that will help to assure hunting’s future, as well as reinforce the principles of hunting safely through the close supervision provided by dedicated mentors.”


Under the program, a mentor is defined as a properly licensed individual at least 21 years of age, who will serve as a guide to a youth while engaged in hunting or related activities, such as scouting, learning firearms or hunter safety and wildlife identification.  A mentored youth is identified as an unlicensed individual less than 12 years of age who is accompanied by a mentor while engaged in hunting or related activities.


Mentored youth can participate during any established season for woodchucks (groundhogs), squirrels, fall turkey, spring gobbler, coyotes and antlered and antlerless deer. In addition to being able to participate during the general seasons for the listed species, mentored youth also may hunt during the junior-only squirrel season (Oct. 6-12) and junior-only spring gobbler day (April 20).


For antlered deer, the mentored youth must use legal sporting arms for that season; for example, a bow or crossbow must be used during archery antlered deer season.  Also, those youths participating in the MYHP are permitted to follow the same antler restrictions as a junior license holder, which is one antler of three or more inches in length or one antler with at least two points. 


In order to harvest an antlerless deer, an adult mentor must be willing to transfer a valid antlerless license issued to him or her to an eligible mentored youth upon the harvest of an antlerless deer, and a mentored youth may only receive one antlerless deer license each license year. The antlerless deer license transferred to the mentored youth must be for the Wildlife Management Unit in which the adult mentor and youth are hunting. The harvest of the antlerless deer is to be reported by the adult mentor within 10 days of harvest, and a box is to be checked “taken by mentored youth.”


In order to harvest a fall turkey, an adult mentor must be willing to transfer a valid fall turkey tag that is issued as part of the adult’s general hunting license to an eligible mentored youth upon the harvest of a fall turkey. A mentored youth may only receive one fall turkey tag each license year. The harvest of the fall turkey is to be reported by the adult mentor within 10 days of harvest, and a box is to be checked “taken by mentored youth.”


The regulations require that the mentor-to-mentored youth ratio be one-to-one, and that the pair possess only one sporting arm when hunting.  While moving, the sporting arm must be carried by the mentor.  When the pair reaches a stationary hunting location, the mentor may turn over possession of the sporting arm to the youth, but must keep the youth within arm’s length at all times while the youth is in possession of the sporting arm.


The program also requires that both the mentor and the youth must abide by fluorescent orange regulations for the season they are participating in, and that the mentored youth must tag and report any deer or turkey taken.  As part of the MYHP permit, youth will be provided the necessary harvest tags for antlered deer and spring gobbler, but must use the adult mentor’s antlerless deer and/or fall turkey harvest tags. 


MYHP participants who harvest an antlered deer or a spring gobbler must report their harvest within 10 days. Harvests can be reported using the agency’s online harvest reporting system, the toll-free telephone reporting system (1-855-724-8681) or they can submit a harvest report card, which is available as inserts in the 2012-13 Pennsylvania Hunting and Trapping Digest.


Harvest report cards also can be printed from the agency’s website (www.pgc.state.pa.us) by putting your cursor over the “Self-Help” button in the menu bar at the top of the page, then clicking on “Download Forms and Brochures” in the drop-down menu listing and then clicking on “Big Game Harvest Report Card.”


All youth participating in the MYHP must obtain a permit through the Game Commission’s Pennsylvania Automated License System (PALS), which costs $2.70.  Of that fee, one dollar goes to the Game Commission, one dollar goes to the issuing agent who processes the permit application, and 70 cents goes to the company managing PALS.


“When we first started the MYHP, we didn’t require a permit because there was no method available to issue a permit without creating an enormous obstacle for participants,” Roe said.  “PALS provides an easy method for parents to obtain a MYHP permit without too many difficulties.”


For more information on the program, visit the Game Commission’s website (www.pgc.state.pa.us) and put your cursor over the “Hunt/Trap” button in the menu bar at the top of the page, click on “Hunting” and then click on “Mentored Youth Hunting Program FAQs” in the “Related Links” section.  Information also is included on page 15 of the 2012-13 Pennsylvania Hunting and Trapping Digest. 


To continue hunting once a youth reaches the age of 12, they will need to and pass a basic Hunter-Trapper Education course and purchase either a junior hunting license or a junior combination license.  For a listing of HTE courses, visit the Game Commission’s website (www.pgc.state.pa.us) and put your cursor over “Education” in the menu bar at the top of the page, then put your cursor over “Hunter Education” in the drop-down menu listing and click on “Hunter Education Class Calendar.”

PA ELK APPLICATION DEADLINE APPROACHES

Webcast planned for public drawing of elk licenses

 HARRISBURG – Hunters looking to participate in this year’s Pennsylvania elk season have until Aug. 26 to submit an application through the Pennsylvania Game Commission’s Pennsylvania Automated License System (PALS).  This can be done at any issuing agent or through the “Enter Elk Drawing” icon in the center of the agency’s homepage (www.pgc.state.pa.us).


Applicants must pay a $10.70 non-refundable application fee to be included in the drawing.  Details on the elk season and drawing are available on pages 86-88 of the 2012-13 Pennsylvania Hunting and Trapping Digest, which is provided to license buyers and may be viewed on the agency’s website.


On Friday, Sept. 14, at 10 a.m., the Game Commission will hold a public, computerized drawing in the auditorium of its Harrisburg headquarters.  At that time, the agency will award the 65 elk licenses, the first 19 drawn will receive an antlered license and the next 46 drawn will receive an antlerless license.


By law, only one application is permitted per person per year, and PALS will prohibit an individual from submitting more than one application.


Individuals are not required to purchase a resident or nonresident general hunting license to apply for the drawing.  However, if they are drawn for one of the elk licenses, hunters then will be required to purchase the appropriate resident or nonresident general hunting license and view the elk hunt orientation video produced by the Game Commission before being permitted to purchase the elk license.  The elk license fees are $25 for residents and $250 for nonresidents.


There is no cap, or limit, for the number of licenses that may be awarded to nonresidents. Individuals who applied in each year from 2003 through 2011 but were not awarded an elk license have nine preference points heading into this year’s drawing if they submit an application this year, and will have their name entered into the drawing 10 times (nine preference points plus the point for this year’s application).


As part of the preference point system established by the agency in 2003, consecutive applications are not required to maintain previously earned preference points, but those points can be activated only in years that a hunter submits an application.  For instance, if a hunter has nine preference points, but does not enter the 2012 drawing, he/she will not have any chances in the upcoming drawing.  However, their preference points will remain on hold until they apply in a future drawing.  Once a hunter is awarded an elk license – either an antlered or antlerless elk license – the hunter’s preference points will revert to zero.


Additionally, hunters who want to earn a preference point for this year, but know that they would not be able to participate in the elk hunting season if drawn, have the option of simply purchasing a preference point for $10.70.  While they will not be included in the drawing for the 2012 elk licenses, they will continue to build their preference points.


Those applying for an elk license can choose either an antlered or antlerless elk license, or they may select either sex on their application.  For those who select “antlered only,” if they are drawn after the antlered licenses are allocated, they will not receive an elk license.  For those who do receive an antlered elk license, they will not be permitted to re-apply for future elk hunting opportunities for five years.  However, those who received an antlerless elk license in any of the previous hunts may submit an application this year.


Applicants also have the opportunity to identify their elk hunt zone preference, or they may select “NP” (no preference).  If drawn and their preferred hunt zone is filled, applicants will be assigned a specific zone by the Game Commission.


The public drawing of applications to be awarded licenses will be webcast on Sept. 14.  To view the drawing, a special icon will be posted online the morning of the public drawing for individuals to click on and watch the drawing.


“Each year, tens of thousands of individuals apply for an elk license,” said Carl G. Roe, Game Commission executive director.  “Unfortunately, not all of them can make it to the public drawings and we are unable to send everyone who applied a letter to let them know whether they were drawn. By webcasting the drawings, we make it convenient for more people to view these events without having to travel.”


Roe also noted that those who have submitted applications can check the status of their applications for the elk drawing, as well as their antlerless deer license applications, thanks to the Pennsylvania Automated License System (PALS).


To access this information, go to the Game Commission website (www.pgc.state.pa.us), and click on the blue box in the upper right-hand corner of the homepage.  Click on the “Purchase License Permit and or Application/Replace License and or Permit” option, which includes the ability to “Check on the status of any Lottery Application,” scroll down and click on the “Start Here” button at the bottom of the page.  At this page, choose one of the identification options below to check your records, fill in the necessary information and click on the “Continue” button. Click on the appropriate residency status, which will display your current personal information.  At the bottom of the page, choose the “Check on the status of any Lottery Application” button, and then hit “Continue.”


“While this may seem like a lot of clicking and box checking to get to the information, the system is designed to protect an individual’s personal information, while at the same time enabling that person to check on the status of his or her applications,” Roe said. “In the past, the only way to know for sure that you were awarded an elk license was to attend the public drawings, wait for a letter in the mail or to call the Game Commission.


“Thanks to PALS, we will be able to update the data files shortly after the elk drawing is completed so that license buyers will be able to see for themselves if they were drawn for one of the limited number of Pennsylvania elk hunting licenses.”

Upcoming Outdoor Event for Women

     The Reading Ridge Chapter of the National Wild Turkey Federation will host a Women in the Outdoors event on July 21 &22nd, 2012  at Pheasant Valley Farm in Robesonia, PA.  This is a “Pitch A Tent” event.  Bring your tents and camp out with us.  Classes being offered are Dog Training, Shotgun, Archery and more!  Enjoy the outdoors and meet ladies that have the same interests!

 

     Pre-registration is required for this event. Registration can be done by going to www.womenintheoutdoors.org, and then clicking on “PA WITO Event Manager Calendar” and then searching the calendar.

 

    A beneficial partnership between the National Wild Turkey Federation and the Pennsylvania Game Commission helps provide outdoor opportunities such as this to women in the Keystone State.  The Pennsylvania Game Commission recognizes a high interest level in the outdoors among women in the state and wants to provide more opportunities to enjoy the outdoor lifestyle.

 

    Since 1998, the NWTF’s Women in the Outdoors program has organized events designed especially for women. By providing expert instruction and hands-on education, the NWTF helps members develop outdoor skills and emphasizes the importance of wildlife management and the role of hunters in conservation.

 

    “Our program is about encouraging women to try new outdoor activities in a safe environment that makes them feel at ease,” said Brenda Valentine, NWTF Spokeswoman, First Lady of Hunting™ and host of the NWTF’s “Turkey Call” TV show airing on Pursuit Channel, and Bass Pro Shops’ “Real Hunting” TV show. “This event is also an opportunity for women of all walks of life – singles, moms, daughters, young and old – to spend a day outdoors, away from home, having fun and making new friends.”

 

    The combination of sponsorship, such as the Game Commission and local chapter support, allows the NWTF to offer these programs at a low cost to participants. The cost of attending each event includes a subscription to Turkey Country, the NWTF’s full-color publication. Turkey County includes stories about the Women in the Outdoors, JAKES (Juniors Acquiring Knowledge, Ethics and Sportsmanship), Wheelin’ Sportsmen, NWTF outreach programs, conservation issues, turkey calling and hunting, education programs and much more.

 

    “The Women in the Outdoors program allows the NWTF to reach an entirely new audience, one that has the potential to benefit conservation efforts,” Valentine said. “It’s an opportunity for women to find great satisfaction and enjoyment in the outdoors.”

 

     For more information, contact Leslie Smith at 484-634-0069 or lsmith@nwtf.net, call (800) THE-NWTF or visit www.womenintheoutdoors.org.   For more information about the NWTF visit www.nwtf.org or call (800) THE-NWTF.

 

    About the NWTF:  The National Wild Turkey Federation is a nonprofit conservation organization that works daily to further its mission of conserving the wild turkey and preserving our hunting heritage.

   Through dynamic partnerships with state, federal and provincial wildlife agencies, the NWTF and its members have helped restore wild turkey populations across the country, spending more than $331 million to conserve 15.9 million acres of habitat for all types of wildlife.

   The NWTF works to increase interest in the outdoors by bringing new hunters and conservationists into the fold through outdoor education events and its outreach programs – Women in the Outdoors, Wheelin’ Sportsmen, JAKES and Xtreme JAKES.

    The NWTF was founded in 1973 and is headquartered in Edgefield, S.C. According to many state and federal agencies, the restoration of the wild turkey is arguably the greatest conservation success story in North America’s wildlife history.  To learn more, visit www.nwtf.org or call (800) THE-NWTF.