PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — There’s a new, online portal for hunters and fishermen in Pennsylvania to get their licenses and much more.
The site, HuntFishPA, was spawned by a partnership between the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission and the Pennsylvania Game Commission.
Mike Parker, a spokesman for the fish and boat commission, said it was time to bring the two agencies into the 21st century with digital options.
“And we needed to sort of bring our technology up to date with our offerings and in the process make the experience a little more user-friendly for people who are looking to purchase those fishing or hunting licenses online,” he explained. “Now we have this new system. You’re able to print your license out from home. But you also have the ability now to display your (fishing) license digitally.
Travis Lau of the game commission said the agency is looking into issuing some licenses digitally in the near future. But those requiring tags for a harvest will still be issued on paper.
“We’re still going to require paper licenses for big game hunting,” he said. “Whenever hunting a species that requires attaching a harvest tag to the animal. So that would be deer, bear, turkey and elk.”
Lau said one new feature hunters may like is an auto-renewal option for all of the licenses.
Lau said each agency had a way to buy a license online, but the new system opens up more options.
“The hunter looking to buy a license, to report a harvest from any device from home, from office, from in the field, from a tree stand while hunting,” Lau said.
The home page has quick videos telling users how to use it.
Parker said it’s not just about selling you a fishing license or a kayak launch permit.
“We want to be able to stay in touch with you so that we can keep you up to date with the programs that we’re running,” he said. “Maybe some special opportunities that you might want to take advantage of.”