Don't Forget to Report Deer Harvests

HARRISBURG, Pa., Dec. 13, 2010 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- With the two-week statewide general deer season closed, Pennsylvania Game Commission Executive Director Carl G. Roe is encouraging hunters to take the time to report harvested deer.

"With all the activities this time of year, it is too easy to forget to report a harvested deer," Roe said. "With the online harvest reporting system, we have made completing this required task even easier.

"Unfortunately, based on more than 28,000 deer checked by Game Commission deer aging teams last year, less than 40 percent of hunters who harvested deer took the time to report that harvest."

Roe noted that one of the recommendations to improve the agency's deer management program from the recent Legislative Budget and Finance Committee's audit of the deer management program was to increase harvest reporting rates.

"Proper and timely reporting of deer harvests is one way in which hunters can contribute to deer management efforts," Roe said.

When reporting antlerless deer harvests, Roe urged hunters with multiple antlerless deer licenses to be sure that they file the correct report for the antlerless license used to tag the deer in the field.

To report a deer harvest online, go to the Game Commission's website (www.pgc.state.pa.us), click on "Report Your Harvest" above the "Quick Clicks" box in the right-hand column, check "Harvest Reporting," scroll down and click on the "Start Here" button at the bottom of the page, choose the method of validating license information, and click on the checkbox for the harvest tag being reported.  A series of options will appear for a hunter to report a harvest. After filling in the harvest information, click on the "Continue" button to review the report and then hit the "Submit" button to complete the report. Failing to hit the "Submit" button will result in a harvest report not being completed.

"Hunters may report one or more harvests in a single session," Roe said. "Responses to all harvest questions are required."

Roe noted that hunters still have the option to file harvest report postcards, which are included as tear-out sheets in the current digest.

Tips on tagging and reporting deer also are available on the Game Commission's white-tailed deer section. This information can be accessed by going to the agency's website (www.pgc.state.pa.us), clicking on the "White-Tailed Deer" icon in the center of the homepage and then selecting "Tagging and Reporting Your Deer" in the "Deer Hunting" section.

"We certainly are encouraging hunters to use the online reporting system, which will ensure that their harvest is recorded," Roe said.  "Either way, the more important point is that all hunters who harvest a deer report it to the agency."

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SOURCE Pennsylvania Game Commission