Rep. Anita Kulik, D-Coraopolis, is pictured speaking at a Pennsylvania Game Commission gathering.

A bipartisan bill has been introduced in the state House of Representatives aiming to push more land owners to allow targeted deer hunting inside municipal limits.

House Bill 468, sponsored by Rep. Anita Kulik, D-Coraopolis, and Rep. Jill Cooper, R-Export, was introduced recently with several Democratic Party co-sponsors and one Republican in addition to Cooper. The lawmakers say car-deer crashes have increased from 3,618 in 2015 to 5,111 in 2024, with Pennsylvania now leading the country in such accidents. Farmers report crop losses and financial strain caused by deer damage, the lawmakers say, while the state Game Commission and Division of Conservation and Natural Resources officials acknowledge that excessive deer browsing is a growing problem.

Cooper and Kulik aren’t proposing new programs, however. Instead, they say greater local government awareness is needed.

“No new law is needed to address these problems,” Kulik and Cooper wrote in their co-sponsorship memorandum. “The commonwealth already has programs, permits, and partnerships available through the Pennsylvania Game Commission. What is needed is greater public awareness, land access, and cooperation from municipalities, local governments, and private landowners. Lawful public hunting remains the most effective tool for managing deer populations, but it depends on access to land.

For that reason, municipalities and landowners should be encouraged to open appropriate lands to public hunting and to work with the Game Commission in deer management efforts. Communities that have done so have seen meaningful benefits and are offered greater assistance from the PGC.”

The legislators’ bill states that the state House of Representatives encourages farmers, agricultural producers and other qualifying landowners to make more use of Game Commission programs intended to reduce the deer population, including the Agricultural Deer Control Program, destruction for agricultural protection, DMAP and, where appropriate, the Certified Hunter Program. It also asks residents and private property owners in Pennsylvania to support lawful deer management by permitting responsible hunting access where appropriate and by cooperating with municipal and Pennsylvania Game Commission programs aimed at reducing deer-related nuisances. The resolution, if passed, would be sent to the Pennsylvania Game Commission, the Department of Agriculture, county commissioners in all 67 counties, the County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania and the Pennsylvania Municipal League.

The Pennsylvania Game Commission voted over the weekend to adopt regulations that will guide the agency’s Certified Hunter Program, which connects hunters and landowners as a means of addressing crop-damage concerns. The Certified Hunter Program launched last year in the Southwest Region and is expected to expand statewide.

For hunters, the program provides an opportunity to access productive hunting grounds and harvest antlerless deer to help landowners meet deer-management goals on their properties. Participating landowners retain full control of their properties and enjoy peace of mind knowing the hunters there have met the program’s qualifications.

The regulations adopted by the Board establish eligibility for participants and other program parameters.

Certified Hunters will need to have held a hunting license in at least four of the past five years and pass a specialized course before being accepted into the program. Annual background checks will be required, and any applicant convicted of recent Game and Wildlife Code violations or other crimes will be ineligible for a permit. Certified Hunters also will be required to report their deer harvests electronically within 24 hours, unless out of service.

Commissioners also made changes to the Agricultural Deer Control Program, commonly referred to as Ag Tag. The program formerly only allowed hunting during periods when other deer seasons were closed. As crop-damage complaints escalated, however, the program was adjusted to allow hunters with Ag Tag permits to hunt and harvest antlerless deer during all established deer seasons where they hunt, better serving the program’s purpose.

During overlaps with other deer seasons, though, Ag Tag hunters previously were limited to using the sporting arms approved for those seasons. When only archery season was open, for instance, an Ag Tag hunter needed to use lawful archery gear. That now has changed.

The Pennsylvania Board of Game Commissioners today gave final approval to allowing Ag Tag hunters to use any devices authorized for hunting deer in the regular firearms deer season. That said, landowners would maintain authority to restrict the use of any devices and methods on their own lands.

The Agricultural Deer Control Program enables landowners to enlist the aid of hunters in removing deer from agricultural lands. Only antlerless deer may be taken with Ag Tags.