In response to the detection of new deer populations hosting chronic wasting disease, the Pennsylvania Game Commission has issued 500 additional antlerless tags for a newly established hunting area in Armstrong County.
Hunters can purchase additional tags for Deer Management Assistance Program unit 7305, roughly 25,000 acres including part or all of Ford City, Ford Cliff, Manorville, Bethel Township, Burrell Township, Kittanning and Manor Township.
Game commission executive director Steve Smith said filling those tags can help reveal more about chronic wasting disease impacts in these areas.
“Hunters who secure tags, harvest deer and submit them for testing play an active role in helping to monitor CWD where it exists in Pennsylvania,” Smith said. “At the same time, the free CWD testing the Game Commission offers in these areas allows hunters to make an informed decision before consuming venison.”
The commission has posted a GIS map at PAGame.maps.arcgis.com, showing the boundaries of the new unit as well as others throughout Pennsylvania. Just under 600 new anterless tags were also issued for a new management unit in York County. The location of CWD testing areas is also noted on the map.
Management area permits can be purchased anywhere hunting licenses are sold and online at Huntfish.PA.gov. Permits are $10.97, and hunters can purchase a maximum of two for each unit they wish to hunt.
Commission officials remind hunters that much of the acreage in the new unit is privately owned, and hunting cannot occur on private property without the landowner’s permission.