Berks County Hunting: Licenses, Antlerless Tags, Game Lands

A Pennsylvania resident adult hunting license costs $20.97 for the 2026-27 season, and each antlerless deer license adds $6.97. Berks County hunters buy both from the state, online at HuntFishPA or over the counter at a licensing agent, including the Berks County Treasurer's office in Reading.

Hunting licenses are a state job, not a county one. The Pennsylvania Game Commission (PGC) sets the fees, seasons and rules, and the County of Berks has no hunting authority of its own. The Treasurer sells state licenses as an issuing agent, the same way it sells fishing licenses, and it is the only place to buy a landowner antlerless license. To see which services belong to the county and which to the state, read our guide to how Berks County government works.

Who needs a license

A current hunting license is required to hunt any wildlife in Pennsylvania except furbearers, most of which take a separate furtaker license (coyotes can be hunted on a regular hunting license). The license year runs July 1 through June 30, and 2026-27 licenses went on sale June 22, 2026.

The general license comes in age bands. A resident adult license covers ages 17 through 64, a junior license covers 12 through 16, and a senior license covers 65 and older. An 11-year-old who turns 12 by June 30 and has passed the safety course may buy a junior license but cannot hunt on it until the birthday.

First-time buyers must pass Hunter-Trapper Education (HTE), the state's safety course, before they can buy a license. Pennsylvania accepts hunter-education certificates from other states. The PGC offers the basic course four ways:

• In-person course, free, for anyone 11 and older. Some reading is assigned beforehand.
• Online interactive course, $49.95, for Pennsylvania residents 11 and older.
• Online course, $34.95, for Pennsylvania residents 16 and older.
• NRA online hunter education course, free, for Pennsylvania residents 11 and older.

People who have never hunted can skip the course for a few years through the Mentored Hunting Program. A mentored permit lets an unlicensed person hunt alongside a licensed adult: $2.97 for a youth under 12, $6.97 for a resident mentored junior (12 to 16), and $20.97 for a resident mentored adult (17 and older). Mentored hunters 12 and older may use the program for at most three license years, and then they must take HTE and buy a license. Mentored permit holders can also buy one antlerless deer license per year.

What a license costs

These are the PGC's 2026-27 fees. The price is the same online, at a store or at the Treasurer.

General licenses:

• Resident adult (17 to 64): $20.97
• Resident junior (12 to 16): $6.97
• Resident junior combination (adds archery, muzzleloader and furtaker privileges): $9.97
• Resident senior (65 and older): $13.97
• Resident senior lifetime: $51.97
• Resident senior lifetime combination: $101.97
• Nonresident adult: $101.97

A resident adult license includes one antlered deer tag, one fall turkey tag, one spring turkey tag and small game privileges. Everything else is an add-on:

• Archery license (needed in the archery deer seasons): $16.97
• Muzzleloader license (needed in the muzzleloader and flintlock deer seasons): $11.97
• Antlerless deer license: $6.97 per license for residents, $26.97 for nonresidents
• Bear license: $16.97
• Migratory game bird license: $3.97
• Adult pheasant permit: $26.97; junior pheasant permit: free
• DMAP permit (Deer Management Assistance Program, an extra antlerless tag for a specific enrolled property): $10.97
• Replacement of a lost license or permit: $6.97

Waterfowl hunters 16 and older also need a federal duck stamp. The PGC's fee page lists it at $30.97, while the 2026-27 Hunting & Trapping Digest says $28.97. The two official sources disagree, so confirm the price at checkout.

How to buy a license online (fastest)

1. Go to huntfish.pa.gov and sign in, or create an account if you have never used it.
2. Choose your general license, such as the resident adult hunting license.
3. Add any privileges you need in the same order: archery, muzzleloader, bear, migratory game bird, pheasant permit, and an antlerless deer license for the Wildlife Management Unit (WMU) you plan to hunt.
4. Review your antlerless choice before you pay. The PGC issues no refunds on antlerless licenses.
5. Pay by card. A digital copy of the license is available right away, but harvest tags come on paper by mail, and you must carry the physical tags whenever you hunt deer, bear or turkey.

The Digest says licenses bought online typically arrive within 7 to 15 business days, and tells hunters to allow at least 15 business days for antlerless licenses; the PGC asks you to contact its License Division at 717-787-2084 if nothing has arrived after 14 business days. If you need tags in hand sooner, a licensing agent can print a replacement over the counter for $6.97.

The three ways to buy

• Online at HuntFishPA. Open any time. Harvest tags arrive by mail, so order well ahead of your season.
• At a licensing agent. Sporting-goods and hardware stores across the state sell licenses and print the tags on the spot. HuntFishPA's agent locator listed 16 outlets with Berks County ZIP codes on October 18, 2026, among them the Treasurer, the PGC Southeast Region office, Cabela's, several Walmarts and Dick's; the list does not say which ones sell hunting licenses rather than fishing licenses only, so call first.
• At the Berks County Treasurer. The Treasurer's office is a state licensing agent at the Berks County Services Center, 2nd floor, 633 Court Street, Reading, PA 19601, open Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Phone 610-478-6640. The office does not take cash; its notice lists check or money order as accepted payment, so call ahead if you want to pay by card. Landowner antlerless licenses, for people who own 50 or more contiguous acres open to public hunting, are sold only through a county treasurer.

Antlerless deer licenses: no application needed

Under Act 148 of 2022, there is no longer an application for an antlerless license. You buy it like any other add-on, online or at an agent, in the same transaction as your general license if you like. You only need to know which WMU you want to hunt.

The PGC sells antlerless licenses in rounds, each starting at 8 a.m.:

1. June 15, 2026: landowner licenses, at county treasurers only.
2. June 22: round one, residents only, one license each. Every resident who bought before 7 a.m. July 13 was guaranteed a license in any WMU.
3. July 13: round one opens to nonresidents.
4. July 27: round two, up to two licenses total.
5. August 10: round three, up to three licenses, and DMAP permits go on sale.
6. August 24: round four, up to six unfilled licenses in most units. In WMUs 5C and 5D the limit is 15. Once round four starts, each antlerless harvest you report on HuntFishPA lets you buy one more license until the unit sells out.

The 2026-27 allocations for the three Berks units are 101,000 licenses in WMU 5C, 86,000 in WMU 5B and 51,000 in WMU 4C.

All the rounds have passed, but sales continue while licenses last. When we checked HuntFishPA's remaining-license page on October 18, 2026, WMUs 5B and 4C showed as sold out and WMU 5C still had a few thousand licenses left. That page is the only reliable source for what is available today, and the number changes by the hour, so check it before you count on a tag. A general license, archery or muzzleloader license, bear license and pheasant permit can be bought at any time.

Which WMU you are in

Berks County is split among three Wildlife Management Units, the zones the PGC uses to set deer seasons and antlerless allocations. The PGC's own boundary description runs the 5B/5C line along PA Route 61 from I-78 near Hamburg south to US Route 222 at Reading, then along US 222 south to I-76. The 4C line follows I-78.

• WMU 5C is Reading and everything south of I-78 that lies east of PA 61 and US 222, plus the corner north of I-78 that is east of PA 143. That takes in Kutztown, Fleetwood, Oley, Boyertown, Birdsboro and Mohnton.
• WMU 5B is western Berks south of I-78 and west of PA 61 and US 222: Wernersville, Robesonia, Womelsdorf, Bernville, Leesport, Shoemakersville and Morgantown.
• WMU 4C is the Blue Mountain strip north of I-78 and west of PA 143, including the two big northern game lands and the mountain half of Bethel Township. Bethel village itself sits just south of I-78, in 5B.

Routes bend, so a property near one of those highways can fall on either side. South of Reading the PGC's boundary follows the Lancaster Avenue alignment of Route 222, signed today as Business Route 222, rather than the bypass, which puts the line through the middle of Shillington: the borough hall and Governor Mifflin High School fall in 5C, the north end in 5B. Check the PGC's WMU map or its Mapping Center before you buy an antlerless license, because the license is good only in the unit printed on it. Berks is not part of the Southeast Special Regulations Area, which covers Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery and Philadelphia counties and carries its own weapons rules.

Key 2026-27 dates for Berks

Deer:

• Archery, WMU 5C: Sept. 19 to Nov. 27 and Dec. 26 to Jan. 24, 2027
• Archery, WMUs 5B and 4C (statewide dates): Oct. 3 to Nov. 20 and Dec. 26 to Jan. 24, 2027
• Muzzleloader, antlerless only: Oct. 17 to 25
• Special firearms, antlerless only, for junior and senior license holders, mentored permit holders 7 and older, disabled hunters with a vehicle-as-blind permit, and residents on active military duty: Oct. 22 to 25
• Regular firearms, antlered and antlerless, statewide: Nov. 28 to Dec. 13, opening on a Saturday
• Flintlock muzzleloader: Dec. 26 to Jan. 24, 2027
• Extended antlerless firearms, WMU 5C: Dec. 26 to Jan. 24, 2027; WMU 4C: Dec. 26 to Jan. 18, 2027. The PGC's web page prints the 4C end date as "2026," which is a typo; the Digest says 2027.

Bear: the statewide firearms season is Nov. 21 to 24. Extended firearms bear runs Nov. 28 to Dec. 13 in WMUs 5B and 5C and Nov. 28 to Dec. 6 in WMU 4C. A harvested bear must be checked within 24 hours. The Berks check station is the PGC Southeast Region Office, 253 Snyder Road, Reading. The Digest lists it open Saturday, Nov. 21, and Sunday, Nov. 22, from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. for the regular season, and for the extended season on Nov. 28 and 29 from noon to 7 p.m., Nov. 30 through Dec. 4 from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., and Dec. 5 from noon to 7 p.m. On any other day call 1-833-PGC-HUNT (1-833-742-4868) for instructions.

Turkey: WMU 5C is closed to fall turkey hunting. Fall season runs Oct. 31 to Nov. 3 in WMU 5B and Oct. 31 to Nov. 8 in WMU 4C, shotguns and archery only. Spring gobbler is May 1 to 31, 2027, with hours ending at noon through May 15.

Pheasant: junior season Oct. 10 to 18; regular season Oct. 24 to Dec. 24 and Dec. 26 to Feb. 28, 2027; two birds a day, six in possession. Most hunters need the pheasant permit.

Where to hunt: the Berks State Game Lands

State Game Lands (SGLs) are PGC-owned land open to public hunting. Eight of them sit mostly or entirely in Berks, and the PGC posts a map of each; the agency's boundary data also shows the edges of three others (SGLs 43, 80 and 217) crossing the county line. Acreages below come from the PGC's printed maps, which are several years old; the agency's online boundary data shows somewhat different totals for several of them.

• SGL 110, about 10,130 acres along the Blue Mountain in Bethel, Upper Bern, Upper Tulpehocken and Tilden townships, running into Schuylkill County. WMU 4C.
• SGL 106, about 9,720 acres in Albany and Windsor townships, running into Schuylkill and Lehigh counties, with the Schuylkill River along one border. WMU 4C.
• SGL 280, 2,552 acres northwest of Reading, managed together with 2,732 acres of U.S. Army Corps of Engineers land around Blue Marsh Lake. WMU 5B. Our Blue Marsh Lake guide covers the launches, trails and no-hunting day-use areas.
• SGL 52, on the Lancaster County line in southern Berks, about 2,400 acres by the PGC's boundary data. The PGC's 2014 map places it in WMU 5B, but the agency's current online boundary layer puts its center in WMU 5C, so confirm the unit on the Mapping Center before you buy an antlerless license for it.
• SGL 274, in Berks and Lancaster counties. The PGC's map says 668 acres; its online boundary data says 457. WMU 5B.
• SGL 315, about 324 acres in four separate tracts in Washington, Hereford and District townships. WMU 5C.
• SGL 182, 273 acres in Greenwich and Richmond townships. WMU 5C. Part of it is a bat hibernation site, and the map says hunting there is mostly deer, turkey and gray squirrel.
• SGL 324, a 4.75-acre island in the Schuylkill River in Cumru Township, reachable only by canoe, kayak or raft. WMU 5C.

Anyone on State Game Lands from Oct. 1 to Jan. 31 and April 20 to May 31, hunter or not, must wear 250 square inches of fluorescent orange or an orange hat, unless they are hunting, trapping or fishing in a way that does not require orange.

Pheasant hunters have four stocked sites in Berks: SGL 106, SGL 280, Blue Marsh Lake and the Big Woods tract of French Creek State Park. The PGC's Southeast Region allocation table schedules 10,050 roosters and 3,580 hens for Berks County in 2026-27, released in batches from the week of Oct. 8 through the week of Jan. 5.

County parks are closed to hunting. The Berks County park rules say "NO hunting or trapping" and no discharging of weapons, under County Ordinance No. 07-2018. The one exception is the Antietam Lake Park and Mount Penn Deer Management Program, an archery-only hunt run by USDA Wildlife Services with the county, the City of Reading and Berks Nature. It runs Sept. 19, 2026, through Jan. 24, 2027, Sundays included, and only hunters the USDA selects, tests and permits may take part. To ask about the waiting list, call USDA Wildlife Services at 610-916-1415. Our Berks County parks guide covers what each park allows.

The big rules

Fluorescent orange. When orange is required, you wear 250 square inches on the head, chest and back combined, visible from all sides, from an hour before to an hour after legal hunting hours. That applies in every small game season, the regular firearms deer and bear seasons, the October muzzleloader and special firearms antlerless seasons, and the extended firearms seasons. No orange is required for archery deer or bear, the flintlock season, turkey, waterfowl, doves or furbearers, though the PGC recommends it.

Sunday hunting. For 2026-27 nearly every season includes all the Sundays within its dates, on public and private land alike. Migratory game birds remain closed on Sundays. The old requirement to carry written landowner permission when hunting private land on Sunday has been lifted, but the PGC still recommends carrying it.

Antler restrictions. In all three Berks units, a legal buck needs three points on one side, with any projection an inch or longer counting as a point. Junior license holders, mentored youth, disabled hunters with a vehicle-as-blind permit and resident active-duty service members may take a buck with two points on one antler or a spike three inches or longer. Seniors follow the full three-point rule.

Harvest reporting. You must report every deer and turkey within 10 days; the PGC's reporting page gives mentored hunters, and anyone who had to make a homemade tag, five days. Report online at HuntFishPA, by phone at 1-800-838-4431, or by mailing the report card from the Digest. Reporting matters this year for a second reason, since each reported antlerless harvest in round four unlocks another license.

Chronic wasting disease. Statewide, the head and backbone of any deer are "high-risk parts" that may not be dumped anywhere other than where the deer was killed. They must go to a commercial trash service or another PGC-approved disposal method. In return, the PGC has dropped its ban on moving whole deer between areas, so you may bring a deer home to butcher from anywhere in the state.

FAQ

Do I need a hunting license in Berks County?

Yes. Pennsylvania requires a current hunting license to hunt any wildlife other than most furbearers, and the rule is the same in every county. The county does not issue its own license; it sells the state license as an agent.

How much is a PA hunting license in 2026?

A resident adult license is $20.97, a junior license $6.97 and a senior license $13.97. An antlerless deer license is $6.97 per license, an archery license $16.97 and a muzzleloader license $11.97. Nonresident adults pay $101.97 for the general license.

Can I still get an antlerless deer license for Berks County?

Possibly, in WMU 5C. All four sales rounds are over, but licenses stay on sale until each unit's allocation is gone. On October 18, 2026, HuntFishPA showed 5B and 4C sold out and 5C with licenses remaining. Check the remaining-quota page linked below before you buy, and remember there are no refunds.

What WMU is Berks County in?

Three of them. Most of the county, including Reading, is WMU 5C. Western Berks west of PA 61 and US 222 is WMU 5B, and the Blue Mountain strip north of I-78 west of PA 143 is WMU 4C. The line splits Shillington, so check a specific address. The PGC's Mapping Center shows the exact lines.

When does deer season open in Berks County?

Archery opened Sept. 19 in WMU 5C and Oct. 3 in WMUs 5B and 4C. The regular firearms season for antlered and antlerless deer opens Saturday, Nov. 28, and runs through Dec. 13, 2026, statewide.

Sources and contact

• PA Game Commission: License Types (fees)
• PA Game Commission: Licenses and Permits (sale date and license year)
• PA Game Commission: Antlerless Deer License (rounds and limits)
• HuntFishPA and the remaining antlerless licenses by WMU
• HuntFishPA: License agent locator
• PA Game Commission: Licensing FAQs
• PA Game Commission: 2026-27 Seasons and Bag Limits
• PA Game Commission: 2026-27 Hunting & Trapping Digest (PDF; orange, Sunday hunting, antler restrictions, CWD, allocations, check stations)
• PA Game Commission: Hunter-Trapper Education, 1-833-742-4868, pgchuntereducation@pa.gov
• PA Game Commission: Reporting a Harvest
• PA Game Commission: Wildlife Management Units and the PGC Mapping Center
• PA Game Commission: State Game Lands Maps; maps for SGL 110, SGL 106, SGL 280, SGL 52, SGL 274, SGL 315, SGL 182 and SGL 324
• PA Game Commission: Southeast Region pheasant allocation
• PA Game Commission: Offices and Regions; Southeast Region Office, 253 Snyder Road, Reading, PA 19605
• Berks County Treasurer: Hunting License and the Treasurer's office page, Berks County Services Center, 2nd floor, 633 Court Street, Reading, PA 19601, 610-478-6640, Monday through Friday 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.; cash not accepted
• Berks County Parks: Rules and Regulations
• Berks County Parks: Antietam Lake Park Deer Management Program and the 2026-27 press release (PDF); USDA Wildlife Services 610-916-1415

PGC Centralized Dispatch for wildlife and hunting questions: 1-833-PGC-HUNT (1-833-742-4868). HuntFishPA customer support and harvest reporting: 1-800-838-4431. For a license bought in person at the county, call the Treasurer at 610-478-6640.