In Pennsylvania, most hunters can legally kill up to seven deer in a single license year: one antlered buck and up to six antlerless deer. In Wildlife Management Units 5C and 5D in the southeast, the ceiling rises to 16 because hunters there may hold as many as 15 antlerless licenses. Deer Management Assistance Program (DMAP) permits add still more on enrolled properties, so the practical maximum depends on how many antlerless licenses and DMAP permits you actually secure.
One Antlered Deer Per License Year
Your general hunting license comes with a single antlered deer harvest tag, and that tag is your only buck for the entire license year.1Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. License Types It does not matter which season you fill it in. Archery, regular firearms, flintlock, muzzleloader: once the tag is used, you are done with bucks until the next license year.2Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Seasons and Bag Limits
Not every buck counts as legal. Antler point restrictions vary by region. In most of the state, a legal antlered deer needs at least three points on one side. In WMUs 1A, 1B, 2A, 2B, and 2D, a stricter “three up” rule applies: three points on one side, counting the main beam as a point but excluding the brow tine.3Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Antler Restrictions in Pennsylvania
Junior license holders, mentored youth, disabled hunters with a vehicle-blind permit, and Pennsylvania residents on active military duty get a looser standard. They can take an antlered deer with two or more points on one antler or a spike at least three inches long. Senior license holders follow the same antler rules as everyone else in their WMU.
Antlerless Deer: Six Licenses, or Fifteen in 5C and 5D
Your general license does not include any antlerless privilege. To take a doe or antlerless deer, you need a separate antlerless deer license issued for the specific WMU where you plan to hunt, and each license covers one deer in that unit.4Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Antlerless Deer License
The Game Commission sells these licenses in four rounds. In rounds one through three, you are limited to one antlerless license per round. Starting in the fourth round the limits loosen. A hunter can hold up to six active, unfilled antlerless licenses across any combination of WMUs. In WMUs 5C and 5D, hunters can buy up to nine additional antlerless licenses on top of that six-license personal limit, for a total of 15.4Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Antlerless Deer License
The word “active” matters. As you report harvests, you free up room to buy more licenses, so the six-license and 15-license figures are ceilings on what you can hold at once, not necessarily on what you can shoot across a full season if you keep reporting and rebuying while allocations last.
For 2025-26, resident sales opened June 23, 2025, with a guaranteed first-round license in any WMU if purchased before July 14. Nonresident sales opened July 14, and everything after that ran first-come, first-served. Later rounds began July 28, August 11, and August 25.5Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. 2025-26 Hunting Licenses to Go On Sale June 23 Popular WMUs sell out, so the ceiling only matters if licenses remain available in your unit.
DMAP Permits Add More on Enrolled Land
The Deer Management Assistance Program raises the ceiling further. DMAP permits attach to specific enrolled properties, which can be state game lands, state forests, or private tracts whose owners have signed up. Each permit lets you take one additional antlerless deer on that property, separate from your regular antlerless licenses.6Legal Information Institute. 58 Pa Code 147.673 – Eligibility and Application for DMAP
You can obtain up to four DMAP harvest permits per enrolled unit when a landowner issues coupons. On public DMAP areas without coupons, the limit is two permits per unit. Because you can hold permits across multiple DMAP units, there is no single statewide DMAP cap. What limits you in practice is finding enrolled properties with permits still available.7Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Deer Management Assistance Program
DMAP permits usually go on sale during the third round of antlerless sales, purchased through any license-issuing agent or through HuntFishPA using the DMAP unit number for the property.
Mentored Hunters Have Their Own Limits
The Mentored Hunting Program follows a tighter bag limit. A mentored hunter age 7 or older can take one antlered deer per year (the permit includes the tag), apply for one antlerless license, and hold one DMAP permit.8Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Purchase a Mentored Hunting Permit Mentored youth 16 and under use the same relaxed antler standard as junior license holders.
Children under 7 cannot apply for licenses themselves. A mentor can transfer one antlered deer tag, one antlerless license, and one DMAP permit to the child for the license year.
Tagging and Reporting Keep the Count Honest
Every deer you kill must be tagged immediately, before the carcass is moved. The tag attaches to the ear and stays there until you process the meat or prepare the animal for mounting. Moving an untagged deer is a violation on its own.
You then have 10 days to report the harvest to the Game Commission. Mentored hunters and anyone using a homemade tag report within five days. Reports go through HuntFishPA or the customer support center. DMAP permit holders have an extra duty: report the tag whether or not a deer was taken, within 10 days of the last possible harvest date. Failing to report a DMAP tag, even an unfilled one, can affect your eligibility going forward.9Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Reporting a Harvest
Reporting is also how you unlock more antlerless purchases in the fourth round. As you report fills, slots open for new licenses, so hunters aiming at the higher totals in 5C, 5D, or on DMAP land need to stay current with reports throughout the season.
Putting the Numbers Together
For a typical Pennsylvania hunter outside the southeast, the answer is one buck and up to six antlerless deer, seven total. In WMUs 5C and 5D, it is one buck and up to 15 antlerless, for 16 total. DMAP permits add up to four more per enrolled private unit or two more per public unit, and there is no statewide cap on how many DMAP units you can join. The one number that does not move is the antlered tag: one buck per license year, every year, for every licensed hunter in the state.