PA Disabled Veteran Hunting License: Eligibility and Application

Pennsylvania offers a free hunting license to disabled veterans rated 100% by the VA (or who lost the use of a limb in service), and a reduced-fee license costing $2.97 total to veterans rated between 60% and 99%. Both benefits sit in 34 Pa. C.S. § 2706 and are issued through the Pennsylvania Game Commission.¹

Who Qualifies

The statute splits eligible veterans into two groups.

You qualify for the free license if you have a 100% VA disability rating, or if you lost one or more limbs (or the use of one or more limbs) because of a service-connected injury during a war or armed conflict.

You qualify for the $2.97 reduced-fee license if your VA disability rating is between 60% and 99% and resulted from a war or armed conflict. The statutory cost is $1 plus issuing fees.

Both tiers require Pennsylvania residency, and the disability has to be “service incurred” during a war or armed conflict. A high VA rating for something unrelated to wartime service does not qualify you under this provision.¹ The license covers hunting or furtaking, and you are entitled to only one free license per year.²

What You Need to Apply

Bring your military discharge papers. If you are claiming the free 100% tier, also bring your VA disability certification showing total disability. Your application has to include a written statement confirming that you are a war or armed conflict veteran and that the disability was service-incurred.³

You will also need to prove Pennsylvania residency. A Pennsylvania driver’s license is the easiest option, but other proof of a Commonwealth address works if you don’t have one.⁴

Where to Get the License

Annual disabled veteran licenses, in both tiers, are available three ways: online through the HuntFishPA portal, at a participating county treasurer’s office, or at a Pennsylvania Game Commission office. A county treasurer will hand you the physical license the same day. Online orders take up to 10 business days to arrive by mail, and up to 20 business days during peak sales periods.⁵

Lifetime disabled veteran licenses are only sold at participating county treasurer locations. You cannot get one online or at a Game Commission office.⁶

If you add an email address to your HuntFishPA profile, you will also get a digital copy of your license and permits (harvest tags aren’t included in that). Carrying the physical card in the field is still the safest choice.

Lifetime vs. Annual

Not every 100% veteran automatically gets a lifetime license. The statute grants a lifetime hunting or furtaking license only when the qualifying veteran presents documentation showing the disability is permanent, and the license is issued by the county treasurer.¹

If your 100% rating isn’t classified as permanent, or you simply don’t pursue the lifetime version, you still get a free license but have to validate it each year. Veterans in the 60–99% tier always renew annually. The Pennsylvania license year runs July 1 through June 30.⁷

Lifetime license holders still need to claim their annual tags for specific species each year. The lifetime license locks in your base privileges; tags for antlered deer, turkey, and other regulated game are seasonal.

A replacement license card costs $6.97 if you lose yours.²

What the License Includes and What Costs Extra

The disabled veteran hunting license functions like a regular resident hunting license. The lifetime renewal version includes one antlered deer tag, one fall turkey tag, one spring turkey tag, and small game hunting privileges for the license year.²

Several common activities still require separate add-on purchases:

Antlerless deer license: $6.97 for residents, sold in rounds beginning in late June online, through issuing agents, and at Game Commission offices.⁸
Bear license: $16.97 for residents, required in addition to your hunting license to hunt bear during any bear season.
Special spring turkey license: $21.97 for residents who want a second spring gobbler tag.²

Elk is drawn by lottery. Your disabled veteran license gives you no priority or exemption in that drawing.

Harvest Reporting

Disabled veteran license holders report harvests on the same schedule as every other Pennsylvania hunter. Deer and turkey must be reported within 10 days of harvest, or within 5 days for mentored hunters and homemade tags. Black bear and elk have to be taken to a Game Commission check station within 24 hours, along with your hunting license and the applicable species license. Bobcat, fisher, and river otter must be reported within 48 hours through HuntFishPA, by phone, or through your regional office. DMAP and second spring turkey permit holders must report within 10 days of the last possible harvest date even when nothing was harvested.

Reports can be filed online at HuntFishPA, by phone at 1-800-838-4431, or by mailing a harvest report card. Have your Customer Identification Number and field harvest tag on hand.⁹

If Walking the Field Is Difficult: The Disabled Persons Permit

Separate from the disabled veteran hunting license, Pennsylvania issues a Disabled Persons Permit that lets you use a vehicle as a blind or shooting platform on state game lands. Eligibility runs on medical criteria documented by your physician: permanent wheelchair or walker dependence, significant lung or cardiovascular disease, at least 90% loss of function in one leg, or a temporary disability involving a cast or surgery to the leg, hip, or back. The physician’s statement form comes from the Game Commission.³

If approved, you may hunt from a vehicle that is completely off the road, at a full stop, with the engine off, carrying no more than one loaded firearm in or on the vehicle. Migratory game birds cannot be hunted from a vehicle, and the vehicle cannot be used to flush or locate game. On state game lands, permit holders can travel only on seasonal roads posted open to public travel or roads designated for disabled permit access; gates on those roads are closed but unlocked, and you are responsible for closing them behind you. For a current list of accessible roads, contact the Land Management Supervisor at your regional Game Commission office. Questions about the permit itself go to the Special Permits Enforcement Division at 717-783-8164.³

Fishing Is a Separate License

Hunting and fishing are handled by different Pennsylvania agencies. Your disabled veteran hunting license from the Game Commission does not cover fishing. The Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission runs a parallel program: a free lifetime fishing license for veterans with a 100% service-connected disability, and a reduced-fee annual license at $1 plus issuing fees for those rated 60–99%. The Fish and Boat Commission asks for a copy of your VA disability rating determination letter.¹⁰

1
Pennsylvania General Assembly. Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes Title 34 – Game
2
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. License Types
3
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Permits for Hunters with Disabilities
4
Bedford County, Pennsylvania. Free and Reduced Fishing Licenses for Disabled Veterans
5
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Licenses and Permits
6
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Purchase a Hunting and Trapping License
7
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Seasons and Bag Limits
8
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Antlerless Deer License
9
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Reporting a Harvest
10
Pennsylvania General Assembly. Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes Title 30 – Section 2707