PA Shooting Range Permit: Cost, How to Buy, and Rules

To shoot at a Pennsylvania State Game Lands range without a current PA hunting or furtaker license, you need a PA shooting range permit. It costs $31.97, is valid for 365 days from the date of purchase, and is required for anyone 16 or older who isn’t already licensed to hunt or trap in the state.¹

Who Needs the Permit

A current Pennsylvania general hunting license or furtaker license covers you at any State Game Lands range at no extra cost. Everyone else who wants to shoot needs the range permit.

The age cutoff is 16. Shooters 15 and younger don’t need their own permit, but they must be with someone at least 18 years old.² Each licensed hunter or permit holder may bring one guest, and the guest doesn’t need a permit as long as the host is present.³

Cost and How Long It Lasts

The permit is $31.97 and runs for a full 365 days from the day you buy it, so there’s no seasonal advantage to timing the purchase.¹

How to Buy One

Permits are sold through the Pennsylvania Game Commission’s HuntFishPA system, either online or in person at authorized issuing agents such as county treasurer offices and sporting goods stores.

If you’ve never bought a Pennsylvania license or permit before, set up a customer profile first. You’ll need your full legal name, date of birth, and residential address. The system asks for a Social Security number as well; U.S. citizens who can’t provide one may file an affidavit instead, and non-resident aliens can use a visa or passport number.⁴ Online purchases need a credit or debit card.

If you list an email address on your profile, you’ll get a digital copy of the permit. A mailed copy can take up to 10 business days, or up to 20 business days during peak sales periods.⁵

What to Carry at the Range

Two things need to be on you every visit: your range permit (or hunting/furtaker license) and a secondary form of ID. The permit doesn’t have to be visibly displayed, but you must have it and produce it on request. A digital copy on your phone counts.³

Sign the permit as soon as it arrives. The regulation requires a “Commission-issued range permit signed by its holder,” and an unsigned permit is technically not compliant.²

When Ranges Are Open

Unless posted signs at a particular range say otherwise, State Game Lands ranges run on this schedule in prevailing local time:

Monday through Saturday, 8 a.m. to sunset
Sunday, noon to sunset
Sundays during firearms deer and bear seasons, 8 a.m. to sunset, including the Sunday immediately before each season opens²

Between January 1 and October 1, organized groups can reserve a range for exclusive use through the regional director’s office with at least 20 days’ notice, so you may occasionally find a range closed for a scheduled event.

Rules That Can Get You Cited

The core range rules sit in 58 Pa. Code § 135.181. A few catch first-time visitors off guard.

Targets: shoot only at paper targets on Commission-mounted backboards or steel targets placed by the Commission. Don’t bring bottles, cans, or other objects, and don’t damage the target frames or stands.²

Ammunition: armor-piercing, incendiary, explosive, tracer, and multiple-projectile rounds (buckshot at a rifle range, for example) are prohibited. Clay bird shooting is allowed only in specifically designated and signed areas.

Loading limit: no firearm may hold more than six rounds of single-projectile ammunition at a time. That applies equally to rifles, handguns, and shotguns loaded with slugs. Fully automatic firearms are not permitted at all.

Safety: all shooting must happen from an established shooting station on the firing line. Handling or firing a loaded firearm while anyone is downrange is specifically prohibited.²

Alcohol and controlled substances aren’t just banned during shooting; possessing them on range property is itself a violation. Before you leave, pick up your spent casings, take your targets down, and pack out your trash.³

Finding a Range

The Game Commission’s website lists every State Game Lands range by SGL number and county, with directions for each, and includes an interactive map for finding the nearest one.³ Ranges stretch from Erie County in the northwest to Pike County in the northeast, and from Chester County in the southeast to Greene County in the southwest.

1
Pennsylvania Game Commission. Purchase a Shooting Range Permit
2
PA Code and Bulletin. Pennsylvania Code Title 58 Chapter 135 – 135.181 Rifle and Handgun Ranges
3
Pennsylvania Game Commission. Shooting Ranges
4
HuntFishPA. HuntFishPA – Create New Customer
5
Pennsylvania Game Commission. Licenses and Permits