HARRISBURG – Hunters and trappers seeking to participate in Pennsylvania’s upcoming bobcat seasons have until Sept. 1 to submit an application via the Pennsylvania Game Commission’s new Pennsylvania Automated License System (PALS) to be included in the public drawing to award 1,780 permits. This can be done at any issuing agent or through the “Buy Your Hunting License Now” icon in the upper right-hand corner of the Game Commission’s Web site. There is no paper application process this year.
There is a $5.70 non-refundable application fee to be entered into the drawing. Details on the season can be found on page 76 of the 2009-10 Pennsylvania Digest of Hunting & Trapping Regulations.
On Sept. 11, the 1,780 permits will be selected during a computerized drawing, which will be open to the public, at the agency’s Harrisburg headquarters, 2001 Elmerton Avenue, just off the Progress Avenue exit of Interstate 81. Those selected will receive their bobcat permit by U.S. mail in early October. The bobcat hunting season will take place Oct. 24 through Feb. 20. The bobcat trapping season will be held from Oct. 25 through Feb. 21.
The season will be open only in Wildlife Management Units 2A, 2C, 2E, 2F, 2G, 3A, 3B, 3C, 3D, 4A, 4D and 4E. To participate in this restricted opportunity, an individual must have a resident or nonresident furtaker license, a resident or nonresident junior combination license or resident senior combination license, and a bobcat hunting-trapping permit.
Those who received a bobcat permit last year are not eligible for this year’s drawing. Only one application per person will be accepted, and PALS will prohibit an individual from submitting more than one application.
As part of the preference point system established by the agency in 2003, consecutive applications are not required to maintain previously earned preference points, but those points can be activated only in years that an individual submits an application. For instance, if an individual has six preference points, but does not enter the 2009 drawing, he/she will not have any chances in the upcoming drawing. However, their preference points will remain on hold until they apply again. Once a hunter or trapper is awarded a bobcat permit, the individual’s preference points will revert to zero.
Based on the accumulation of preference points, the Game Commission will automatically award a bobcat permit to those applicants who have six preference points (five previous points plus a point for their 2009 application). Once the individuals who have automatically earned a bobcat permit are determined, the remainder will be awarded by computerized drawing.