Authorized by Section 2923, of the Game and Wildlife Code)
Minimum Requirements:
Applicant must provide documentation of any of the following medical disabilities:
- Has a permanent or irreversible physical disability, is unable to ambulate and requires a wheelchair, walker, one leg brace or external prosthesis above the knee, 2 leg braces or external prostheses below the knees, w crutches or 2 canes for mobility.
- Suffers significantly from lung disease, to the extent that forced expiratory volume for one second when measured by spirometry is less than one liter or the arterial oxygen tension is less than 60 millimeters of mercury on room air at rest.
- Suffers significantly from cardiovascular disease, to the extent that functional limitations are classified in severity as class 3 or 4, according to standards accepted by the American Heart Association on May 3, 1988, and where ordinary physical activity causes discomfort, fatigue, palpitation, dyspnea or anginal pain.
- Has a temporary disability which restricts mobility or ambulation due to injury or operative procedures and who either has a leg, hip or back, or any part thereof, casted by a licensed physician due to a fracture or has leg, hip or back surgery.
- Has a temporary disability which restricts mobility or ambulation due to illness, injury or operative procedures.
Permittee May: Possess a loaded firearm in a parked vehicle. The vehicle, however, must be completely off the right-of-way of a public highway and at a complete stop with the motor turned off. The parked vehicle may be used as a blind, or as a shooting platform.
Permittee May Not: Possess more than one loaded firearm in, or on the vehicle at any one time; travel or park on private property without advance permission of the owner or person in control of the property; contrary to federal regulations, hunt for or take migratory game birds (waterfowl, woodcock, snipe, rails, doves or gallinules) by use of a vehicle; possess a pistol or revolver contrary to the provisions of 18 Pa. C.S. §101-9183, the Uniform Firearms Act; use a vehicle to flush or locate game; or travel on State Game Lands or State Forest Lands except on those roads posted open to public travel or specifically designated for use by a hunter who has been issued a disabled person permit.
Designated Game Land Roads
It is unlawful to travel on lands by means of vehicle or conveyance propelled by motorized power. This prohibition does not include the travel by individuals permanently confined to a wheelchair propelled by electric power obtained from batteries. Individuals desiring to hunt from an electric powered wheelchair shall have a disabled person permit to use a vehicle as a blind. (Section 2923, of the Game and Wildlife Code).
Certain Game Lands roads are open for travel to persons issued a permit to use a vehicle as a blind. (Section 2923(a), of the Game and Wildlife Code).
Roads are open for one-way travel, weather permitting, 14 days prior to the opening day of archery season to the closing day of the muzzleloader/archery season.
Vehicles or conveyances must be licensed or authorized for operation on a public highway under the provisions of 75 Pa. C.S. §101-9910, the Vehicle Code.
Permittee may be accompanied by only one other person who shall be in possession of a valid Pennsylvania hunting or furtaker's license. The permittee may also be accompanied by one or more of the permittee's children holding a valid junior hunting or furtaker's license.
Gates on designated roads will be closed but unlocked. It shall be the responsibility of the permittee to open and close the gates upon entry and exit.
Designated Game Lands Open to ATVs
Properly permitted persons who have an approved ATV Towing Placard may operate an ATV on designated state game land roads that are open to ATV traffic.
The ATV must be registered with the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources. A universal access symbol for the disabled must be displayed on the ATV while on state game lands. The ATV must be equipped with a fully functional spark arrestor while operating on state game lands.
Designated roads shall be open for use by permitted persons from 14 days prior to the opening day of the archery season to the closing day of the late muzzleloader/archery season and during the spring turkey season.
Permittee may traverse a maximum of 100 yards perpendicular from the nearest road edge to establish a hunting location but may not traverse streams, springs, wet areas or flood plots or other areas posted against travel.
Permittee incapable of operating an ATV may be accompanied by one other person, who is the operator, on an ATV designed to carry a passenger.
Designated State Forest Roads
Certain State Forest Land roads will be open from October 1 through the end of the regular antlerless deer season. It shall be the responsibility of the permittee to contact the Bureau of Forestry concerning special regulations on their roads.
A listing of designated roads, both on State Game Lands and State Forest Lands, will be made available to each permittee by the Commission.
PERMIT: REGULATED HUNTING GROUNDS
(Authorized by Section 2923, of the Game and Wildlife Code)
Minimum Requirements:
Physically unable to walk for extended periods.
Permittee May: Hunt for, pursue, and kill, from an automobile or other vehicle (ATV, snowmobile, etc.), those small game birds authorized for release on lands operated as either Commercial or Noncommercial Regulated Hunting Grounds; possess one loaded firearm, lawful for taking small game, in a vehicle, when on Regulated Hunting Grounds and only when actually hunting.
Permittee May Not: Use their permit except when on an established Regulated Hunting Grounds; hunt for or take migratory game birds (waterfowl, etc.) by use of a vehicle; possess a pistol or revolver contrary to the provisions of 18 Pa. C.S. §101-9183, the Uniform Firearms Act.
PERMIT: BOW AND ARROW OR CROSSBOW
(Authorized by Section 2923, of the Game and Wildlife Code)
Minimum Requirements:
Permanent physical disability preventing the use of a conventional bow. Temporary physical disability issued for license year only.
Permittee May: Use a bow held in place with a body brace and triggered by a mechanical device; when hunting big game, use a crossbow with a draw weight of at least 125 and no more than 200 pounds. Permittee must use broadheads of a cutting edge design.
SEMIAUTOMATIC FIREARM FOR BIG GAME
(No Permit Required)
Minimum Qualifications:
Amputation or total loss of use of one or both hands.
Qualified Persons May: Use a semiautomatic shotgun, rifle, or pistol to take deer or bear. Firearms must be modified to one shell in the chamber and no more than four shells in the magazine.
Qualified Persons May Not: Possess a loaded firearm in a vehicle unless the person additionally holds a disabled persons permit described in Section 2923, of the Game and Wildlife Code
VETERANS WITH DISABILITIES LICENSE FEE EXEMPTIONS
for Regular Hunting and Furtaker Licenses only
Minimum Qualifications:
- Must be a resident of Pennsylvania.
- Disability must consist of the loss of one or more limbs, or the loss of the use of one or more limbs, or medically certified as totally disabled.
- Disability was service incurred.
- Must be a veteran of any war or armed conflict.
- Must be otherwise mentally and physically fit.
- Must meet all other requirements of the Game and Wildlife Code.
Disabled Veteran Licensing Procedure
- Application for license must be made to any County Treasurer.
- Applicant must produce discharge papers.
- If applicant is claiming total disability, applicant must produce Veterans Administration disability certification showing total disability.
- Application must contain a statement that the applicant is a war or armed conflict veteran and disability was service incurred.
Further information concerning special accommodations for sportsmen with disabilities, or other special needs, are available from any of the following Commission offices:
NORTHWEST REGION
(Butler, Clarion, Crawford, Erie, Forest, Jefferson, Lawrence, Mercer, Venango and Warren Counties)
Post Office Box 31 1509 Pittsburgh Road
Franklin, PA 16323
814/432-3187
SOUTHWEST REGION
(Allegheny, Armstrong, Beaver, Cambria, Fayette, Greene, Indiana, Somerset, Washington and Westmoreland Counties)
4820 Route 711
Bolivar, PA 15923-2420
724/238-9523
NORTHCENTRAL REGION
(Cameron, Centre, Clearfield, Clinton, Elk, Lycoming, McKean, Potter, Tioga and Union Counties)
1566 South Route 44 Highway
Post Office Box 5038
Jersey Shore, PA 17740-5038
570/398-4744
SOUTHCENTRAL REGION
(Adams, Bedford, Blair, Cumberland, Franklin, Fulton, Huntingdon, Juniata, Mifflin, Perry and Snyder Counties)
8627 William Penn Highway
Huntingdon, PA 16652
814/643-1831
NORTHEAST REGION
(Bradford, Carbon, Columbia, Lackawanna, Luzerne, Monroe, Montour, Northumberland, Pike, Sullivan, Susquehanna, Wayne and Wyoming Counties)
Post Office Box 220
Dallas, PA 18612-0220
570/675-1143
SOUTHEAST REGION
(Berks, Bucks, Chester, Dauphin, Delaware, Lancaster, Lebanon, Lehigh, Montgomery, Northampton, Philadelphia, Schuylkill and York Counties)
448 Snyder Road
Reading, PA 19605
610/926-3136