All the towns where our homes are located are in Pennsylvania's Wildlife Management Unit 3D, which has about 249 square miles of State Game Lands plus several state parks open to hunting. A rental here makes a comfortable base for deer season or a fall turkey weekend.
One thing to know first: plan to hunt on public land, not in the lake communities. Emerald Lakes, for example, prohibits discharging firearms or bows anywhere in the community, with a $750 fine. The seasons and rules below are from the Pennsylvania Game Commission for 2026-27; check the official Hunting & Trapping Digest before you go.
Licenses for visiting hunters (2026-27)
- Buy online at HuntFish PA, or in person from license agents such as county treasurers and Game Commission offices. The license year runs July 1, 2026 to June 30, 2027.
- Nonresident Adult General Hunting License (17 and up): $101.97. It includes small game, one antlered deer tag, and one spring and one fall turkey tag.
- Nonresident Junior Hunting License (12 to 16): $41.97. The Junior Combination license, $51.97, adds archery, muzzleloader and furtaker privileges.
- Nonresident 7-Day Small Game License (12 and up): $31.97. It doesn't cover deer, bear, elk or turkey.
- Nonresident add-ons: archery $26.97, muzzleloader $21.97, bear $36.97, antlerless deer $26.97 and migratory game bird $6.97. Antlerless licenses are allocated by unit and can sell out.
- First-time hunters must pass a hunter-trapper education course before buying a license, and Pennsylvania accepts other states' hunter education certificates. New hunters can also start in the Mentored Hunting Program with a licensed mentor 21 or older.
Key 2026-27 seasons in WMU 3D
- Archery deer: October 3 to November 20, 2026, and December 26, 2026 to January 24, 2027.
- Fall turkey: October 31 to November 8, 2026.
- Bear: regular firearms season November 21 to 24, 2026, and extended firearms season in 3D November 28 to December 6. A bear license is required.
- Regular firearms deer: November 28 to December 13, 2026, opening the Saturday after Thanksgiving.
- Flintlock deer: December 26, 2026 to January 24, 2027. WMU 3D has no extended antlerless firearms season.
- Spring gobbler: May 1 to 31, 2027, with a limit of one bird. The youth and mentored hunt is April 24 to 25, 2027.
- Sunday hunting: Act 36 of 2025 repealed the Sunday hunting ban. For 2026-27, every season includes the Sundays between its start and end dates, except migratory game birds such as waterfowl, woodcock and doves.
Where to hunt near our homes
- State Game Lands 129, between Lake Harmony, Long Pond and Blakeslee: about 3,705 acres next to Hickory Run State Park, with a gate and parking area at the north end of Township Route 518.
- State Game Lands 141, between Albrightsville and Jim Thorpe: about 17,226 acres, crossed by SR 93 on its west side, with a Game Commission shooting range (a hunting license or range permit is required).
- State Game Lands 127, north of Pocono Pines and Pocono Summit toward Gouldsboro: about 26,234 acres next to Gouldsboro State Park, with a trail from the Brady's Lake parking area.
- State Game Lands 40, north of Hickory Run near White Haven: about 6,200 acres, with parking on Francis Walter Dam Road. State Game Lands 318, between Blakeslee and Pocono Pines, is a smaller tract of about 858 acres.
- State parks: Hickory Run (about 13,000 acres open in season, but not around the Sand Spring day-use area, Shades of Death or overnight areas), Tobyhanna (about 5,200 acres; old unexploded artillery shells may turn up in remote areas, so leave them alone and call 570-894-8336), Gouldsboro (about 2,700 acres), Beltzville (about 1,700 acres) and Big Pocono (about 800 acres; the park closes in early December). These parks bar only migratory bird hunting on Sundays.
- Maps and questions: use the Game Commission's State Game Land maps, or call its Northeast Region office at 1-833-742-4868, Monday to Friday, 7:30am to 4pm.
Safety rules
- It's illegal to hunt or shoot within 150 yards of any occupied home, camp, business, farm building, school or playground without the occupants' permission. For archery and crossbows the zone is 50 yards, but it stays 150 yards around schools, playgrounds and day-care centers. In lake communities, where homes sit close together, these zones cover nearly everything.
- Fluorescent orange: 250 square inches on the head, chest and back, visible from all sides (a hat and vest works), during firearms deer and bear seasons, and for small game hunters at all times.
- Lake communities: Emerald Lakes prohibits discharging firearms or bows anywhere in the community, with a $750 fine. Other communities set their own rules, so don't hunt on community land, and ask your host before bringing firearms or bows.
- Rules change each license year. Read the official 2026-27 Pennsylvania Hunting & Trapping Digest before you go.
