While many people are taking vacations this month, the Schuylkill County Treasurer's Office is hard at work as they issue antlerless deer hunting licenses.
"It's the busiest time of the year," said Schuylkill County Treasurer Jackie McGovern on Wednesday. "It seems overwhelming in the beginning, but we have a system we follow that helps get us through it."
County treasurers throughout the state began accepting antlerless deer license applications from state resident hunters Monday. Nonresident applications will be accepted starting July 30.
"The first week is really hectic," McGovern said. "It takes a few days to catch up. It gets slower as the month goes on, that's how we catch up. By mid-August we're caught up."
For the 2012-13 license year, license fees are include a 7-cent transaction fee paid directly to Active Outdoors, the Nashville-based company that runs Pennsylvania Automated License System, which allows hunters to view the number of licenses still available on the state Gaming Commission's website at www.pgc.state.pa.us.
The total fee for residents is $6.70. Total nonresident fee is $20.70. Applications are only sold by county treasurers and need to be mailed in an official pink envelope with two-way postage provided. The opening date for general statewide archery deer season is Sept. 29.
McGovern said in the first two days, her office received about 3,000 applications and issued about 1,400 licenses as of Tuesday.
McGovern said the county makes $1 on every license they issue.
"It's not a money maker for the county," McGovern said. "It's always been more of a courtesy to our constituents. We try to take care of our constituents."
McGovern said her office usually issues about 18,000 licenses a season. In order to keep up with the applications, McGovern said the office hires a temporary worker for two months. With an additional worker, McGovern said the office is divided into four separate "terminals" where they can sort the applications by dates.
"This has been the process we have found to be the easiest way to do things," McGovern said.
She also said some people stay in the office until about 6 p.m., an extra hour and a half past the courthouse closing time.
"We do as much as we can as quickly as we can," McGovern said. "We take that responsibly very seriously and we start to issue licenses right away. We can only issue so many doe licenses because the game commissioner is trying to control the herd. That is why we are on a first come, first serve basis. We do not use a lottery."
In order to make the process as fast as possible, McGovern asks applicants not to use tape on the envelopes. She also said it takes about three weeks for an application paid for by check to return as her office has to make sure the check clears before issuing the license. Meanwhile, McGovern said applications with money orders can be mailed out right away.
Regular hunting licenses became available on June 11 and need to be purchased prior to applying for antlerless-doe licenses. Regular hunting licenses can be purchased at a local Wal-Mart or Cabela's in Hamburg. The mailing address for the Schuylkill County Courthouse is 401 N. Second St., Pottsville, PA 17901.
According to the state Game Commission, total antlerless deer license allocations for the state this year was set at 888,000. Deer harvest estimates for the 2011-12 season included 208,660 antlerless deer and 127,540 antlered deer, totaling 336,200.
Residents and nonresidents can apply for unsold antlerless deer licenses starting Aug. 6. Unsold antlerless applications for the second round will be accepted starting Aug. 20.
Harvest reports are also available online at the Game Commission's website. Hunters can also call the agency's toll-free telephone reporting system to file a harvest report. The Interactive Voice Response harvest reporting system telephone number is 855-PAHUNT1 (855-724-8681).