Beginning February 13th, 2012, Pennsylvania hunters are no longer required to display their hunting licenses on their backs – a law that has been in effect since 1913.

The bill, now referred to as HB 2093, was introduced last year in an effort to remove “back tag” requirement after the redesign of the state’s hunting licenses to a more convenient wallet size the previous year.

Representative Keith Gillespie (Republican – York) first introduced the bill early last year, which passed in the House with a unanimous 200-0 victory in June. The bill would sit in the state Senate for another five months before going to another vote. On November 14th the Senate passed the bill 46-3.

Co-sponsor of the bill, Gary Haluska, (Democrat-Cambria) recently said in a public statement, "Instead of requiring hunters to hang their licenses off their backs - where they're prone to be lost and where they can't be read from any kind of distance anyway - it makes more sense to simply require hunters to have their license with them in a form and place where it can easily be carried, such as in their wallet."

A Wisconsin deer hunter walking into the woods properly displaying his "back tag".

Wisconsin and New York are the only two states that require hunters to display a “back tag”.