What are the laws for hunting fox in Pennsylvania? This article covers many of the fundamental laws you will need to know to get started. It also provides information such as seasons, harvest limits, and required permits for bobcat hunting in Pennsylvania. It is not a legal document and is not intended to cover all hunting laws and regulations.
In Pennsylvania, fox hunting season runs from October 22, 2022 to February 19, 2023. Sunday hunting is allowed. A fur-takers license is required, but there are no bag limits.
Purchase a Pennsylvania hunting license.
Check out all the Pennsylvania Hunting Seasons.
First time hunting fox? Check out these articles:
Read: How to call in a fox.
Read: How to use tracks and scat to hunt a fox.
Related: Read the laws for hunting coyotes in Pennsylvania.
Related: Read the laws for hunting bobcat in Pennsylvania.
If you are a property owner and require predator services or information, please visit to the Pennsylvania Predator Hunters Association.
General laws for hunting fox in Pennsylvania.
Suppressors. If you can legally own one, you may use it for hunting.
Electronic callers and decoys. Both are legal, as are hand and mouth callers.
While electronic callers are expensive, mouth and hand callers are less pricey but take time to learn how to use.
Read this article and watch the video to learn how to use a closed reed rabbit squealer.
Follow along as call manufacturer Brian Rush shows you three open reed calls you can learn and use today.
You can read about some highly effective but inexpensive ($20) decoys here.
You can check Amazon’s price list for callers and decoys here.
Can you hunt fox in Pennsylvania at night?
With furtaker license you may hunt coyotes at night during the big game season. However, you should expect to undergo quite a bit of scrutiny from a game warden if you are approached while hunting coyotes at night during a big game season.
The wardens will just be doing their job under the circumstances.
Night vision, infrared, and thermal riflescopes. These devices are legal.
I recommend the following articles:
- What color light to use for hunting predators—click here.
- The best infrared scope for new predator hunters—click here.
- The best thermal scope for new predator hunters.
Legal firearms while hunting fox in Pennsylvania.
List includes other furbearers.
• It is unlawful to take furbearers, including bobcats, with shotguns using shot larger than size No. 4 buckshot, or implements that are not lawful firearms, bows or crossbows.
Semiautomatic and manually operated rifles, manually operated handguns of any caliber, manual or semiautomatic shotguns and, bows and crossbows can be used.
Muzzleloading rifles or handguns that propel single-projectile ammunition can be used. Air- or gas-operated firearms of at least 22-caliber and propel a single-projectile pellet or bullet can be used.
Persons hunting coyotes, foxes, bobcats, raccoons, striped skunks, opossums and weasels may use gun-mounted lights that do not project a laser-light beam, as well as handheld and sporting-arm mounted night-vision and infrared (thermal) optics.
Porcupines may not be hunted at night.
Related: Hunting in bad weather? The truth about coyote hunting bad weather.
Related: Read here about how to get coyotes interested in you calls.
Unlawful devices while fox hunting in Pennsylvania.
It is unlawful to take furbearers through the use of fish hooks, snagging hooks
or any other hooks of similar design, or implements that are not lawful traps.
A furtaker license is needed to trap all furbearers, including coyotes.
Foxes & Raccoons
Foxes and raccoons may be hunted any hour, day or night, except during the
regular firearms deer season, when they may be hunted only after the legal
hours for deer. Foxes may be hunted on Sundays throughout the season.
Can you use bait while fox hunting in Pennsylvania?
BAIT AND DEVICES
Natural or manmade nonliving bait and any electronic or mechanical device may be used to attract fox for hunting or trapping.
Related: Read how to make the perfect bait pile.
BAIT VISIBLE FROM THE AIR
• The law allowing trappers to use any natural or manmade nonliving bait to attract coyotes does not permit the bait to be visible from the air.
It is unlawful to bait a trap with meat, animal products or their facsimiles if the bait is visible from the air. Those hunting coyotes, however, may hunt over bait visible from the air.
Hunting property destroying fox in Pennsylvania.
Killing game or wildlife to protect property.
(a) General rule.–Subject to any limitations in this subchapter, nothing in this title shall be construed to prohibit any person from killing any game or wildlife:
(1) which the person may witness actually engaged in the material destruction of cultivated crops, fruit trees, vegetables, livestock, poultry or beehives;
(2) anywhere on the property under the person’s control, including detached lands being cultivated for the same or similar purposes, immediately following such destruction; or
(3) where the presence of the game or wildlife on any cultivated lands or fruit orchards is just cause for reasonable apprehension of additional imminent destruction.
Lands divided by a public highway shall not be construed as detached lands. Any person who wounds any game or wildlife shall immediately make a reasonable effort to find and kill the game or wildlife. Every person shall comply with all other regulations in this subchapter pertaining to the method and manner of killing, reporting the killing and the disposition of game or wildlife and their skins and carcasses.
Related: Where do you shoot a coyote to put it down? Read this article.
Related: Should a deer hunter take a coyote when possible?
Killing a fox to safe a person in Pennsylvania?
(a) General rule.–It is unlawful for a person to kill any game or wildlife as a means of protection unless it is clearly evident from all the facts that a human is endangered to a degree that the immediate destruction of the game or wildlife is necessary.
(b) Report, safekeeping and investigation.–A person killing any game or wildlife under this subchapter shall report the event to an officer as soon as possible following the incident but in no case later than 24 hours, provide for safekeeping of the game or wildlife intact at the place where it was killed and be available for interview by the officer. The person killing the game or wildlife shall answer, without evasion, any pertinent questions of the officer making the investigation.
(c) Exoneration.–At the conclusion of any investigation when any game or wildlife is allegedly killed as protection to a person, the officer may exonerate the person for the otherwise unlawful killing of the game or wildlife. In all cases the officer shall seize and dispose of the game or wildlife as required by this title or upon instructions of the director.
(d) Prosecution.–Any officer making an investigation when game or wildlife was allegedly killed as a protection to a person shall proceed with prosecution as though the game or wildlife was unlawfully killed if the officer is dissatisfied with the explanation of the person killing the game or wildlife or if the physical facts of the killing do not support and sustain the facts alleged by the person killing the game or wildlife.
(e) Penalties.–A violation of this section relating to:
(1) Threatened or endangered species is a misdemeanor.
(2) Elk or bear is a summary offense of the first degree.
(3) Deer is a summary offense of the second degree.
(4) Bobcat or otter is a summary offense of the third degree.
(5) Wild turkey or beaver is a summary offense of the fourth degree.
(6) Any other game or wildlife is a summary offense of the fifth degree.
Related: Read this article to learn how to kill eastern coyotes—the biggest predators.
Related: Want to learn how to quickly use an open reed caller?
Avoiding trespass charges while hunting fox in Pennsylvania.
(a) General rule.–A person, while engaged in hunting or furtaking, commits an offense if, knowing that the person is not licensed or privileged to do so, the person:
(1) enters or remains on any land of another without authorization to do so, when the land is posted in a manner prescribed by law or reasonably likely to come to the person’s attention or is fenced or enclosed in a manner manifestly designed to exclude trespassers; or
(2) enters or remains on any land of another without authorization and defies an order not to enter or to leave that has been personally communicated to the person by the owner of the land or other authorized person.
Related: Don’t want to over hunt an area? Read this article.
(c) Penalty.–An offense under this section shall be graded as follows:
(1) A person who violates subsection (a)(1) commits a summary offense of the third degree.
(2) A person who violates subsection (a)(2) commits a misdemeanor.
(3) A person who commits a second or subsequent violation of this section within a seven-year period commits a misdemeanor, and the second or subsequent violation shall result in forfeiture of the privilege to hunt or take game or wildlife anywhere within this Commonwealth for a period of one year.