ERIE — Applications are being taken for 85 hunters in the annual deer hunt at Presque Isle State Park. The hunt is scheduled for Dec. 7 through 9.

Hunters will be able to use rifled shotgun slugs, black-powder muzzleloaders and/or archery equipment.

Applicants must have a valid Pennsylvania hunting license and an unused Erie County antlerless deer tag to participate in the hunt. Hunters who don’t have a tag will only be allowed to sign up to take an antlered deer.

Eighty-five hunters will be allowed to participate.

The Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources holds the hunt to thin the deer herd on the peninsula to keep the park’s ecosystem in balance.