Pennsylvania Sunday Hunting

[tim629]

I don't think a saturday opener or threat of sunday hunting will actually turn out more numbers. might sell more licenses but not actually more hunting hours in the field.

on the saturday opener look at bear season: used to go mon-wed and you would have a decent crowd monday & tuesday and still enough to hunt wednesday. now that it opens saturday you get a good crowd then and hard to get anyone together for the second day let alone third and forget about the 4th day of the season. deer season will follow suit.

Sunday hunting: I feel it will amplify what the saturday opener and will take away more opportunity. right now a lot of private ground isn't posted so generally accepted that with respect you may hunt it (obviously not legal by the books of the law but gentleman's agreements of sorts that my 30acres + your 30 acres + the next guys = more ground for all) that will go away at a faster rate than it already is

 

[Howie]

2cents....Saturday after thanksgiving is the opener for firearms deer in Pa. Used to be that Monday for over 50 years.

I believe the Sunday bill got sent back for a rework.

I ain't a " Quaker" or organized religious at all but I'm against the Saturday opener and Sunday hunting....other than the preditor rules in effect.

Everyone want easier and faster....it's a shame! Alotta folks should turn in their mancard.

 

[MJE2083]

2cents....Saturday after thanksgiving is the opener for firearms deer in Pa. Used to be that Monday for over 50 years.

I believe the Sunday bill got sent back for a rework.

I ain't a " Quaker" or organized religious at all but I'm against the Saturday opener and Sunday hunting....other than the preditor rules in effect.

Everyone want easier and faster....it's a shame! Alotta folks should turn in their mancard.

If I can hunt Sunday, you can have my "mancard" or whatever else you want. Men can't hunt on Sunday? If you want it to be more difficult, maybe you should limit yourself to hunting 1 day per week.

 

[Howie]

Wow. Is a nerve touched by a opinion? I can't apologise if I offended you, sir but I read and welcome your opinion. Thanks

 

[jmveverka]

Wow. Is a nerve touched by a opinion? I can't apologise if I offended you, sir but I read and welcome your opinion. Thanks

Not sure how the Saturday opener or Sunday hunting makes anything "easier and faster"... The only thing it eases is helping people with jobs, kids with sports, or people who travel to hunt actually be able to hunt. Its not like a deer is easier to hunt on Sunday than Monday. I know for a fact that if the rifle Sunday is the first Sunday of the season next year (assuming the Saturday opener holds), that we will resurrect a deer camp in the mountains and I know several others that will be reopening as well. Traveling 4-5 hours to hunt one day is tough to swallow. Traveling that far to hunt 2-3 consecutive days is great.

 

[tim629]

Not sure how the Saturday opener or Sunday hunting makes anything "easier and faster"... The only thing it eases is helping people with jobs, kids with sports, or people who travel to hunt actually be able to hunt. Its not like a deer is easier to hunt on Sunday than Monday. I know for a fact that if the rifle Sunday is the first Sunday of the season next year (assuming the Saturday opener holds), that we will resurrect a deer camp in the mountains and I know several others that will be reopening as well. Traveling 4-5 hours to hunt one day is tough to swallow. Traveling that far to hunt 2-3 consecutive days is great.

interesting part of the deer camp part is i have a friend that does a big dinner saturday night at their camp, saturday is camp chores sunday is checking out their stands. now they are in a predicament when to do it all as thursday is family and friday is work or other commitments so camp might just become a play to sleep more than a lead up to deer season

 

[MT Bound]

I've always been amazed when I hear other hunters that won't support Sunday hunting, just unbelievable. If you don't want to hunt Sunday, then don't hunt on Sunday, but don't tell me I can't.

I know of outfitters in Maine that actually prefer the no Sunday hunting so they have the day to turn clients around for the next week of hunting, wtf?? All legal hunting methods should be supported, period.

Stay home, go to church, do whatever the heck you want to, but don't regulate me so I can't. A handful of States don't allow it....hmmm seems to me the evidence would say it's pretty common in the rest of the U.S. of A.

 

[Deleted member 28227]

If you don't want to hunt Sunday, then don't hunt on Sunday, but don't tell me I can't.

I have no skin in the game, but I've never heard a good reason for no Sunday hunting... every excuse I've heard essentially boils down to "well I like the way I do it and I don't wanna change".
Hunting regulations are all about preference, why else would you have bow and muzzy seasons in the west, instead of just rifle season. But at the same time...

 

[tzone]

The funny part is if this passes, all you anti-Sunday hunting guys...dint have to hunt on Sunday if you don’t like it. Don’t like Saturday opener? Then wait until Monday before you hunt.

 

[jmveverka]

The funny part is if this passes, all you anti-Sunday hunting guys...dint have to hunt on Sunday if you don’t like it. Don’t like Saturday opener? Then wait until Monday before you hunt.

I am fully in support of both Sunday hunting and opening on Saturday, but unless someone has exclusive access to a piece of private land that is a good sanctuary for deer, then they have little choice to skip the opener. Deer can certainly be had later, but 50% of all deer killed are killed on opening day. If you are competing with other hunters on your hunting ground, there are a lot less bucks on the landscape after opening day.

I honestly don't understand the opposition, all of the arguments for keeping the season structure as it has been in the past are simply folks refusing to adapt. Old Traditions can change and new traditions will develop. New hunters will join the ranks and perhaps some few will follow through and quit. But telling people too bad for you, or don't worry you can choose not to participate in the new structure is not a reality - we need to offer constructive suggestions for them to adapt.

I hope that Pennsylvania keeps the Saturday opener beyond this season (not a foregone conclusion) and that they finally have Sunday hunting (assuming it gets signed 3 days in 2020, and perhaps more in the future if all goes well). I will have much more opportunity to return home to hunt with my family there. I hope that my state of Virginia can get past the opposition of the hound hunters and the recreationalists and finally adds public land to Sunday hunting. I hope Maryland opens Sunday statewide and on public land. Same for West Virginia and South Carolina and the other states still with antiquated restrictions.

Make no mistake, Pennsylvania is the big fish among all states with Sunday bans. PA has more hunters than any state in the country except Texas - and Texas has more than twice the population and five times the land mass. Sunday hunting advocates have focused almost solely on PA for years. I am hoping the change in PA acts as a domino effect with other statewide bans and partial restrictions falling in the coming legislative sessions.