Sunday hunting in Pa.: Both sides are digging in (column)
Social media ran rampant after the Game Commission’s board of directors approved the Saturday after Thanksgiving as the opening day of deer rifle season. That decision quickly transformed into a rumor mill of possibly allowing Sunday hunting in Pennsylvania.
Harold Daub, Executive Director of the Pennsylvania Federation of Sportsmen and Conservationists stated, “PFSC respects the rights of the PA Farm Bureau to oppose SB147, the current legislative effort to transfer full regulatory authority for Sunday hunting to the PA Game Commission. However, PFSC strongly condemns the current strategy being deployed by the PA Farm Bureau in voicing that opposition. Repeatedly, over the past decade or more, the PA Farm Bureau leadership has misrepresented Pennsylvania’s hunters. They have been constantly portrayed as unsafe and unscrupulous people!”
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Mark O’Neill, Media & Strategic Communications Director for the Pa. Farm Bureau, stated; “When you are shooting a gun, the noise doesn’t stop at the property line, nor do the bullets stop at property lines.”
Other PA Farm Bureau staff have made similar comments relative to their desire to not wanting to hear gunshots on Sundays, according to the PFSC.
Thomas Redfern, vice chairman of the Bowhunters of Pennsylvania's Legislative Committee, recently cited two studies analyzing the economic impact of Sunday hunting, if it were legalized.
One 2011 study, conducted by Southwick Associates, a Florida-based fish and wildlife economics firm, predicted hunters would spend $460 million more annually if the ban were lifted, contributing to a total $803.6 million boost to the state economy.
According to the Farm Bureau; “Proponents have argued that Sunday hunting will attract more hunters. But, based on the experience of surrounding states, the facts don’t add up. In New York, Sunday hunting was opened in 2001. That year, there were 694,815 license holders. In 2017, there were 572,992. Ohio allowed Sunday hunting in 2002, when there were 426,856 licensed hunters. Now, there are 394,598. Virginia opened Sunday hunting in 2014, when there were 292,863 licensed hunters. In 2017, 277,281 hunters purchased licenses."
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Farmers own the land and have been kind enough to allow a lot of hunters to use it six days a week. However, the PFSC takes these calls for “gunfire free Sundays” very seriously, because the PA Farm Bureau is very influential in Pennsylvania’s legislature.
According to the PA Farm Bureau’s website, “The Pennsylvania Farm Bureau would like to see the issue of making hunting related trespassing laws stronger, happen outside of the debate over Sunday hunting. Unfortunately, lawmakers have tied the two issues together—such as with SB 147. Our farmers fear that this bill will bring about hunting pressure seven days a week, with trespassing last that are only strong on paper.
We believe a better course of action would be to strengthen trespassing laws and see if that has an impact on reducing the number of problems that occur during hunting season before moving ahead with any debate over Sunday hunting.”
Our hunting season runs from September through May. Many of those seasons overlap with popular days for other outdoor recreation pursuits. We have an abundance of fantastic state and forest land that is open for hunting and other types of outdoor recreation. A restriction on Sunday hunting makes it easier to share that space.
Do we need Sunday hunting? Please let me know your views.
Dave Wolf may be reached by email: wolfang418@msn.com