Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting Sunday Hunting In Pennsylvania???

For those of you that deer hunt in Pennsylvania what are your thoughts on Sunday hunting???

OK for archery if they take one day off the end of the fall season for each Sunday gained. OK for flintlock season.

Not OK for any firearms season unless they also allow silencers.

My beef is with the noise. I have to listen to gunshots 6 days a week during hunting season. It's nice to sit on the porch on Sunday and not hear gunfire.

Dale

Rich,

Two weeks ago I talked to a new man on the GC Board. He said that it was being discussed, however the farmers association was definitely against it. I said how about just on game lands and he said they were concerned that it would concentrate to many hunters. His take it was not going to happen.

According to him, perhaps small game on game lands is a possibility.

I'm kinda lukewarm about it, although my son is heavily in favor of it. He works all week and only can hunt on weekends while I'm retired and can hunt anytime. PA is more heavily populated than most western states and I can see both cultural and noise issues that could be problems here. I don't think the general population is ready for Sunday hunting.
Ron

I don't see it as much of an issue where one does not travel great distances to hunt. Where one drives 500+ miles for an outing and he may have to work Monday through Friday, it's the pits to only get one day in. Stupid law that likely violates church/state connections.

Rah,
Where in PA are you moving?
Ron

Maryland started limited Sunday hunting about 7 years ago, but only on Private property. I also belong to a hunting club in PA and have heard some rumor about Sunday hunting. I take off the two weeks of rifle season every year from work, so Sunday hunting has little impact on me, but for those who cant get the time off from work I can see the benefit, and if I were in there shoes would want it too.

One of the wierdest hunting laws there is IMO. I can usually hunt on weekends, and can't always get time off durring the week.

Less laws. If you don't like Sunday hunting, don't do it.

I can remember when the all the stores were closed on Sunday in Mo. Called it the "Blue Law". Can one fish or play golf in PA on Sun?

In my area, lots of small businessmen/tradesmen work six days a week. Where does the "no Sun hunting" leave those hunters? Lots of farmers try not work any more than just necessary on Sun. It is a day for church and recreation.

Yeah Pa has those old blue laws. I to fall in the category of working weekends and being lower on the seniority level at work, therefore not be able to take more than a day or two off for deer season. I'm all for sunday hunting and for hunting predators/varmints with the cursed/infamous black rifle.

Recently, I moved more into grouse hunting with my dog, and find that I can take all the time off that I want in early or mid November and have the woods to myself.

Rich,

I'm all for it and wish I had it in CT and Maine. It bothers me that we have old outdated ridiculous laws on the books.

CLB

Pa is loosing licensed hunters at an alarming rate. Especially alarming is the recruitment of young hunters. Or as is actually the case, the non recruitment of young hunters. I believe the average age of licensed hunters in Pa is now somewhere around 57 years.

There is more than one reasons for this but in my opinion one of the main reasons for this is the lack of Sunday hunting. Rifle deer season in Pa is 2 weeks. That means that any kid that is going to school has 2 Saturdays a year to hunt. That is their hunting season...2 days. Hard to get a kid pumped up about that with all the other things they have to do now days, like hanging out and getting into trouble. Sunday hunting would double kids opportunities to be in the woods. Not just deer hunting opportunities, but all hunting opportunities. A lot of the hunters that live near population centers have to drive several hours to more rural parts of the state to hunt. Who wants to drive 2 or 3 or more hours on a Friday night to hunt one day and then turn around and come home? Duh! The state is crying about it's decline in licensed hunters but they could double most peoples opportunity by allowing Sunday hunting. I don't get it.

My generation is the last generation of hunters in Pa. The Pa Game Commission is flat broke now. 50 years from now there won't be any such thing as hunting in Pa. Sad...but true. I'm just glad I won't be here to see it.

Randy

I got to sat it's very odd that a hunter/gun guy would not like the sound of gunfire. One of my favorite things about deer season, gun fire.

MIKE.

Just curious as to why they find it reasonable to shut down hunting on Sunday? Is it to give conservation officers a day off, or theoretically to reduce total game harvested, or something else entirely??

Its odd that so many states allow Sunday hunting & have no problem with the concept & only a few states do not allow Sunday hunting & many have problems with the concept. In Virginia many of the hunters & some of the largest deer hunting organizations do not support Sunday hunting. I just don't understand the objection. You are correct in stating that any legal change in the hunting laws that might bring or retain more hunters into the field is a good thing. The only segment of the hunting population that is increasing is licensed women hunters.

I have lived all my life in Pa. with the exception of New Jersey when I was an infant and my recent stint in Georgia. Seems that hunter numbers are on the decline. I don't get why the Pa. game Commission won't add 2 Sundays during rifle season!

Well put!!!

I'm all for it. We're so old fashioned it's crazy! We get land owners saying they don't want hunting on their property on Sundays. Fine. It's always up to them who and when they allow hunting. PA has a lot of game lands though. Lots of us have to work on Saturdays and we're cut back on time in the woods with the current laws. Time for us to get into the 21st century.

They would have to hire more officers and they're already complaining they don't have the funds. That's still unanswered.

why would they have to hire more officers? It would be cheaper to pay overtime than to hire for such short periods.

Ny has been hunting on sudays foe as long as I can remember and our bow season starts on 10/1 in some area's and buy the time Deer season is over in most of the state its New Years eve. I have a lot of friends in Pa that have always asked me to come up and hunt and my answer has always been " I'm not driving 5 hours to hunt for 1 day" and back when I was working 6 days a week I couldn't hunt there at all. Given the fact that you guys have shorter seasons than we do I'm hoping that you get to hunt on Sundays.Best of Luck