Groups Trying to Open Sunday Hunting
[Our PA hunt reports will be up next week – can’t find the camera cable….]
Every year we have to plan our Maine hunts around Sundays because, as many of you know, hunting is prohibited on Sundays there – and in five other East Coast states, with five more states having some other Sunday hunting restrictions.
Put plainly, no Sunday hunting stinks!
In the past, efforts have been made to overturn these Sunday-hunting bans, but usually on a state by state basis. They’ve always been unsuccessful.
Now – albeit in the age of rabid anti-hunters – 15 groups including the NRA, the Safari Club, the Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation and the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) are trying to get these Sunday no-hunting regs overturned.
Couple highlights from this article:
> Jake McGuigan, NSSF’s director of government relations, said Sunday hunting could lead to a 25 percent increase in hunting participation. He said an economist evaluated the impact of overturning the bans and determined that, nationwide, 27,000 new jobs would be created, with $730 million in salaries and $2.2 billion in total economic activity.
> The NRA’s Chris Cox said restricting hunting to Saturdays can deprive families with youth sports or other family obligations of their only hunting opportunity. He noted that “extremist anti-hunting groups push Sunday hunting bans in a calculated effort to incrementally destroy America’s hunting heritage.” [The bans started well before that – some go back to the 1700sand were enacted to restrict all sorts of activities on the Sabbath –but we can see the antis supporting them now.]
We’d love to see these bans overturned (along with the fall no-fishing regs in Maine). How ’bout you?
NRA hunting restrictions map (click to see bigger).
Category: CT, DE, MA, MD, ME, NC, NJ, NRA, NSSF, PA, Rules/regs, SC, VA, WV
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Oh what a feeling to be able to hunt on Sunday. If the NRA really gets behind this attempt to overturn antiquated Blue Laws I predict that it can happen. Many times I have traveled three hours each way just to hunt on a Saturday but just imagine being able to hunt for two days instead of the one. I know of no other place I feel closer to God than in the forest and fields, my cathedral.
SUNDAY HUNTING will not happen in pa.WE WILL STOP IT.HUNTERS IN pa are only 2 % of population that uses the woods.
others DONT want guns going off while they are in woods on sunday at camp etc.
i think its greedy to want hunting 7 days a week. we get 6 days now to hunt.others only get 1 day in woods without guns going off.
FOLKS, if ever we get the OTHERS mad at us hunters over sunday hunting in pa,we could lose our hunting all together.
we keep forgeting that ALL of us owns woods in pa not just HUNTERS.
if farmers close their land to all hunting period where are hunters going to go to hunt?
that could happen if we piss off the farmers and they close their land to hunting everyday of week.
dont be stupid………
But its just during the hunting season, right? The majority of the year there are no hunters. We can hunt here in Michigan on Sundays but I would hate it if I couldn’t. The only real heavy hunting pressure here is during the firearms deer season the last two weeks in Nov. I don’t even go into the woods then (I don’t deer hunt anymore.) Other than that you wouldn’t even know hunting season was on. Sunday hunting doesn’t cause any harm here as far as I know.
As an avid bird hunter, conservationist, professional forester, and devoted Christian, I feel the need to weigh in. While I appreciate the fact that I can hunt on Sundays when I travel to most other states, that condition would have little bearing on whether I would visit that state or not. I am very opposed to Sunday hunting in NC and have no problem with states that elect not to allow it. It’s a states’ rights issue and it should stay that way. I also firmly believe that the wildlife benefits from a day of rest without pressure. Nothing says you can’t run your bird dog that day. Try toting a camera instead of a gun for a change. Let’s face it, we’re not exactly putting food on the table, it’s recreation.
No one’s ever been able to explain to me how wildlife gets a day of rest on Sunday, in states that don’t allow hunting.
Do deer not get eaten by coyotes? Ducks don’t get eaten by foxes on sundays? Cars don’t run over wildlife on sundays?
And what about fishing on sunday? Fish are wildlife, shouldn’t they get a rest as well (remember to tell the sharks not to eat on sunday, as well).
we did our best to stop sunday hunting in pa and will continue to stop it.
we hunters think we have right to hunt and shoot our guns 7days a week.
what about the other 98% that dont hunt and want peace and quite in woods on sunday at camp and taking a walk.
i dont want idiots with trucks and big tires and yelling and shooting near my camp on sunday and my friends walk their dogs on sundays in woods and dont want guns going off or all road hunters with stinky exhausts .
be fair,we get 6 days a week to hunt, let ones that dont hunt or want quite around camps at least 1 day to enjoy woods.