Some PA Hunters Want Sunday Ban

WTH? First, know that I (Jay) am a regular (every week) church-goer. So I get the reason (supposed) behind a Sunday ban. But as much as I enjoy our local church, I’m not going to feel at all bad if I get away for a couple Sundays – or better yet, long weekends – to hunt some birdies in PA.

You may feel differently, which is fine…and besides, not everyone is a churchgoer.

Lots of opinions in Pennsylvania, a big hunting state. Here are excerpts from some of the press coverage, which in PA is ample:

> Sunday was once a quieter day. There was no youth soccer playing, no department store shopping, restaurant dining or alcohol buying. All that has changed. Now kids play sports from morning to night on Sunday, stores advertise big sales that day, restaurants serve brunches, and liquor and wine are available in some places. Despite it becoming another busy day for many Pennsylvanians, there is still a ban on hunting on Sundays.

Negative Comments

> Richard Hess owns a farm…. “We have a lot of people hunting on our farm, and we frequently get involved in problems like lost dogs and searching for wounded deer. I like the rule about resting on the seventh, and our farm will be closed to hunting on Sunday. I hate to say it, but I don’t think the Game Commission can do much to turn around the trend of fewer hunters.”

> Patty and Richard Troutman of Dornsife, both avid hunters, would rather not see Sunday hunting, but admit they do take advantage of it when they travel. “I really appreciate it when we are traveling to other states and are permitted to hunt on a Sunday. Sometimes, it is that one extra day that makes the hunt successful. But I am not in favor of it in Pennsylvania. I know that is hypocritical, but Sunday is that day forsaken to hunting.”

> Nancy Craft of Muncy, a taxidermist who is active in planning Women in the Outdoors events, has more questions than answers. “I feel the Game Commission needs to be very careful about Sunday hunting. I really do not think our deer herd can sustain Sunday hunting.”

Ambivalent Comments

> Barbara Beaver of Watsontown is also for Sunday hunting. “Most hunters do not have a lot of time to take off work, so having a two-day weekend would be great. On the other hand, my grandfather feels that Sunday is a day of rest, family and church time.”

> “I hunt out West where Sunday hunting has been in effect, and these states have experienced similar demographic trends like those seen in Pennsylvania. Sunday hunting has not been the advertised ‘magic panacea’ for reversing the downward trend in participation.”

> A non-hunting friend told me recently he was opposed to Sunday hunting because he takes his mountain bike in state game lands on Sundays and would prefer not to get shot. I reminded him that it’s the license-buying hunter who has paid for every blade of state game land grass and that he, as a non-hunter, has not contributed a solitary cent to the purchase, or upkeep, of the game lands. I told him he had no right to reject Sunday hunting on game lands because he has made no fiscal contribution.

> On the other side of the coin, I know that 90 percent of my personal hunting is done on private land that doesn’t belong to me. For the most part these lands are owned by farmers and faith-oriented people who are opposed to the Sunday expansion and I respect their beliefs. For landowners who do not wish to have hunters on their property on Sundays, there should be no question that their rights be observed.

Time is Now

Greg Isabella…a [former] member of the Pennsylvania Game Commission board of game commissioners: “With the makeup of the current group of legislators and with the current administration, I believe it’s now or never for increasing the opportunities for Sunday hunting.

“I’ve heard the threats from the Pennsylvania Farm Bureau about farmers denying access to their land if increased Sunday is allowed, but those same threats were made in Ohio, New York and other neighboring states before they allowed Sunday hunting.

“What people don’t understand is that, depending on whose figures you use, 50 percent or less of farmers belong to the bureau. Also, I’ve been at meetings of the organization where the subject of Sunday hunting came up, and when one or two people spoke up against it, a vote was never even taken.

“To me, here’s the bottom line: If a farmer who has a longstanding relationship with sportsmen doesn’t want Sunday hunting on his land, all he has to do is post his land, and I know there are sportsmen who will help him. Also, I’m sure that a farmer who is suffering economic hardship because of crop damage to deer or other wildlife species is not about to stop hunting on his land.”

Outcome Thoughts

> What makes the whole debate about Sunday hunting hypocritical is that Pennsylvania already has Sunday hunting – as long as one hunts crows and coyotes. What makes the debate so insulting are those who make it a religious issue – meaning that the millions who shop, golf, bowl, fish or attend sporting events, concerts, theaters and block parties on any given Sunday in Pennsylvania evidently are doing the work of the Lord, but the thousands who would hunt rabbits, pheasants, turkeys and squirrels would be heathens.

> I find it disingenuous that there are state agencies permitting the rape of Pennsylvania’s state forests by the Marcellus shale industry; yet they would have the audacity to tell state hunters that Sunday hunting will harm the wildlife population.

> As for an overall expansion of Sunday hunting, there are many religious and secular lobbies opposed to the concept. These are powerful voting groups and, as such, politicians are loath to anger them. For that reason, I don’t believe there will be a complete lifting of the prohibition, even though we would remain one of just seven states without Sunday hunting.

> I’ve also heard the oppositional argument that our wildlife cannot stand up to an additional day of hunting. Basically there’s a disregard of the hunting process in that assumption. Game animals will fall to Sunday hunters but it is the responsibility of the Pennsylvania Game Commission to set seasons and limits that benefit both wildlife and the hunter.

And?

Melody Schell of the Pennsylvania Federation of Sportsmen’s Clubs (PFSC) said, “Over the years, the vote regarding Sunday hunting has gone from being adamantly opposed to being about 50/50 over the last couple years,” Schell said.

Guess that’s a good sign. The bottom line for me is that the Sunday hunting ban has been in effect since 1873. How about trying a new way.

Category: PA