Sunday hunting proposal again pits Pennsylvania hunters against hikers, bikers and horseback riders

A bill that would end Pennsylvania’s restrictions on Sunday hunting has rekindled a showdown between groups laying claim to precious weekend days in Penn’s Woods.

Hunters and the head of the Pennsylvania Game Commission told lawmakers on Tuesday that easing restrictions five years ago to allow Sunday hunting three days a year showed there’s a demand among hunters and that it’s safe.

But others, including horseback riders, hikers and mountain bikers, who use the commonwealth’s public lands say there should be one day a week to enjoy the outdoors without fear of an errant shot and tragic consequences.

Pennsylvania currently restricts hunting on Sundays as one of a slate of so-called “blue laws,” or morality statutes dating back to the 19th century that limit individuals’ activities on that day of the week.

“The Sunday hunting issue is much more than a matter of jettisoning the blue law,” Brook Lenker, executive director of the Keystone Trails Association, told members of the House Game and Fisheries Committee. “It is about the rights of the citizens of the Commonwealth to have most of their sublime fall Sundays free from the dangers of a stray bullet to savor the serenity of Penn’s Woods and to take their children safely outside.”

Hunting on Sunday was completely banned until 2019, when Gov. Tom Wolf signed a bill to allow hunting on three Sundays — one during archery deer season, one during firearms deer season, and one selected by the Game Commission. The commission chose a Sunday during firearms bear season.

Game Commission executive director Bryan Burhans said the addition of Sunday hunting has been popular with hunters. More than 60% surveyed in 2022 said they had taken advantage of the extra hunting time. The popularity of the move is also evidenced by Pennsylvania bucking a national trend of declining hunting license sales.

Burhans said Pennsylvania’s hunting safety record has been exemplary since the law allowing Sunday hunting was passed, without a single incident in which a non-hunter was mistaken for game or injured in the line of fire.

“The concerns that expanded Sunday hunting would create safety conflicts between hunters and members of the public have not materialized,” Burhans said.

The proposal to open Sundays for hunting, House Bill 2106, is part of a slate of bills introduced by state Rep. Mandy Steele (D-Allegheny) that would also establish a way for farmers to find hunters to harvest deer on their land to control crop damage and require one member of the Game Commission to have a background in agriculture.

The Game and Fisheries Committee did not vote on the bills Tuesday.

John Bingham, state director for the hunting advocacy group Hunter Nation, said that many hunters don’t have time to enjoy the activity during the work week.

“For them, Sunday’s the only readily available day for hunting,” Bingham said.

Even with the addition of three Sunday hunting days and non-hunting activities continuing throughout the week during hunting seasons, the Game Commission recorded its safest year since 1915 in 2022, with only 14 incidents, which only involved hunters.

“The ban on Sunday hunting robs Pennsylvanians of half their weekend to recreate as they choose,” added Adam Eckley, the Pennsylvania chairperson of Backcountry Hunters and Anglers, a non-profit sportsmen’s organization based in Montana. “It’s a ‘no hunting’ sign nailed to every tree and fence posts across our entire state.”

Among the non-hunting users of Pennsylvania state game lands, recreational horseback riders are the largest segment of a $10 billion industry that also includes horse racing, Capri Stiles-Mikesell, director of the Pennsylvania Equine Council, said.

The council has worked with the Game Commission for more than three decades to reestablish the use of trails that had traditionally been used by both riders and hunters. Unlimited Sunday hunting would take away riders’ well-established trail use as a result of safety concerns, Stiles-Mikesell said.

“Imagine the path of a squirrel with a semi-automatic weapon following it. Where’s the horse? Where’s the hiker? Where’s the biker in that scenario?” she asked. “Our youth are not trained in their hunting safety to observe these people. They’re only trained to look for other hunters wearing blaze orange.”

Burhans of the Game Commission said the repeal of Pennsylvania’s Sunday hunting ban would not result in every Sunday being open during hunting seasons. It would allow the board of commissioners to decide which seasons should include Sundays after considering the biological impact on species and feedback from others who use state lands for recreation.

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