Sunday Hunting Bill Passes House

HARRISBURG – Legislation that would fully repeal Pennsylvania’s Sunday hunting ban passed the state House of Representatives Wednesday and now heads to the Senate for consideration.

Introduced by Rep. Mandy Steele, D-Allegheny, House Bill 1431 was approved by the House Game and Fisheries Committee June 3 and sent to the Senate today by a vote of 131-72.

This bill is identical to Senate Bill 67, introduced in March by Sen. Dan Laughlin, R-Erie. The Game Commission supports both bills, either of which would end the state’s prohibition on Sunday hunting and allow the Game Commission to include Sundays when establishing hunting seasons annually.

While there long have been Sunday hunting opportunities for foxes, coyotes and crows, and Act 107 of 2019 cleared the way for additional hunting on three designated Sundays, Sunday hunting otherwise is prohibited in Pennsylvania, one of the last remnants of the state’s “blue laws.”

The initiative to repeal the ban has a broad base of support behind it. Many sportsmen’s groups back the proposal, as does the Pennsylvania Farm Bureau. The Game Commission has been working with this coalition to get the bill across the finish line, an outcome that would benefit hunters and help ensure the future of wildlife management.

Game Commission Executive Director Steve Smith expressed the agency’s support for the proposal.

“Though hunters play an active role in helping to manage wildlife populations, through the purchase of their licenses and other revenue they generate, they also fund wildlife conservation at a larger scale, for all species,” Smith said. “For those reasons and others, it’s important to keep hunters engaged and providing the valuable service they do. These bills would help accomplish that. One of the biggest reasons hunters stop hunting is a lack of time. While no one can add hours to the day or days to the week, removing the prohibition on Sunday hunting holds the potential to add significantly more time to the hunting calendar and keep hunters hunting. On behalf of the Game Commission and hunters all across the Commonwealth, I sincerely thank Representative Steele for introducing this legislation, Chairwoman Anita Kulik for her leadership in guiding it through the House Game and Fisheries Committee, and all the members who supported this important initiative.”