Pennsylvania hunting

D

don novicki

Active member
Well Pa. has finally broken through one of the last old "blue laws" that was still in place: Sunday Hunting. Governor Shapiro has signed the bill into law and we are now officially allowed to hunt on Sundays. The Game Commission is meeting 7-28 to see if they will put it into effect this season or next. Good news for some however, others view it as a negative.
 
Seems odd to me blue laws ended in the bible belt long before the northeast. What other activities/commerce are still under blue law? It also seems odd the days still counted against your 60 day season. It will be interesting to see if there are significant increases in PA harvest.
 
No Sunday hunting was the most frustrating things about being a hunter and growing up in PA. It made no sense to me to take away one of two days the average working people could hunt without taking a day off. Glad to hear it is finally going away.
I seem to remember that the Sundays did not count against the number of days to hunt waterfowl??
 
Carl said:
No Sunday hunting was the most frustrating things about being a hunter and growing up in PA. It made no sense to me to take away one of two days the average working people could hunt without taking a day off. Glad to hear it is finally going away.
I seem to remember that the Sundays did not count against the number of days to hunt waterfowl??
Click to expand...
CT enjoys the added days to total season length because there's no Sunday duck hunting. That rule came into effect around 1990 before that we lost the days. The federal rule applies only to those states where Sunday hunting was never permitted, and says if the state ever goes to Sunday hunting, they can't go back. A law was just passed allowing Sunday hunting on private land in CT for deer and other game, but not waterfowl. From a selfish standpoint, I like the no Sunday waterfowl rule because it stretches the season out so that we might get a cold snap in there somewhere. And I remember my dad saying, no hunting on Sunday saved a lot of marriages. Wonder how he thought that up?
 
NC continues to have some restrictions on Sunday hunting. No firearm hunting on Sundays between 0930 and 1230 - and no migratory bird hunting at all. And most state gamelands are closed to hunting on Sundays.

Personally, I have no problem with these restrictions - nor would I to a more general "no hunting on Sundays". But particularly for migratory birds, I suspect a rest day each week has some value - and while that could be any day of the week, closing a weekend day likely takes more pressure off than closing a Tuesday, for example.
 
SJ

I was under the impression Sundays counted towards the 60 even though folks couldn't hunt. Looks like I had that part wrong. Thanks for clarifying.
 
Eric Patterson said:
Seems odd to me blue laws ended in the bible belt long before the northeast. What other activities/commerce are still under blue law? It also seems odd the days still counted against your 60 day season. It will be interesting to see if there are significant increases in PA harvest.
Click to expand...
Here in NJ still no firearms hunting on Sunday. ( bow hunting is allowed). Doesn't bother us to much and gives ducks a " rest" day
 
SJ Fairbank said:
CT enjoys the added days to total season length because there's no Sunday duck hunting. That rule came into effect around 1990 before that we lost the days. The federal rule applies only to those states where Sunday hunting was never permitted, and says if the state ever goes to Sunday hunting, they can't go back. A law was just passed allowing Sunday hunting on private land in CT for deer and other game, but not waterfowl. From a selfish standpoint, I like the no Sunday waterfowl rule because it stretches the season out so that we might get a cold snap in there somewhere. And I remember my dad saying, no hunting on Sunday saved a lot of marriages. Wonder how he thought that up?
Click to expand...
I agree wholeheartedly!
 
Eric Patterson said:
SJ

I was under the impression Sundays counted towards the 60 even though folks couldn't hunt. Looks like I had that part wrong. Thanks for clarifying.
Click to expand...
When I was a kid, we lost the days. We always complained among ourselves, but we hunted on Sunday in NY and RI so maybe it was a blessing. Apparently we weren't alone, as it changed somewhere late 80s early 90s I think. I like it the way it is.
 
I had mixed emotions when we got Sunday hunting in VA. While I can appreciate the desire for those that can only hunt on the weekends, I liked not being conflicted. I prefer Sunday mornings for church, so did do some after church hunts. But what I appreciated was the longer season, adding another week to the season for us. If it was up to me, I would go a step further and not hunt Tuesdays and Thursdays and reduce the splits. Seems the splits never hit right.
 
The compensatory days for Sunday were put back into the waterfowl season starting around 20 years ago here in NJ, which was something I appreciated. Prior to that we just lost them and Sunday was counted in the # of days we were allotted by USFW. I also am good with no hunting on Sunday. I guess if you're used to it you look at it differently. I am glad there is a day of rest for the game, and particularly for duck hunting.
 
SJ

So, I wasn't totally wrong, just wrong for the past few decades 😂. On a similar note, this reminds me just how complicated hunting becomes when one attempts it outside of the area they grew up hunting. Game laws are so state-specific, especially on public lands, in particular WMAs. For example, they recently banned air cooled motors on a portion of one of our WMAs. Guess who ran mud-motors there all season long? Non-residents. I don't think there are any signs to help them stay legal. Just small print. A fella really needs to pay attention and read the rules for where they are hunting because it is easy to be doing something completely legal in most places yet totally breaking the law. That's actually one of my gripes with hunting today. Over-regulation. Most of the federal game laws are pretty consistent. It's the states that pile on the minutia.
 
I grew up in NJ with no hunting on Sunday's. With full week hunting that prevents others from enjoying woods during the season. Others will have different opinions but I would not risk going into woods for a hike during an active season.

Rick
 
Eric Patterson said:
SJ

So, I wasn't totally wrong, just wrong for the past few decades 😂. On a similar note, this reminds me just how complicated hunting becomes when one attempts it outside of the area they grew up hunting. Game laws are so state-specific, especially on public lands, in particular WMAs. For example, they recently banned air cooled motors on a portion of one of our WMAs. Guess who ran mud-motors there all season long? Non-residents. I don't think there are any signs to help them stay legal. Just small print. A fella really needs to pay attention and read the rules for where they are hunting because it is easy to be doing something completely legal in most places yet totally breaking the law. That's actually one of my gripes with hunting today. Over-regulation. Most of the federal game laws are pretty consistent. It's the states that pile on the minutia.
Click to expand...
You got that right! I hunt a number of New England states, the differences in hunting and equipment regs is mind numbing. Not to mention (anti) gun laws.
 
I lived in PA, the state of NO Sunday Hunting for 60 1/2 years. Have lived in Western NY, a state that Has Sunday Hunting for 15 years.

I'll take the No Sunday hunting anytime for a list of reasons that I shall not get into. Except One. Mondays were always the best days to hunt following a day of Rest for Man, Beast & Bird. Most of the jobs I had I worked weekends and had Mondays off cuz of my passion for Hunting. Some folks Live for the weekend. I lived for Monday. That ended very fast in NY. Thank God the dry fly fishing for many months helps to make up for it.

PA has far more hunters than many other states with Sunday Hunting. The new law will play out differently in several ways I do believe. The saying "Be careful of what you wish for." comes to mind.

my 2 cents
 
Sunday hunting in Pa isn't for every kind of hunting. It's still up to the Pa Game Commission to decide when and what.
 
Uh oh! If Maine follows suit, I will be divorced after the first duck season with Sunday hunting. It'll be worse if partridge and woodcock are open Sundays, too. Here, landowner resistance from the large timber land owners has been fierce, and not much passes the Legislature when they are united in opposition.
 
SJ Fairbank said:
CT enjoys the added days to total season length because there's no Sunday duck hunting. That rule came into effect around 1990 before that we lost the days. The federal rule applies only to those states where Sunday hunting was never permitted, and says if the state ever goes to Sunday hunting, they can't go back. A law was just passed allowing Sunday hunting on private land in CT for deer and other game, but not waterfowl. From a selfish standpoint, I like the no Sunday waterfowl rule because it stretches the season out so that we might get a cold snap in there somewhere. And I remember my dad saying, no hunting on Sunday saved a lot of marriages. Wonder how he thought that up?
Click to expand...
Agreed with this sentiment being from CT. Ducks need a rest, and I'd be in the doghouse if I could duck hunt Sundays. My only complaint is I'd like Sunday goose hunting in the September resident season so my daughters can get out there more. With our whacky custody schedule and often late cut corn it's hard to place them in the field, but this is trivial compared to the benefits.

As for the deer, being a forester, I'd be happy if they let us hunt them at night too! No shortage of those rats down here.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top