Pennsylvanians headed out last year to rediscover the great outdoors in record numbers. From hiking to camping, to fishing and hunting, outdoor activities garnered increased participation.
Nothing is expected to change this trend in 2021. Hunting licenses alone already are higher this year than last year.
Until recently, Pennsylvania was one of the few states with archaic blue laws that prevented Sunday hunting, a throwback to a time when the state used such laws to encourage families to spend time together and attend church on Sundays.
Hunters now can engage in their sport on three Sundays during the season, but working Pennsylvanians who clock in Monday-Friday still generally have only one day a week to practice their sport.
Perhaps encouraged by the number of hunters purchasing licenses, Pennsylvania lawmakers are considering a bill that would allow the Pennsylvania Game Commission to determine how many Sundays could be open to hunting, removing the decision from the state Legislature. The bill should pass.
In contemporary times, it is widely accepted that the state should not attempt to directly or indirectly influence how families spend their Sundays. Recent opposition to opening up the state for Sunday hunting emanated primarily from farmers concerned about trespass and safety.
When Pennsylvania legalized a few days of Sunday hunting, effective in 2020, part of the new law included provisions requiring hunters to secure written permission from landowners to hunt on their property and steeper penalties for trespassing. This was a reasonable nod to farmers’ concerns.
Allowing the state’s Game Commission to determine the particulars of Sunday hunting puts the question in the purview of the experts on the matter. The commission currently is conducting a pair of studies to better understand how Sunday hunting allowances impact license purchases, with early data indicating that a majority of hunters are in favor of expanding the program.
There hasn’t been much general outcry against Sunday hunting, and those who have taken advantage of the few Sundays that have been open to date have expressed appreciation.
As more hunters take to the woods, this is a timely effort to relocate decision-making power from the Legislature, an unwieldy body for such calls, to the Game Commission, which is better equipped to determine how to expand the program.
First Published: June 18, 2021, 4:00 a.m.
