PA Sunday hunting?
Where does this currently stand?
The latest news articles I read today were dated mid-Sept and basically stated that Senate Bill 147 was stalled in the state House. Apparently it ran into an issue where the PA Farm Bureau would not support the bill unless it was amended to include a requirement that hunters obtain written permission from landowners.
I fall on both sides of this issue. I am a hunter and a landowner. I don't farm my land as it is mostly wooded but I do have a couple of small food plots. The reason I bought my land several years ago was so I would have a place to hunt and not have to rely on getting permission from private property owners or be relegated to hunting state game lands or other public hunting lands. I am now retired, living on and enjoying my property. Most of my neighbors are great folks and we either honor property lines or have mutual agreements about hunting.
Unfortunately, there are always going to be those who think they can trespass anywhere they please. I had an issue about a year ago when two young "hunters" came onto my property without permission and posed in front of one of my trail cameras for several minutes and then, I assume, stole another. I reported the incident and gave photos and a video from the camera to the State Police who questioned the two individuals who obviously denied stealing the other camera. One of the two is part of a local family that is well known for this kind of behavior and some of which have been prosecuted for drug and alcohol abuse, among other things. He actually picked an apple from my orchard and stood there eating it in front of the camera which they had previously examined by looking right into the lens from a couple of feet away! I took that as "We're going to trespass here whether you like it or not." And by the way, they were carrying another camera but it appeared to be a different model from the one that went missing the same day. I assume it was one they stole from somebody else.
Before anyone says "Oh this was just a couple of kids looking for a place to hunt" think about this: If that were true they could have easily come to my house, which is only a few hundred yards from where all this happened, and asked for permission.
One result of all that was that these guys could not be prosecuted for trespassing because my land was not "properly" posted. They also could not be prosecuted for theft because the evidence was missing. Well, guess what? Now my property is posted and if they get caught on my property again they can now be legally charged with Criminal Defiant Trespassing.
I also talked to another neighbor a few days ago who caught the same individual who posed for my camera stealing apples on his property. Apparently the guy likes apples. "Someone" also stole one of that neighbor's tree stands...
I don't like the fact that I had to nail those ugly yellow signs to the trees on my property lines but this is a perfect example of why that happens. I also understand the frustration of hunters who don't have their own property to hunt on. I used to be one of them. I was just fortunate enough to solve my problem through a lifetime of hard work and finding the right opportunity.