Sunday hunting??
 

Why aren't we allowed to hunt on sunday in PA, i asked my pap and all he said is thats the way its been or something like that. It would sure be nice to go out for the whole weekend!! Thanks for any input.

RE: Sunday hunting??
 

I have a farm in WV...About 3 years ago, the state voted in Sunday hunting. YEAH!! The next year, they put it up to vote county by county. Went down in all 30 or so counties that put it on the ballot. Absolutely amazing. It went down in our county 85%-15%. Not even remotely close.

My aunt, who is in her 70's, made it clear to me that she campaigned against and voted against it. She is 100% against sunday hunting. My response to her was that I had better never hear her complain about hitting a deer again. She hit 4 in 1 year...and constantly complains about her insurance. AWWWWWWWWWWWWWW


Too many left-wingers making too many laws. Plain and simple. They passed it here in Ohio, no problem.

RE: Sunday hunting??
 

I hunt WI and have never had to deal with this issue. Is it because of religous reasons? If so wouldn't that be a violation of church and state? If I am wrong about the reason the what is it all about? If something like that was passed in WI I would probably have to move. I work Mon-Fri and the weekend is all I have.

Great questions though.

RE: Sunday hunting??
 

Hopefully some of the more knowledgeable PA boys can give us a solid answer, cause im not sure.[:-]

RE: Sunday hunting??
 

I live in NY and I am lucky enough not to have to deal with the no sunday hunting, I hope it stays that way. I for one don't agree with it . I think sunday hunting should be allowed every where there are deer.JMO

RE: Sunday hunting??
 

Hmmm... lets see if Johhny Law has an answer... let us call him up... *ring ring* - Hi Johnny... a pal just posted an inquiry about hunting on the Sabbath... what's the boys in green suits have to say about that rule? (FYI - green - the color of PA's Wildlife Enforcement Officers Uni's). He said:

* Insert the serious voice of Johnny Law here - "Refer to PA WC Title 23, Chapter A, Section 2303, Subsection (a)" which reads as follows;

General rule.--Except as otherwise provided in this title, it is unlawful for any person to hunt for any furbearer or game on Sunday.

(b) Construction of section.--This section shall not be construed to prohibit:

(1) The training of dogs.

(2) The participation in dog trials as provided for in this title.

(3) The removal of lawfully taken game or wildlife from traps or the resetting of the traps on Sunday

(b.1) Exceptions.--Subsection (a) shall not apply to:

(1) The hunting of foxes.

(2) The hunting of coyotes.

(3) Any hunting which occurs on noncommercial regulated hunting grounds holding a valid permit under section 2928(b)(2) (relating to regulated hunting grounds permits).

(c) Penalty.--A violation of this section is a summary offense of the fifth degree.

So, I take it that it's not a religious issue, just something that's been on the books for a long long time. As far as why, he didn't know either. LOL. So goes yet another scratch your head PA game law folks! I vote we lobby to change it. :)

RE: Sunday hunting??
 

Bowfreak, I cut my teeth on NY white-tails. And it used to be that you could not hunt on sudays. Sunday hunting has been voted in since then.

RE: Sunday hunting??
 

I started hunting in 87 with a bow in NY, and it was legal to hunt Sunday then , but only with archery gear. They did voted a few years back to allow hunting with a firearms on Sunday. I belive it passed, not sure though as I only hunt with my bow.

RE: Sunday hunting??
 

I PERSONALLY THINK NON HUNTING on SUNDAYS is total BS..

I mean... come on.

I bet there are businesses in those counties that WORK..

What about that?

RE: Sunday hunting??
 

since i go to school i can only hunt during the weekends so that would really blow if we couldnt hunt during sunday thats like the stupidest law ive every heard of

RE: Sunday hunting??
 

Blue laws!

Maine has finally got the door opened. We have approved small game hunting in the Great North Woods on Sundays. It's not exactly what we want but it's a start. We'll take it for now and keep pushing.

RE: Sunday hunting??
 

Well I would be willing to bet that Pa. is like Va. in regards to Sunday hunting and in Va. it is the last vestige of the old Blue laws which were based in religion. It used to be in Va. That you could not buy anything on Sunday except from a pharmacy or a resteraunt, there were very few businesses that were allowed to operate/sell on Sundays, that has all changed now except Sunday hunting, to my knowledge that is the last Blue law on Va.'s books.

RE: Sunday hunting??
 

It began with the blue laws but remains because of the number of licensed hunters in PA. The game commision has mulled this over several times and is of the position that 2 days of hunting on the weekend would put uncontrollable pressure on many game animals, thus the ban remains.
Just too many weekend warriors. You can hunt pest animals like coyotes and crows.

RE: Sunday hunting??
 

It may have started as a blue law but as livbucks and others have pointed out, there is probably a better reason now.

There is no church and state law in the constitution.
Besides, these are your peers who voted this down - not "The Man"
If you feel strongly about it, and who wouldn't, I'd start a petition and lobby to have the law changed - put it up for revote - get involved.

RE: Sunday hunting??
 

Time for no sunday hunting to move on. We have it here also but have removed it from alot of the more remote areas. Hopefully we can do away with it more and more each year. Things are different now, less people into it and less people who have time for it.

B

RE: Sunday hunting??
 

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!!!!!!! Someone HAD TO mention the ugly Sunday Hunting stuff again! [:@] It is the worlds most stupidest law and I still don't see the logic behind it and never will.

Remember that guy named Darrell from the VA board who made the petition and went so far as making a website in support of it? Don't know if he's still around, but he was cool in my book. He went further than anyone I have heard or read about. If I remember, that petition had thousands of signatures, and he presented it to the VA House and Senate. But, because we still have that ancient "Blue Law", they squashed the petition. [:@]

Edit: I just did a google search and found Darrell's old website on Geocities. It hasn't been updated or anything, but that last entry was Feb 8th (I think) where he mentioned the House Bills for allowing Sunday hunting, getting squashed. Check it out....

http://www.geocities.com/sundayhuntva

Butch A.

RE: Sunday hunting??
 

Sunday hunting is open here in Manitoba for many GHA's (Game Hunting Areas), however my area is not one of those. I will be away at college again this fall and not being able to hunt Sundays will leave me with 3 or 4 days to hunt instead of 6 or 7. It's kind of frustrating because time is limited. I have scouted 10 times more than previous years and have permission to hunt on over 1000 acres of private land. Couple that with the fact that I have a brand new 300 WSM that I haven't taken any game with, and I am really looking forward to hunting season! It would really be nice to have Sundays to hunt.

RE: Sunday hunting??
 

I'm sick and tired of the no Sunday hunting as well. If you don't want to hunt on Sunday then be my guest but it should be up to the individual. I heard they were really talking about overturning it here in Pa this year but I didn't hear any more about it. Anyone else hear anything?

RE: Sunday hunting??
 

Dont u think they could just open archery on sundays?? I mean not as much pressure as during rifle season IMO.

RE: Sunday hunting??
 

Sounds great to me!

RE: Sunday hunting??
 

The hunting organizations and businesses in those states that (states) prohibit Sunday hunting based on religious reasons, or are highly suspected to be basing the prohibition on religious reasons no matter how the state tries to disguise the reason, need to file a violation of the First Amendment suit in a federal court.

There is much case law regarding similar situation in which the courts found that the states were in violation of the 1st Amendment. In one case, one of the supreme court justices that held that the state was in violation, wrote:

"The First Amendment . . . gives no one the right to insist that in pursuit of their own interests others must conform their conduct to his own religious necessities."

No person or lesser body of government can enforce any rule or legislated law that clearly violates any aspect of the Constitution. Additionally, all states receive federal funds. Doing so puts them in the pocket of the Federal government and those federal funds can be cut if the state does not play ball.

The 1st Amendment clearly states that

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, ….."

Legislating laws that prohibit any activity, business or personal, for religious reasons, can be interpreted as "…….respecting an establishment of religion."

In addition, the "Blue Law" could be found to be violating the Constitutional right of "equal protection."

http://www2.potsdam.edu/alcohol-info...055361019.html

RE: Sunday hunting??
 

It wouldn't make a giant difference to me personally but it sure would make life alot easier to co-ordinate so it didn't always have to be a saturday, heck a guy might get lucky once in awhile and be able to hunt both, or just two mornings etc?. Chances are i'd only be able to hunt one day on the weekend anyhow, with all the other things going on. I'm sure it would be the same for many of us here. As far as the outfitters etc. i dunno how big a difference it would make but i suppose it would add a little flexibility. If it makes sense for game management purposes, which it prolly doesn't, then close down wednesdays instead.

B:D

RE: Sunday hunting??
 

I'm from PA. I believe that the banning of most hunting on Sundays is probably rooted in religion ie blue laws. However, they got you coming and going. Since the law allows for the hunting of crows, foxes, and coyotes, then there is no complete ban on Sun. hunting. All they will tell you is that you can hunt on Sun, any Sun., but only for the afformentioned species. They haven't totally banned all Sun. hunting. That's how the powers that be get away with it. You could fight a total ban in court as being exclusionary or discrimanatory. But as long as some, no matter how little, is allowed, they can get away with what in effect is a ban. Its a legal manuever plain and simple.

RE: Sunday hunting??
 

It's better to be sitting on deer stand and meditating about spiritual things than sitting in church thinking about deerhunting.

RE: Sunday hunting??
 

Personally, leaving Sunday off the books for big game hunting doesn't offend me in the least. There's plenty of weekend "hunters" out there at the sound of the bell come Friday and a party at camps dotted all over the forest on Saturdays. I say allow the animals a day of rest... even if it's just to recover from watching "Stupid Human tricks" in person all weekend. I prefer to hunt throughout the week, when Johnny Wanna Be is sitting in class / work. Two can really be a crowd when the guy next to you is an idiot.

RE: Sunday hunting??
 

JJWIII:

You are correct. However, the state should be forced to support the law in a federal court, and let the court decide if the state's reasons are valid.

What possibly would be the one reason that could fly? That the deer population is so low, hunting must be limited? What else?

RE: Sunday hunting??
 

Jolly sez Sorry man, I'm not buying into your argument. The dumba$$es are going to be there whether we like it or not. Besides, allowing them twice as many weekend days to get it out of their system would probably be a plus for somebody that prefers to hunt on weekdays. And that part about allowing the animals a day of rest is ridiculous. The open seasons on deer, turkey and bear make up but a very small fraction of the year. Rest time for these animals is a non-issue. Bottom line is there is no good reason to not allow the hunting of all game species of animals on Sundays. Those who oppose this do so because of 1) tradition (thats the way its always been), 2) religion(Sundays are the Sabbath and therefore hunting should not be allowed), or, 3) the other special interest group, the anti's. They don't want any hunting so a Sunday ban is a step in the right direction to their ultimate goal, no hunting at all. None of these reasons are legitimate as far as I'm concerned.

RE: Sunday hunting??
 

Cant hunt Sundays in CT either & it sucks. I hunt NY with a rifle & its open on Sunday but not here. Late season when I cant hit the woods after work is when it really hurts. Cant say I understand why its this way, its not a lack of deer here as theres too many, you get all the doe tags you want.

RE: Sunday hunting??
 

I am so glad they opened sunday hunting here in ohio, i got tired of sneaking around the woods on sunday when it wasnt permitted, lol. Just kiddin, but for folks who work all week and only can hunt one day a week isnt just enough in my book.

RE: Sunday hunting??
 

Yes there is. As c903 stated the first amendment. You cannot make people conform to your religoius beliefs about sunday being holy. This law to me is totally based on religion. If I lived in one of those states I would fight it like c903 stated in court. If that was to fail I would move. Just GOTTA hunt.

RE: Sunday hunting??
 

yeah i would love to just go out for the whole weekend. it just messes things up

RE: Sunday hunting??
 

There is NO Sunday hunting here in North Carolina unless you are in the Military , active duty , retired military , DoD employees, spouse or child of either . they have to hunt on military base ( Ft.Bragg ) . Now this is where i have a problem. they say they are allowed to hunt cause they work all week , well guess what I DO TOO!!!!!!! I am even a disabled veteran but only having 20% i do not have the right to hunt on Sunday , disabled veterans can hunt on Sunday only if they have 50% or more WHAT A BAG OF BULL**** ! NC needs to get over these 200 year old blue laws and let the people of this state hunt on Sunday , funny you can buy beer on Sunday but ya can't hunt !

RE: Sunday hunting??
 

Me too. I love to hunt during the week. I see way more deer in bow season during the week cause they don't sense the morning pressure and hole up in the thick. Hunt the rut during the week if you want a real treat. Some years it is like a continuous stream of bucks making the rounds.

RE: Sunday hunting??
 

[quote]ORIGINAL: JJWIII sez There was no "argument" in my post. The day of rest reference I made was with jovial intent... my deepest apology if it twisted up your shorts. If you wish to debate, pick a topic that's worth debating. [8D]

RE: Sunday hunting??
 

No twisted shorts here. Seems that we had differing views on the same subject. Often times this is referred to as an argument. Judging by the amount of replies to this subject (2 by you), I'd say the Sunday hunting issue is worth debating/commenting on. Mainly sighting the fact that it is being debated on most boards I read nowadays. Possibly this controversial subject will enter a courtroom soon. We shall see.:eek:[X(][&o];)

RE: Sunday hunting??
 

We have archery only on Sundays, and in southwestern Ontario Canada. More northerly regions allow hunting by all (legal) methods on Sundays.
Al

RE: Sunday hunting??
 

MA. THEIR TALKING ABOUT SUNDAY HUNTING BUT WHO KNOWS ALOT OF PEOPLE SPEND GOOD $$$$ON HUNTING LICENSE AND CAN ONLY HUNT WEEKENDS!!!! PLUS THE LIBERALS START WINING IF THEIR NO PLACE FOR THEM TO GO HIKING!! LIKE THEY PUT MONEY INTO MA. WILDLIFE TO BUY LAND FOR US SPORTSMAN!!! AND CANT BE TO MUCH OF THE LORDS DAY ON SUNDAY ,THEY JUST PAST A LAW OF PACKAGE STORES BEING OPEN ON SUNDAYS NOT THAT ITS A BAD THING ,THEY SHOULD 86!!!!THAT SUNDAY LAW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

RE: Sunday hunting??
 

My 2 cents, I hate the law of no Sunday Hunting. I have heard that some people believe that the hunters need a day of rest and spend time with their famalies. Not Hunting Sunday's sinks because if you only hunted deer with rifle and work 5 days a week, you would have only 2 days a year to hunt. How is it that you can work on Sundays but you can not hunt? It's the people in power that can change a law and this one needs to change. Let your Senator know what you desire.

RE: Sunday hunting??
 

I'm a PA hunter, and I'm kind of glad we're not allowed to hunt on Sunday. I spend so much time in the woods during the week and the weekends. Sunday is a good day to spend with my family.... I know I'd hunt on Sundays if we were allowed though...LOL

RE: Sunday hunting??
 

Yea why not wednesdays..........interesting point.