BTBowhunter

OK this is a proposal coming up at the January meeting. It's been proposed that we change hunting hours from 1/2 hour before sunrise till sunsetby adding the 1/2 hour after sunset. I checked all our adjoining states and all but New York are 1/2 before sunrise till 1/2 after sunset.
I also checked several other states NJ, OH,WVa,MD,DE,IN,IL,VA,KY,NC and they ALL allow hunting from 1/2 hour before to 1/2 hour after.

The PGC staff cites safety concerns and inconsistencies with federal waterfowl regs as their reason to reccomend against expanding our hours by 1/2 hour but they then recommend that we adopt the extra 1/2 hour for resident goose season! So much for their inconsistencies arguement!

As for "safety" what is less safe about the available light in the 30 minutes after the sun goes down when we'vehunted the 30 minutes before sunrise safely for years? How do they explain the fact thatvirtually all the other sates all manange to be safe in that last 30 minutes?

I'm trying to be open minded here but this just doesnt make sense and it never did. I think the PGC staff dropped a ball on this one. Sometimes tradition is defined as doing the same stupid thing again and again because we've always done it that way. IMHO it appears that we're keeping that kind of tradition here!

I'm with the PGC on a lot of issues but thisseems plain stupid or just plain stubborn. Maybe there's someting I dont see. I invite anyone to come up with a valid reason for the PGC staffs recommendation.

livbucks

Define sunset.
When you are in the woods with ridges behind you and can't see the horizon, how do you know when the sun sets where you are? When the sky is clouded, how do you know when the sun sets? I hunt until it is too dark to positively identify a target and accurately shoot it. This changes on a daily basis with weather conditions.
I have been trapped in a stand until close to 8 pm because of deer under me that I didn't want to spook and educate. That doesn't count does it?

BTBowhunter

I'm not sure how or where they decide on "sunset" when they make that little chart but I know this: Yesterday was one of the darkest gloomiest days we've had in awhile. Quitting time or sunset as defined in the rules digest was 5:10 PM. At 5:30 anyone with eyesight good enough to hunt at all could clearly identify a deer,at least in bow range, and safely shoot. had a deer come by at 5:30, I would have been able to make a safe ethical shot but it would have been illegal because of our silly law. We all know that last hour of daylight is the prime time. I just dont understand the PGC staff'sagenda here

I have also been stranded in my tree by deer that I didnt want toeducate well after dark. It is perfectly legal to be out there all night so long as you dont have a round chambered or an arrow nocked. that doesnt mean you wont get grilled by the WCO when you get back to your truck though!

Bob1961

i think the book said hunting time ended yesterday at 4:57....at 5:10 i couldn't see the deer that were 50 yards from me to make a clean shot, and they were in a open field and i was on the woods edge....i'm sure with a scope i might have been able to see them but i would have been hunting after hours....but with my flintlock and open sites it was a no-go..................bob

DennyF

This issue came up several years ago: staff opposed it and the commissioners rejected the idea. It will probably be discussed againat the upcoming BOC meeting on Jan. 21-23, since Comm. Isabella asked staff inOctober,to look into it and report on itfor the Jan. meeting.You can make your opinions known by emailing the PGC:

E-Mail Comments and Suggestions to the Game Commission: [email protected]

My comments were, that since they've trusted us for many yearsto use good judgement when it's oftenstill too dark in the morning (at legal "start" time)...then theyshould alsotrust us to use good judgement at the end of the day too, by extending legal shooting hours for one half hour.

While it often depends on the weather, there have been many days when it was still light enough to clearly ID a legal target, well past the posted quit time for that day in December during firearms deer seasons. Even less of an issue for archery and/or flintlockseasons, when the quarry is normally much closer for a shooting opportunity with no optics involved.

BTBowhunter

Obviously we are at opposite ends of the state. The chart says 4:54 and we add 16 minutres for the area I was hunting. Quitting time was 5:10 where I was hunting.

Denny, thanks for the link! It definitely will be discussed. It's a proposal on the meeting agenda.

make your feelings known guys!!!!

germain

I'm with ya BT.Just to throw this in depending on weather,time of year and forest conditions I've climbed out of a tree already at quitting time to get to a clearing in the forest where it was light and clear as day.Alot of times there's a big difference in where you are hunting.

BTBowhunter

Very true, but even in the hemlocks on a gloomy day, a safe shot could still be made after our LEGAL quitting time. I realize we cant all take light meters out there and the PGC has to draw a line. Its just that they've drawn that line 30 minutes before virtually every other state out there

PABuck_HNTR

Things that make you go....Hmmmm!

Windwalker7

I agree that the end of shooting hours needs a change.

I'm guessing here, but I think the PGC is using the sunset timeline as a way to curb poaching.

I think the PGC figures on trying to get hunters out of the woods early and not let them in there until it is dark, is a good way to curb poaching.

This is just my opinion. I don't believe The PGC is concerned with it being a safety issue. Especially when they allow the starting time to be so early when it is still dark.

I'm sure a few guys remember the small Game season starting at 9:00 AM.

It took a while, but they finally changed it. Hopefully they'll do the same for the end of the day shooting time.