PA - group to explore impact of Sunday hunting
 

I'm not holding my breath but it is a spot of hope.

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/sports/outdoors/s_591816.html

Is allowing hunting on Sundays the way to reverse the sport's decline in Pennsylvania?
One group is interested in finding out.
Gov. Ed Rendell's Advisory Council for Hunting, Fishing and Conservation wants to hear from sportsmen and others "about how to improve the hunting experience in Pennsylvania."

Specifically, though, the group is interested in the Sunday hunting question.
According to the council, hunting license sales fell 28 percent between 1981 and 2007. Projections indicate another 24 percent decline by 2025.
A recent U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service study, titled "Fishing and Hunting Recruitment in the U.S. from 1990 to 2005," suggests that time constraints are the biggest reason people drop out of the hunting ranks.
Allowing hunting on Sundays in Pennsylvania -- something that's been illegal for a century -- might be the way to fix that, said council member Linda Steiner of Cooperstown in Venango County.
"Giving people more time to hunt may very well be the best way to solve the long-term decline in hunting," Steiner said.
Pennsylvania dropped its ban on Sunday fishing in 1937, and other blue laws, such as those limiting the sale of liquor and beer, have been greatly relaxed. With the exception of car sales, hunting remains the only activity that's restricted on Sunday in Pennsylvania.
Individuals and organizations interested in learning more about expanding hunting opportunities should contact the Governor's Council by calling 717-772-3292.

RE: PA - group to explore impact of Sunday hunting
 

I don't know how much it would help keep people hunting, but it surely wouldn't hurt either. I just can't believe that in this modern world an entire state would not allow hunting on Sunday, which is an off work day for most people and an ideal time for them to go afield. Makes absolutely no sense. I would say there are as many religious fanatics in this country as in a muslim country. If one believes one shouldn't hunt on Sunday than hunt on Monday or Tuesday, but don't tell everyone else that they shouldn't.

RE: PA - group to explore impact of Sunday hunting
 

I own the ground, if i want to hunt on a Sunday I should be able.

RE: PA - group to explore impact of Sunday hunting
 

my feelings on sunday hunting is that it should be allowed. especially the rifle hunters. being that money from our hunting license is used to purchase public land we should be able to use this land on any given day. if a farmer doesnt want to allow hunting then he can post his ground with, "no sunday hunting". being that i work and have to schedule time off in advance, sunday hunting would give me a day without using vacation time. if sunday hunting is not to be allowed, then rifle hunters should be allowed to hunt after Christmas. if only to hunt does. this would equal out the time bow hunter get to hunt.

RE: PA - group to explore impact of Sunday hunting
 

well, i dont want SUNDAY HUNTING.

I LIKE IDEA OF no hunters IN WOODS WHEN I AM AT CAMP TAKING A DAY OF REsT.

NO SHOOTING, NO TRAFFIC,NO NOISE.no people.

a lot of hikers will only hike on sunday as they are afraid of being shot.

they are against hunting on sunday.

reduced hunting sales is do to LACK OF GAME,no kid is going into woods even if you left him hunt 365 days a year if no game is there to hunt.

its hard to even find squirreal in wmu2g.

i also like walking my dog, hunting around area.

hunters with rifles driving deer,he could get shot for coyote etc.

its like bear season, i cant even take him out in woods, nuts will shoot him for cub bear.

we get 6 days to hunt, others only get 1 day a week to enjoy their sport,i think thats unfair too.

i understand only getting 1 day to hunt if you work but i did it and made out ok.

i suggest you all ask your boss if you can have fri/sat off instead of sat/sun,or 2 days during the week.

thats what i did,i had mon/tuesday off.

this is my feeling on this .
most of wives i talk too also said this,IF YOU THINK MY HUSBAND IS GOING TO BE IN WOODS 2 DAYS A WEEK,SAT/SUN IT AINT GOING TO HAPPEN.

sooooooooooooo, many divorces could happen over this too and thats not worth it.:eek:

RE: PA - group to explore impact of Sunday hunting
 

sproulman. get a clue! Most guys would be happy divorced then they could hunt all they wanted w/out listening to the nagging.Nagging wife, I'm going to hear it no matter how long I spend, but guess what, I can'y hear that nagging oin the woods. I actually pay the taxes, up keep and insurance in my woods, I own! Stay out of them, it is why i post. Keep your dog in as we shoot them as wild dogs chasin deer when not accompanied by owners. No noise Sunday? How about the sucking sound of money going south/home Sunday morning to make up for time missed w/ honey do's, family etc.I pay a lot of $$ for hunting. How much do those hikers pay? Nada! If you want a day of rest being that your retired and all , use Monday-Friday, when all of us are working, coaching, doing house chores, working homework w/ kids, and the list goes on.........Comes down to it, I own my land, I want to hunt it, another case on an infringing government entity! Sorry to be so hard Sproul, Iknow you love the outdoors but life has become so fast and I have to pack so much into a 24/7 time period the woods are my refuge. I just look at my camp, no one goes for the 2 weeks anymore or even 1 week, they get the first maybe second day,then back to work until Saturday. Sproul, please understand that today's lives, time is a precious commodity. I am paying more to hunt but seeing less, This type of racing aorund to get to hunt one day is wearing people out. It is not worth the time to prepare, get reeady, go hunt and come home. Give us that extra day to come down form all the rushing around i do day in and out and let me truly enjoy my woods time and maybe if the things are right I can harvest an animal.

RE: PA - group to explore impact of Sunday hunting
 

sproulman also should take a course in spelling on his "day of rest" instead of walking his dog or taking a walk.
HOOKED ON PHONICS works well.

RE: PA - group to explore impact of Sunday hunting
 

i am not a SPELLING BEE,i know that, i am HUNTER,no girlyboy.
school work was not my thing,HUNTING after school everyday was my thing.

no doubt todays hunters are better at SPELLING,i agree with that but some cant tell difference between buck track and doe track, they have to turn on GPS to hunt ,use modern bow to get deer,turn on RADIOS so they dont get lost ,spend thousands of wasted dollars on equipment/supplies that is not needed because they watched tv.

but they can spell a lot better than me;)

i like to walk my dog and i pass a lot of dog walkers, hikers and couples walking on sunday,they have right to be in woods for 1 DAY a week without joe 6 pak shooting a fawn with his big tires and loud exhaust going down roads.

have you ever seen how many road hunters are on roads on sat. now hunting?
windows down, sigs smoke blowing out, loud exhausts,big noisy trucks rattling.

do we want that on sundays?

most dont,i dont and thats why i dont hunt on saturday now,too many people in woods and too much noise.

again, i understand not having 2 days off to hunt, i did it and it worked out ok because my family was more important than spending my weekends in woods, 1 day was enough ,then to elks club on sunday and watch football with buddies or spend time with wife and kids after church or sports at school.

lastthing we want to do is get hikers etc mad at us.

as you can see they have more influence in harrisburg than we do.

why, because they spend money donating to things and most come from affluent familes that have PULL up ladder in gov.

most of us hunters dont have PULL as we are from middle class and lot of us are not active in what is going on in state of pa.

as hiker for 20 dollars to improve a trail in woods, they will reach in their pocket and give you 20 dollars.

ask a hunter to give you 20 dollars to fight stopping doe hunting in wmu2g so we have deer left or to improve hunting in your area.

most will sneak out the back door.

so, money talks and if we dont start reaching into our pockets, hunting will get worst.

think about it.

WHY IS SUNDAY HUNTING NOT HAPPENING?

does not have to be a good SPELLER to see why.

MONEY TALKS AND IT AINT HAPPENING WITH HUNTERS.:eek:

RE: PA - group to explore impact of Sunday hunting
 

Please don't speak for "most" hunters unless you have the facts to back it up. Your opinion counts as much as anyone's ,but it's just one opinion.
With over 1 million licensed hunters in this state,I hardly imagine that you have spoken to over half in order to make such a conclusion. I agree that hunters don't voice their opinion enough,and when they do,it falls on deaf ears but the picture you paint of "joe 6 pak " while not uncommon,does not portray and accurate picture of the hunters I have hunted with or met in my 41 years in the woods.By the way,the spelling remark was a joke, you really need to lighten up !

RE: PA - group to explore impact of Sunday hunting
 

I know I'll get a lot slung my way for this but here is my suggestion. Why not only give Sunday hunting to archery/early muzzleloader and late archery/flintlock season? My reasoning is this. Archers, at least the majority of them that I know work 5 days a week and only get one day a week to hunt. Add that up and they're usually only in the woods 6 days out of the season. Some, like myself who'd rather bowhunt take vacation then as well, but I'd bet that I'm a minority in this case.

Gun hunters as a whole usually take a weeks worth of vacation during the gun season. I'm not saying all are like that, but the vast majority of people around where I hunt take off time to hit the camp and hunt for a week. Why would we need the extra day in gun season then? Even if I don't fill tags in archery, I wouldn't be a bit upset about not being able to hunt Sunday during the gun season.

Besides this, deer are pressured more than anytime during the year during the two week gun season. Why not give the animals a day of rest and also allow them to settle down a bit for Monday?

Sproul, I disagree with your lack of game statement. There are plenty of deer in most parts of the state. Yes, there are few in others and that might be the case in your area. But if there is a serious lack of game there, why hunt there? Let the area grow some. I won't agrue that in some spots, the game commission failed with the program. Its impossible to do what they did on such a large scale and not hurt some areas in the process. Will the game be back? If you keep hammering it every year, probably not.

RE: PA - group to explore impact of Sunday hunting
 

muzzyman88you was right. Reason I say that is you seem to think archers only get a short time to hunt. Truly I don't know a camp anymore that hunts the week of gun. 20 years ago yes, not anymore. On average I beleive if you took a poll, CF hunters only get 1-4 days of hunting in......... I d agree w/hunters only getting 6-10 days in that 4 month (Oct-January) period afield all seasons included. That is the reason for my want of Sunday hunting. Again, I have made an investment in my property in addition to the license fees. I should be able to control my property and manage the hunt as I see fit. The only time the PAPGC will do that is if I open it to public hunting, otherwise i incur the costs. So you are not far from a good idea, and it is probably a livable one, but inbclude bucks and does in your seasons that inlcude all muzzle guns.

Sproul, he has a point on over hunting. I know grouse hunting we have had to only hunt a patch once per year. Still hard getting them up but we see the grouse and wood cock by managing the area. I can't help you with what isn't there. In 2D we have eplenty of deer.

RE: PA - group to explore impact of Sunday hunting
 

Buck Hunter 1, I forgot to comment on the private land. I do agree with you, we should be able to hunt on our own property on Sundays if we wish. I can relate to you. We have over 600 acres of well managed land strictly for hunting. We don't have hikers, bikers or anything like that on our property so safety is not an issue.

I just think its funny how people complain about the overall lack of game where they hunt, but they hammer that area year after year with the same result. Isn't that the definition of insanity?

RE: PA - group to explore impact of Sunday hunting
 

I don't think it is going to increase the sales. Who in their right mind would buy a hunting license and take a day off work and lose that day pay to hunt an elusive animal and lose that days pay? I think many people are thinking this now a days. The people who do work on sundays sure are not going to I wouldn't think.Especially with the collapsing of our dollar. Can't afford to miss workfor a lucky chance to see a deer.

RE: PA - group to explore impact of Sunday hunting
 

again i will ask, WHY IS THERE NOT HUNTING ON SUNDAYS IF WE HAVE A MILLION HUNTERS HERE IN PA?:eek:

RE: PA - group to explore impact of Sunday hunting
 

i agree with you, its private, so lets let sunday hunting on privateland only.

this was brought up at farmers meeting i attended in loganton,pa.

ALL farmers were against idea even tho i felt it was ok on privateland.

most felt they dont want shooting going off 1 day a week, they want REST also and dont want to put up with tresspassers on sunday.

so, there you had me agreeing on sunday hunting on privateland but all were against me and i can see why too.

instead of allowing hunting on sunday for deer, ole sproul suggested we open deer season on sat of thanksgiving week,this would give you EXTRA day ,sat. to hunt, you would get 3 sat,instead of 2 sat to hunt.


no one liked that idea.

sooooooooooo,its hard to get anything that we all agree with.:eek:

RE: PA - group to explore impact of Sunday hunting
 

Every other kind of business or pastime can be conducted on Sunday. Every port can be played, you can buy booze, strip clubs and adult book stores are open. Why should hunters continue to be the only ones penalized?

Public land? We paid for it it should be accessable to hunters 7 days a week. Hikers, mountain bikers, horse riders all have more to fear from mosquitos than they have from hunters. It's more dangerous to go bowling on Sunday than it is to take a hike where people might also be hunting. ( I kinda like the idea of the yuppie tree huggers putting on drives for us;))

I'd bet that landowners would be less disagreeable if more Pennsylvania hunters had more respect for private property in the first place. In most states, you dang well better have permission to tresspass on someones land. Here, we have a prevailing attitude that if it aint posted it must be OK to hunt.

The way things are now, A landowner who doesnt want his land open on Sunday would have to post his property against it, placing the burden on the landowner. The law now says we must have written permission but lax enforcement has allowed the old school attitude to persist.

If more Pa hunters had the respect for private property that I see in other states, I doubt that we would have so many landowners against Sunday hunting

RE: PA - group to explore impact of Sunday hunting
 

Btbowhunter, if it were simply a hunter disrespecting the land issue, then why would that effect only the landowners approval of hunting on Sunday? You'd think those who felt their land was being abused or their kindness, that they wouldnt permit hunting at all.

As for Sunday hunting legalization, Id like to see it but only under reasonable circumstances. There are far too many doe tags already. They need cut significantly before Id ever dream of supporting Sunday hunting otherwise. Im not real sure that pgc would be willing to do that, since they havent already.

As for the concept of Sunday hunting, I have no problem with it. Ive hunted legal species on Sundays often and also hunted sundays in other states. For me, our deer situation is a buzz killer at the moment.

RE: PA - group to explore impact of Sunday hunting
 

I never said that it was the whole issue. Merely that it is a piece of the puzzle.

I agree that the impact of two more "weekend" days in the gun season is something that would need to be evaluated. I would doubt that the effect would be significant in archery or muzzy season.

I understand, I dont necessarily agree mind you, your priority with the deer situation but could we agree that Sunday hunting would help keep license sales up a bit? Something good for all of us no matter what our differing views of the deer situation.

RE: PA - group to explore impact of Sunday hunting
 

Maybe. Could possibly help, to what extent, alone, i dont know,but not nearly as much as addressing the deer situation, or preferably both.

However if the deer arent addressed, and ifeven more pressure is put on the deer herdand the herd goes down even more, I would say it very well could be counter-productive after the first couple or few years and hunter loss could go even higher without appropriate adjustments made.