I'd like to see em' enact that Sunday rule for landowners first. Then ease into the general hunting public at a later date when we see what the impact to the deer population was..........

Manyspurs do game wardens currently get sundays off? If so they shouldnt because poachers dont take sundays off.

Game wardens in OH. did not object to having to work on sundays when sunday hunting was passed, If PGC. WCO's dont want to work on sundays
like many in the private sector then they are free to find another job. Pike

I'm not quite sure how the idea of trying to educate and properly introduce new bowhunters into a sport with very unique and specific challenges and limitations could be interpereted as greedy and self centered.

There are probably some arcehrs out there of ALL ages with varying degrees of experience who could benefit from bowhunter ed and a proficiency test. Ideally all hunters would be responsible enough to learn their sport their equipment and their quarry well enough to minimize potential mistakes but in the real world, easing in an education program for newbies seems like a good solid step in the right direction.

If a proficiency test for all became the rule tomorrow, I'd participate with a smile. I have a hard time understanding why any bowhunter would resist a simple attempt to raise the bar among our ranks. It's already mandatory in many states and provinces for ALL bowhunters.

By the way, Rem700, I can't recall, are you a bowhunter?

OK, resident landowners and conventional bows only though.... no out of staters or crossguns

Ok Btb:
Im a truck driver and id like to see each and every one of the nondrivin MF's that pull out in front of me on a daily basis spend 1 hour in a class with me teaching their stupid a$$e$ what to and what not to do,,,id love to show each and every one of em what a truck will do to their pathetic,,,in a hurry,,,non leavin 5 minutes earlier,,,talkin on the the cell phone a$$e$,,,but ya know what,,,after 20 yrs of the same thing day in day out,,I've learned that they dont care,,,their minds are set on one thing and thats exactly what their going to try to accomplish,,,and in the long run im further ahead not to worry about what their motives are,,,cause see,,,im just as hard headed,,,i've had to put a few of em into the WALL! Im proud to say that at 42 years old i have a perfect driving record,,,no tickets,,,no AT FAULT accidents,,nothing! Now im sure that there are drivers out there that could teach me a few things,,,but ya know what,,,im under enough stress on a daily basis that i dont need another lesson. Just like a guy going out into the woods dont need another lesson in archery class,,,because what he learns in class holds no water to what he's gonna experience in the woods,,,you and i both know that the stresses that come with drawing a bow on a live animal can not be compared to what you will be taught in a class room on "how to". It all comes down to a hunters own decision of "do i shoot or not". When his/her heart is pounding out of their chest,,what are they going to rely upon? Your so called training or are they going to rely upon their basic instict to succeed? Theres enough info out here right now that if a guy/gal wants to succeed in the hunting world,,they will do it by practicing,,,trial and error,,,and get a mentor,,,im not so sure that LOVE and RESPECT for the great outdoors can be taught,,,i think it comes from within. And yes,,,im an archery fanatic!,,,i try to shoot no less than 200 arrows a week, in the off season,,,and last year the very 1st deer i shot was a doe in the early season @ 5yds,,pretty much straight down,,and i have no f'n idea where i hit this deer,,,i had little blood on the arrow,,a few driblets on the ground over the next 300 yds (tracked her by the leaves she kicked up leaving the county) and i never found her,,,i can tell ya this,,,at 5 yds i should not have taken the shot when i did,,,,i drew the bow when she was behind a maple limb,,,full of leaves,,,and when i let the arrow fly i could not tell what happened,,,,im almost 100% positive it hit high and went thru the tenderloins but if my life depended upon that being 100% the truth i probably would be dead,,,,if i would have waited for her to take 1 more step that deer would have been dead! I rushed the shot! and disrespected the animal that keeps my life in tact! My point is this,,,,some things just cant be taught

Oh and you might want to rethink the out-of-staters and crossbow users statement,,,because without both your lookin dead in the eye of a liscense increase

Where did you get the idea that Pennsylvania Game Wardens don’t work on Sundays.

We work any days of the week that are needed in order to do a reasonably effective job of protecting the resources. We do normally get two days off and most of us take our days off to fit the needs of our district for the time of the year and seasons.

I am sure if we have Sunday hunting, in the future, a high percentage of the WCOs will be working on those higher production days. Most of us already work a fair number of Sundays now.

Most of us would not only be willing but happy to work even more hours of the day and days of the week if the hunters are willing to pay for it. Most of us already donate a lot of free time to keep poachers at bay and not only the poachers but many hunters just complain about it when we do catch them. If protecting the resources don’t mean enough to the hunters to respect it, let alone pay for it why should it mean that much to the WCOs that they would do more of it for free and then get bashed for doing it?

R.S. Bodenhorn

R.S.B:
There really is no love lost with you and the Pa. hunters is there?

I have all the respect in the world for hunters. I just don’t think much of people that don’t know what they are talking about yet spend so much time working so hard at destroying the future for both hunters and hunting.

If you think bashing wildlife management and the laws that protect our resources is doing anything constructive toward the future of hunting and isn’t instead damaging the future of the sport then you obviously haven’t spent much time thinking about it in a rational or logical manner.

R.S. Bodenhorn

"I have all the respect in the world for hunters."

Then why did you say that Pa's hunters should "take their (funding) money and take a flying leap"??? That didnt sound like "respect" to me. In fact, after having read your posts on various boards for 7 or 8 years now, Id say you respect "hunters" about as much as they respect the agency you work for currently.