hunting on Sunday in Pennsylvania
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Topic created by Sherpes on Tue Jul 5, 2011 at 3:06 pmHas anyone in DVOA been concerned about the proposal of lifting the sunday ban on hunting in Pennsylvania?
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Reply by Guy-O on Tue Jul 5, 2011 at 7:54 pmIMO, everybody in DVOA should be concerned about this proposal.
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Reply by edscott on Tue Jul 5, 2011 at 11:13 pm.. enough to write both my state Rep and Senator about it. ..and I have hunted every year since about 1957.
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Reply by WindWalker on Wed Jul 6, 2011 at 6:29 amI have hunted most years since I was 12, less in the last few years though. I have also enjoyed the woods in many other forms of recreation such as, hiking, fishing, paddling, horse back riding, XC sking, and most recently orienteering. I used to hold a county position for the United Bowhunters of Pa. and was very active in the organization.
That being said I have always been against Sunday Hunting and still am.
Here is well written letter posted by one of my mtb riding friends over on the mountainbike site, he said anyone is welcome to use it. So if your at a loss for words or just don't have the time to sit and write something feel free to cut and paste and maybe add or delete some stuff and mail away.
Mike
Contact info can be found here - http://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/legis/home/findyourlegislator/index.cfm?CFID=58588264&CFTOKEN=94800118
RE: House Bill 1760, 2011 Session
Dear Assemblyman,
As an avid hiker, mountain biker, and outdoor enthusiast, I believe in a balance of population control through hunting and trapping and the preservation of the natural beauty that surrounds us. One of the balances I believe that has worked so well is the split of hunting days versus non-hunting days during hunting season.
Data collected by the Pennsylvania Game Commission relative to current state census figures reveal that the vast majority of Pennsylvanians do not hunt. Recent surveys have also shown that an overwhelming majority Pennsylvania landowners oppose an expansion of hunting on Sundays. A bill to allow hunting on Sundays would cater to a minority of Pennsylvania residents, not the majority of the public who highly value the one day of the week that they can enjoy the outdoors during hunting seasons.
If anything, the need for the prohibition on Sunday hunting is as important as it has ever been. With the prevalence of Pennsylvania’s citizens interested in outdoor recreational opportunities in State Parks and State Forests, and the number of hunters decreasing so dramatically, it is patently unfair to deny Pennsylvania citizens access to areas where they may enjoy outdoor recreational activities one day a week.
Title 34 of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes already expressly prohibits the use of over 1.4 million acres of public land, in the form of PA State Game Lands, to all mountain bikers and equestrians six days per week during open hunting seasons, September through January and the entire month of May. Amending Title 34 by way of H.B. 1760 would explicitly prohibit these user groups from recreating on these public lands five out of twelve months of the year, with violators subject to fines.
However, despite the fact that hunters enjoy over 1.4 million acres of public land dedicated to their recreation in the form of Game Lands, hunting is nonetheless also presently permitted in almost all Pennsylvania State Forest land as well as many Pennsylvania State Parks. Other outdoor enthusiasts already must restrict their enjoyment of these lands to only Sundays during hunting season, or risk their personal safety. Permitting Sunday hunting in Pennsylvania State Forests and Pennsylvania State Parks would effectively prohibit these user groups from safely recreating on these public lands five out of twelve months of the year. At the very minimum, I would urge you to consider an amendment to House Bill 1760 that would continue to prohibit Sunday hunting in all Pennsylvania State Parks and State Forests.
Sunday hunting would take away the one day dedicated to non-hunting recreationists. It seems only fair that given their overwhelming majority of the state’s population, equestrians, hikers, mountain bikers, and other nature lovers deserve one day per week to enjoy Pennsylvania’s rich natural resources in relative quiet without fear for their safety.
There is no compelling reason to appease a small minority of Pennsylvania residents by expanding Sunday hunting, and I strongly urge you to oppose House Bill 1760, amending Title 34 (Game) of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes, permitting hunting on Sunday. Thank you very much for your time and consideration.
Respectfully submitted,
XXXXXXXX
Danville, PA
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Reply by edscott on Wed Jul 6, 2011 at 7:57 pmGood letter... I may use bits and pieces of it and write again in a month or so....
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Reply by Guy-O on Thu Jul 7, 2011 at 0:50 amVery good letter -- but I am not a PA resident, with legislators who care how I vote.
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Reply by Steve on Thu Jul 7, 2011 at 7:49 amOkay, I must be an idiot. I understand our side of the argument, but what does the other side stand to gain? The only thing that makes sense to me would be allowing out of state hunters to spend a three day weekend at our hotels and restauraunts.
Any other points that I am missing? -
Reply by edscott on Thu Jul 7, 2011 at 2:05 pmThe number of hunters in PA is decreasing with each generation. Culture, urban sprawl, whatever...... And the number of people the state employs to manage hunting is likely to be decreased accordingly.. so they are scrambling for ways to justify their existence. Sunday hunting could give them a short term boost, but getting the younger generations out from in front of their video games and into the woods might be a more productive path.
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Reply by DougW on Thu Jul 7, 2011 at 6:45 pmAs Ed said the number of hunters have been decreasing over the years. Much of it has had to do with loss of places to hunt, busy schedules AND video games. Sunday's might draw more hunters.
NJ has allowed Sunday hunting but ONLY archery on private lands or Wildlife Management Areas. I would be comfortable with that situation. However, allowing hunting with firearms on all lands ESPECIALLY during turkey season (May) would be a dangerous situation and would keep me out of the woods. There would be accidents and conflicts.
BTW, I hunt.
And I will write. -
Reply by Steve on Thu Jul 7, 2011 at 6:46 pmSo , like always, the issue boils down to money. As users of the various types of land in PA, we all owe a debt to the PA game commission. If the commission were to cease to exist, then we would all lose out by losing access to land, by uncontrolled animal populations, by farmers that would have to raise prices to counter loses to foraging or protecting their products by eradicating species. This does not mean that I favor Sunday hunting.
It seems to me that this issue has surfaced every other year for five or six years now. The way to defeat it once and for all would be to find alternative funding for the commission. This could be in the form of State funding, or land licensing. Would you be willing to pay $15 a year for unlimited use of our parks? Would you prefer higher taxes earmarked for mother nature? As Ed stated above, Sunday hunting would be a short term fix. If you are planning to write to your public servants, make sure that you give them viable solutions. It is way to easy to scream "Not on my block" while not really contributing to the solution. -
Reply by rgbortz on Fri Jul 8, 2011 at 9:51 pmThis is an extremely complex subject which is deserving of each and everyone of us doing some serious research about it. It's so much more than a few people trying to justify the existance of their own jobs. It of course has to do with money when there are more than 1,000,000 sportsmen contributing hundreds of millions of dollars to the preservation of our natural world and the economies of local and state jurisdictions. It has to do with finding ways to get our youth outdoors when our adult lives are so full of self interests that may be the only time a father, mother, grandfather. uncle or mentor can get to take the youngsters afield is on Sunday. Yes, we need to find and suggest alternatives. There are thousands, if not tens or hundreds of thousands of private land owners who are locked out of something they truely enjoy just because the law says they may not utilize their own land for a given purpose on a given day. I am a hunter but certainly would not hunt in an area I know would be frequented on a given day by the mentioned "recreators". This thread could go on and on about the good and the bad of Sunday hunting, however I for one do not believe this is the proper forum for debate on this subject but do see how this affects our sport. A question to all: Why do we orienteer mainly on Sundays ? This is not a one answer fits all question. Suppose hunting does die out, do you know the consequences for our wildlands. for our economies, for the insurance companies, for the health of the wildlife, for your health. We may not know the answers to any of this but we do need to inform ourselves of all views before chosing sides, if there is any "sides".
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Reply by Guy-O on Sat Jul 9, 2011 at 3:43 amIs it really possible that hunting could "die out" enough to, say, affect the ecosystem?
I am not a hunter, but the sense I have gotten from knowing hunters, is that it is a family tradition passed down through generations. Hunting has been a source of food and, later, recreation, since the dawn of humanity. For those reasons, I have a hard time believing that continuing to limit hunting to 6-days/week will lead to its demise.
That said, I have a few questions: Does the bill open up all current 6-day hunting areas on a 7th day, or only specific ones? Would allowing 7-day hunting on private lands alone, be a reasonable compromise?
