OT: Questions for hunters and farmers...

[Ranger Dan]

If you are a hunter, would you like to make your own decision about whether or not it's appropriate to hunt on Sunday in PA (as long as it was within legal season)?

If you are a farmer, are you categorically opposed to the thought of hunting on Sunday, or would you be OK with certain limited hunting on Sunday on private land (where the land owner gave permission)? Would increased penalties for trespassing make you more willing to accept hunting on Sunday?

Obviously, I can't limit the responses to just hunters or farmers, so if you respond, can you please indicate whether you are a FH (farmer/hunter), FNH (farmer/non-hunter), NFH (non-farmer/hunter), or NFNH (non-farmer/non-hunter). If you don't indicate otherwise, I will assume that you are a NFNH. Also, if you don't live in PA, please indicate that in your response as well.

 

[Cletus11]

What is the reason to not allow hunting on Sunday. Just a relic from the old Quaker days and the crazy laws PA has for Sundays.

 

[PSU2UNC]

I am neither a hunter nor a farmer, and I did not know that hunting wasn't allowed on Sundays. Unless there is some non-religious rationale for this rule, I'd support removing it.

 

[psu ironman]

My wife and I like to hike in the great Penn's Woods.
It's nice to have a day of the week in the Fall when you don't have to worry about hunters.

 

[Cpeplion]

H/CattleFarmer from Va..here basically you can hunt on Sunday if it's your land or if you have written permission from the landowner. I personally like the not hunting on public land on Sundays laws, no real specific reason other than personal preference.

 

[wbcincy]

As a hunter, I prefer Ohio where we can archery hunt from the last weekend of September until the first weekend of February, 7 days a week. We can even buy alcohol at the gas station. We're obviously complete heathens.

 

[cment]

Hunter with farming roots. I am on the fence on this issue. I would support youth only hunting on Sundays and/or a Sunday hunting "stamp."

 

[Cpeplion]

What is the reason to not allow hunting on Sunday. Just a relic from the old Quaker days and the crazy laws PA has for Sundays.

There are a handful 10 or 11 states that don't allow sunday hunting.

 

[strider94]

If you are a hunter, would you like to make your own decision about whether or not it's appropriate to hunt on Sunday in PA (as long as it was within legal season)?

If you are a farmer, are you categorically opposed to the thought of hunting on Sunday, or would you be OK with certain limited hunting on Sunday on private land (where the land owner gave permission)? Would increased penalties for trespassing make you more willing to accept hunting on Sunday?

Obviously, I can't limit the responses to just hunters or farmers, so if you respond, can you please indicate whether you are a FH (farmer/hunter), FNH (farmer/non-hunter), NFH (non-farmer/hunter), or NFNH (non-farmer/non-hunter). If you don't indicate otherwise, I will assume that you are a NFNH. Also, if you don't live in PA, please indicate that in your response as well.

I am a bow and rifle hunter. I also own land that I can not legally hunt on Sundays. It's nuts! I own my own land and I can NOT legally hunt it on a Sunday.

I think Sunday hunting should be legal in PA. It sounds so UN-American that it is not. You can do most other things on Sunday in PA. Heck, you can even buy beer on Sundays now. I think the farmers can have the choice to not let people hunt their land on Sundays if they choose. But, I talk to a lot of farmers from SW PA to NW PA and out east to Lycoming County. They all want the deer herds thinned even more. So, leave that choice up to the private land owner. The state game lands are a concern by the anti's who want a day to hike in the woods, ride their horses or mountain bikes, look at birds, etc. Since the hunters help fund the state game lands and these groups do not I lean towards the hunter.

I have two boys involved in youth sports. Every Saturday in the fall they have practices or games. If we do skip these sports to go hunting and it is a rainout, now we have to wait till the following Saturday when Sunday always turns out be the better day weather-wise. Hunting and fishing are becoming less popular with kids. The Sunday hunting will provide these parents another opportunity to get their kids out in the woods legally.

 

[Obliviax]

As a hunter, I prefer Ohio where we can archery hunt from the last weekend of September until the first weekend of February, 7 days a week. We can even buy alcohol at the gas station. We're obviously complete heathens.

having moved away from PA, shocked that the sunday proviso is still out there. For a person who works M~F, being closed on Sunday takes 50% of your hunting time away.

 

[Cpeplion]

I am a bow and rifle hunter. I also own land that I can not legally hunt on Sundays. It's nuts! I own my own land and I can NOT legally hunt it on a Sunday.

I think Sunday hunting should be legal in PA. It sounds so UN-American that it is not. You can do most other things on Sunday in PA. Heck, you can even buy beer on Sundays now. I think the farmers can have the choice to not let people hunt their land on Sundays if they choose. But, I talk to a lot of farmers from SW PA to NW PA and out east to Lycoming County. They all want the deer herds thinned even more. So, leave that choice up to the private land owner. The state game lands are a concern by the anti's who want a day to hike in the woods, ride their horses or mountain bikes, look at birds, etc. Since the hunters help fund the state game lands and these groups do not I lean towards the hunter.

I have two boys involved in youth sports. Every Saturday in the fall they have practices or games. If we do skip these sports to go hunting and it is a rainout, now we have to wait till the following Saturday when Sunday always turns out be the better day weather-wise. Hunting and fishing are becoming less popular with kids. The Sunday hunting will provide these parents another opportunity to get their kids out in the woods legally.

If it pleases the crown may I use the land that I purchased and pay taxes on Sunday?

 

[Nitt1300]

All Blue laws should be eliminated, as they aren't Constitutional

 

[bkmtnittany1]

As a retired guy now I would probably say no to Sunday hunting. But to those guys that work and get only weekends to hunt I can see their point. What I think is gonna happen is it will be allowed in phases...groundhogs, fox, coyote and maybe small game. At the beginning I don't even think deer will be brought up....as for the poster who is pissed that he can't own his own land on a Sunday, but you can go buy a 12 pack...I see your point as well. How was that for sitting on the fence!!!

 

[nittanyfan333]

Bit of a weird aspect here. I grew up on a dairy farm in southern York county, and have been a hunter since I was legally able to. I now live in NC where they allow sunday hunting, however there are multiple rules to go along with it like no hunting with firearm between 0930-1230 (church hours), sunday hunting on public land is only allowed with county commissioner approval, no hunting with dogs.... etc. I liked the way it used to be, where you could hunt on sundays archery only. Not a fan of gun hunting on sundays. Keeps it quiet, but allows hunting more than 1 day a week for those that work M-F. I think it strikes a god balance between the non-sunday hunting crowd, and the pro-sunday hunting crowd. Sometimes I worry about herd pressure (I'm BIG into management as well as filling the freezer), but I think it all depends on herd size and hunter numbers on our own personal lease. We only have 4 hunters for our 400 acre lease, so there's not much pressure. My old lease had 25 hunters for 700 acres, so if everyone hunted sat and sun and the retirees hunted every day of the week our lease got A LOT of pressure. Again, this is in NC so there are different factors.

I know my family does NOT like hunting on sundays period. Then again, for the 2 weeks of hunting season we're always putting on drives and trying to fill the freezer, so a day off is nice to let the deer relax a little. To put it into perspective, they also don't let people kill buck during archery season on the farm because it's unfair to my family who doesn't archery hunt due to archery season being the busy season on the farm. plus my family and I are all religious so we take the "day of rest" thing as seriously as we can (obviously the cows still need milked on sundays)

In summation: I (technically NHF) am ok with archery hunting on sundays even during rifle season on private AND public land. My family (multiple uncles and cousins, FH) do not like the idea of hunting on sundays period.

 

[Cletus11]

Wouldn't another midway point be for rifle season to allow that middle Sunday to hunt. That is what a bulk of hunters want and it would only be one Sunday so people would have a tough time saying no due to the hiking/non-hunter activities.

 

[LeatherHelmets]

Would there be incremental costs for game wardens, etc?

 

[ClarkstonMark]

Hunter
No hunting on Sunday is another antiquated stupid rule that is causing hunter population to dwindle.
That and not having opening day the Saturday after Thanksgiving are my 2 pet peeves
Michigan has its own dumb rules but does it better than PA.

 

[Fayette_LION]

If you are a hunter, would you like to make your own decision about whether or not it's appropriate to hunt on Sunday in PA (as long as it was within legal season)?

If you are a farmer, are you categorically opposed to the thought of hunting on Sunday, or would you be OK with certain limited hunting on Sunday on private land (where the land owner gave permission)? Would increased penalties for trespassing make you more willing to accept hunting on Sunday?

Obviously, I can't limit the responses to just hunters or farmers, so if you respond, can you please indicate whether you are a FH (farmer/hunter), FNH (farmer/non-hunter), NFH (non-farmer/hunter), or NFNH (non-farmer/non-hunter). If you don't indicate otherwise, I will assume that you are a NFNH. Also, if you don't live in PA, please indicate that in your response as well.

Prefer not to hunt on Sunday, allows others to take in the woods without the thought of being a target. We have hunting Mon - Sat, give the other folks a chance to enjoy Penns Woods at least one day a week.

 

[TheBigUglies]

Used to be a hunter in my youth. Non Hunter now. Don't own a farm or land that is huntable.

If I owned a large piece of land that was huntable I would hunt whenever I wanted regardless of the hunting regulations. It is my land, I will do on it whatever the hell I want without infringing on neighboring properties. If I have 100 acres, I will shoot what ever animal I want.

However, I am against Sunday hunting on public lands. I am a non hunter who enjoys public lands for hiking, mountain biking, and horseback riding. I have had incidents of hunters discharging their guns because I was in the area where they were hunting. I am pretty confident they weren't shooting at something. I wear bright colors because there are crazy ass hunters in the woods at times. I try to stay out of the woods in popular hunting seasons except on Sundays. I have had hunters(I am guessing they were hunters or poachers) discharge their gun on Sundays when I was out hiking with my dog. I tried to head up a gravel road into the mountains that dead ends at a stream about 2 miles in. Not 200 yards from the parking lot, a hunter discharged their gun, I was on the road, they were in the woods. I did not turn around, in about another 50 yards they did it again and then shouted stay out. I could not see them and high tailed it back to parking lot. This a Friday, not during what I would think was a popular hunting season. This gravel road is in constant use by non-hunters. As a result, I am all for Sunday remaining a no hunting day on Public Lands. I stay completely out of the woods during Deer and Bear season, even on Sundays. The super popular seasons like these, I am okay with Sunday hunting because I think they are short seasons. The little critters, I would keep no hunting on Sundays.

 

[The Spin Meister]

I have no problem with Sunday hunting. There are fewer hunters every year and its only deer season that would be an issue.

Allow landowners to prohibit it if they want.

Prohibit it in state parks, not state forests (st forests were designed for controlled use of resources not recreational areas.) Open in state gamelands since they were 100% purchased by hunter's fees and taxes

Big advantage for the areas of the states that have a lot of cabins/vacation homes. Deer season used to be huge for these rural economies but now opening day is about it. A lot of abandoned camps out there. With Sunday hunting that would allow guys still working to go to cabins Friday after work and still hunt more than one day. That should help these struggling areas.

Hunter, landowner, Pa

 

[Ranger Dan]

Prefer not to hunt on Sunday, allows others to take in the woods without the thought of being a target. We have hunting Mon - Sat, give the other folks a chance to enjoy Penns Woods at least one day a week.

So, why make that decision for everyone? Did you know that per DNR, the day of the week with most non hunting use is Saturday, which is also the day with most hunting use...

 

[bison13]

As a farmer and no much of a hunter anymore, I personally hunt any time I feel like. I also will give permission to certain people to do the same. State parks I am fine with no Sunday to give families a chance to hike or anythign without fear of a stray bullet

 

[PSU1282]

No Sunday Hunting and I.ve been hunting for more than 60 years. Give the animals a break.

 

[sylvanialion]

Hunter ... no Sunday hunting is a stupid rule and needs to be changed. I have 225 acres and cant hunt it on Sunday because .... well ... I don't why.

PA is 84% private land and only 16% public ( 24 million acres private vs 4.6 million acres public). Of the 4.6 million Public, the DCNR owns 2.2 million, federal government around 600K. State game lands are not public land, it was bought and paid for by hunters.

If you are a farmer or private citizen and dont like the rule ... post your property (currently 2.6 million acres of private property is open for hunting).
If it is game lands ... hunters bought it and should be allowed to hunt it Sundays
If it is DCNR land then they can allow or post as they wish.
If its the ANF or fed lands, they can allow or post as they wish


I purchased my land so that I can have a place to hunt and no state law should prohibit me from doing so. You want to go hiking ... buy some land and post it hiking only for all I care. However, posing the inconvenience of a few too many makes no sense.

 

[TheBumble]

NFH, I hunt predators so I'm already hunting on Sundays in PA. There are certainly times during deer season though when I'm at work all week and come Saturday it's raining and the wind is blowing 40 mph. Those times I wish Sunday was an option. I'm sure kids in school would like the option as well.

I think private landowners should be able to make that choice. There are Mennonite farms locally that have signs up prohibiting fishing on Sundays. It wouldn't be hard to add hunting to those signs if someone is opposed.

 

[SR108]

If you are a hunter, would you like to make your own decision about whether or not it's appropriate to hunt on Sunday in PA (as long as it was within legal season)?

If you are a farmer, are you categorically opposed to the thought of hunting on Sunday, or would you be OK with certain limited hunting on Sunday on private land (where the land owner gave permission)? Would increased penalties for trespassing make you more willing to accept hunting on Sunday?

Obviously, I can't limit the responses to just hunters or farmers, so if you respond, can you please indicate whether you are a FH (farmer/hunter), FNH (farmer/non-hunter), NFH (non-farmer/hunter), or NFNH (non-farmer/non-hunter). If you don't indicate otherwise, I will assume that you are a NFNH. Also, if you don't live in PA, please indicate that in your response as well.

Until the animals can shoot back, I’m opposed to hunting any day off the week.

 

[nittanyfan333]

Until the animals can shoot back, I’m opposed to hunting any day off the week.

HAHAHAHAHAHA! well played!

 

[Fayette_LION]

So, why make that decision for everyone? Did you know that per DNR, the day of the week with most non hunting use is Saturday, which is also the day with most hunting use...

Ranger, a lot of our public hunting is in areas adjacent to heavily used outdoor recreation areas. Forbes State forest, Game lands 51 and the Ohiopyle State park all have walking / hiking trails and now some mountain biking going on all year around. I would not be in the woods during hunting season trying to hike or walk on a trail. I like to be able to use these areas when people are not hunting. JMO, I prefer Sunday's as non hunting and have expressed that opinion to the game officials.

 

[dmallory7]

I'm a hunter and land owner in PA but now reside in VA. I support no hunting on Sunday for the benefit to the animals. Deer and bear get pursued relentlessly and need Sunday to find rest and/or excape for future propagation. To the land owners who think they have a right to hunt on Sunday remember that game animals/birds are not part of your ownership. They are owned by all US citizens and you have no special privilege to harvest them just because you own land. In Europe game animals are part of the land owners property and they can buy and sell the animal and the right to hunt them on their land. They are also responsible for any damage done to adjacent property should they cross onto a farmers land to graze on his crops. Their system works well but they respect the animals and the right to hunt them and they manage them to balance with the habitat. We, in the US, are not that respectful of the environment nor the animals. There are a lot of slob hunters who bait, poach, poison and are willing to use most any method to kill a "trophy". Sad but I believe it. Some day maybe we'll mature to the point where we can manage our resources and rationally consider Sunday hunting.

 

[dmallory7]

HAHAHAHAHAHA! well played!

Would be interested in hearing why you are opposed to any hunting. In many areas we no longer have predators to maintain a balance between animals and suitable habitat. Hunting provides that balance and provides economic benefit to rural areas as well. If you are interested in what happens when you don't allow any hunting in the absence of predators research what happened to the Tule Elk her=ds in California or the mule deer herds in the Kiabab Forest north of the Grand Canyon when hunting was discontinued. Both herds nearly disappeared due to over populating and over grazing available food sources. Starvation and disease are natures way of managing and its a cruel, slow death. Just another opinion for consideration of the issue. Thanks.

 

[nittanyfan333]

Would be interested in hearing why you are opposed to any hunting. In many areas we no longer have predators to maintain a balance between animals and suitable habitat. Hunting provides that balance and provides economic benefit to rural areas as well. If you are interested in what happens when you don't allow any hunting in the absence of predators research what happened to the Tule Elk her=ds in California or the mule deer herds in the Kiabab Forest north of the Grand Canyon when hunting was discontinued. Both herds nearly disappeared due to over populating and over grazing available food sources. Starvation and disease are natures way of managing and its a cruel, slow death. Just another opinion for consideration of the issue. Thanks.

wait..... you think I'm anti-hunting?

 

[palmettolion]

I'm a hunter and land owner in PA but now reside in VA. I support no hunting on Sunday for the benefit to the animals. Deer and bear get pursued relentlessly and need Sunday to find rest and/or excape for future propagation. QUOTE]

I'd love to be in a state that was more restrictive. I quit hunting here in SC for a few minor reasons(unbearable heat and chiggers) but mainly because of the constant pressure on deer. In my area, they allow dog hunting seven days a week. You're also allowed to hunt over bait. The only restriction is that you can't take a doe for the first month, except on certain days with tags (which you can purchase way more than you need). The deer are always spooked and running and they don't run like a normal deer will. People shoot multiple deer just to brag, not out of necessity to feed their family(No buck limit). They don't retrieve their dogs after a hunt, leaving them to run deer/starve and/or eventually get hit by cars. Two weeks ago I saw one sitting on the side of the road, waiting to be picked up. Deer season ended in early January (in fairness, it could've been a coon hound).

This has kind of taken all the want to of hunting away for me. Now I just shoot clays and fish occasionally.

 

[Ranger Dan]

What is the reason to not allow hunting on Sunday. Just a relic from the old Quaker days and the crazy laws PA has for Sundays.

Yes, it's an old blue law. At one point you couldn't fish on Sunday either. This was repealed a long time ago.

 

[Ranger Dan]

My wife and I like to hike in the great Penn's Woods.
It's nice to have a day of the week in the Fall when you don't have to worry about hunters.

If you hike on public land, would you care about what happens on private land? BTW, driving to the trail head is inherently more dangerous that either hunting or hiking during hunting season.

 

[Ranger Dan]

There are a handful 10 or 11 states that don't allow sunday hunting.

I think the list is smaller than the 10 or 11, unless you are including any restrictions whatsoever.

 

[Ranger Dan]

I am a bow and rifle hunter. I also own land that I can not legally hunt on Sundays. It's nuts! I own my own land and I can NOT legally hunt it on a Sunday.

I think Sunday hunting should be legal in PA. It sounds so UN-American that it is not. You can do most other things on Sunday in PA. Heck, you can even buy beer on Sundays now. I think the farmers can have the choice to not let people hunt their land on Sundays if they choose. But, I talk to a lot of farmers from SW PA to NW PA and out east to Lycoming County. They all want the deer herds thinned even more. So, leave that choice up to the private land owner. The state game lands are a concern by the anti's who want a day to hike in the woods, ride their horses or mountain bikes, look at birds, etc. Since the hunters help fund the state game lands and these groups do not I lean towards the hunter.

I have two boys involved in youth sports. Every Saturday in the fall they have practices or games. If we do skip these sports to go hunting and it is a rainout, now we have to wait till the following Saturday when Sunday always turns out be the better day weather-wise. Hunting and fishing are becoming less popular with kids. The Sunday hunting will provide these parents another opportunity to get their kids out in the woods legally.

If it pleases the crown may I use the land that I purchased and pay taxes on Sunday?

All Blue laws should be eliminated, as they aren't Constitutional

Hunter
No hunting on Sunday is another antiquated stupid rule that is causing hunter population to dwindle.
That and not having opening day the Saturday after Thanksgiving are my 2 pet peeves
Michigan has its own dumb rules but does it better than PA.

As a farmer and no much of a hunter anymore, I personally hunt any time I feel like. I also will give permission to certain people to do the same. State parks I am fine with no Sunday to give families a chance to hike or anythign without fear of a stray bullet

Hunter ... no Sunday hunting is a stupid rule and needs to be changed. I have 225 acres and cant hunt it on Sunday because .... well ... I don't why.

PA is 84% private land and only 16% public ( 24 million acres private vs 4.6 million acres public). Of the 4.6 million Public, the DCNR owns 2.2 million, federal government around 600K. State game lands are not public land, it was bought and paid for by hunters.

If you are a farmer or private citizen and dont like the rule ... post your property (currently 2.6 million acres of private property is open for hunting).
If it is game lands ... hunters bought it and should be allowed to hunt it Sundays
If it is DCNR land then they can allow or post as they wish.
If its the ANF or fed lands, they can allow or post as they wish


I purchased my land so that I can have a place to hunt and no state law should prohibit me from doing so. You want to go hiking ... buy some land and post it hiking only for all I care. However, posing the inconvenience of a few too many makes no sense.

NFH, I hunt predators so I'm already hunting on Sundays in PA. There are certainly times during deer season though when I'm at work all week and come Saturday it's raining and the wind is blowing 40 mph. Those times I wish Sunday was an option. I'm sure kids in school would like the option as well.

I think private landowners should be able to make that choice. There are Mennonite farms locally that have signs up prohibiting fishing on Sundays. It wouldn't be hard to add hunting to those signs if someone is opposed.

If you want to learn more about the grassroots movement to eliminate the ban on Sunday hunting, send me an e-mail at: dbcooper175@hotmail.com

 

[Ranger Dan]

I'm a hunter and land owner in PA but now reside in VA. I support no hunting on Sunday for the benefit to the animals. Deer and bear get pursued relentlessly and need Sunday to find rest and/or excape for future propagation. To the land owners who think they have a right to hunt on Sunday remember that game animals/birds are not part of your ownership. They are owned by all US citizens and you have no special privilege to harvest them just because you own land. In Europe game animals are part of the land owners property and they can buy and sell the animal and the right to hunt them on their land. They are also responsible for any damage done to adjacent property should they cross onto a farmers land to graze on his crops. Their system works well but they respect the animals and the right to hunt them and they manage them to balance with the habitat. We, in the US, are not that respectful of the environment nor the animals. There are a lot of slob hunters who bait, poach, poison and are willing to use most any method to kill a "trophy". Sad but I believe it. Some day maybe we'll mature to the point where we can manage our resources and rationally consider Sunday hunting.

Do you think the coyote, bear, fox, and other predators give the prey animals a day of rest on Sunday? I agree with you about landowners not owning the game...

 

[nittanyfan333]

Legitimate question Dan. Did you pose these questions so that you could try to sway people that are ok with the ban on hunting on Sundays, and recruit them for your grassroots campaign? or were you legitimately looking for peoples opinions? I'm seriously curious.

 

[SR108]

If you hike on public land, would you care about what happens on private land? BTW, driving to the trail head is inherently more dangerous that either hunting or hiking during hunting season.

Private land? Not much private land available to hunt anymore in our part of PA.

 

[Ranger Dan]

Legitimate question Dan. Did you pose these questions so that you could try to sway people that are ok with the ban on hunting on Sundays, and recruit them for your grassroots campaign? or were you legitimately looking for peoples opinions? I'm seriously curious.

I spent Sunday afternoon in Harrisburg meeting with a group of people who are interested in bringing change to the situation. There were representatives from the Game Commission, from the Governor's office, state legislature, existing leadership within the movement, and another 3 or 4 dozen people who were interested in being part of the grass roots movement, drumming up support from others in their counties.

I was actually interested in people's opinion, so that I could gauge the level of resistance and see what the issues were. We discussed them in the meeting yesterday, but I wanted to see what the McAndrew board said. I also wanted to try to respond to critics with some (hopefully) inteligent and logical responses that may alleviate their concerns and soften their position. The final and most important reason for my posting was to see whether there were like minded people who would be willing to be involved (not much more than signing a petition).

The reality is that even though the majority of hunters approve of removing the ban, and even a simple majority of the overall population are OK with the idea, it is not likely to change tomorrow and even then it may likely be changes in stepwise fashion. We already can hunt foxes, coyotes, and crows on Sunday. It was interesting to learn that the whole fox hunting thing was the first toe hold, and that was because some rich woman in Chester County wanted to go fox hunting on horse back on Sunday.