Hunters Push for More Sundays

For many, Sunday may be one of the only days off during the week, free from work commitments and other obligations. While some may choose to relax with a book, others would like to spend the day in the woods hunting, but some states have regulations that keep Sunday hunting under strict control. Pennsylvania is one of those states, and a group of hunters are trying to change that stipulation for a third time. Third attempt keeps “white-tailed deer” out of the request Last weekend, the Pennsylvania Sunday Hunting Working Group met at the Pennsylvania Game Commission headquarters to discuss the possibilities of opening up Sunday hunting beyond the already approved game. “This will be the first time an organized grassroots effort will be formed. Hunters from around the state will bring overwhelming support to move either regulatory authority to the Pennsylvania Game Commission, or at a minimum we will bring pressure on the legislators to move additional species into the exempted status, allowing the [commission] to establish additional Sunday hunting opportunity,” Harold Daub, a Halifax hunter education instructor and one of the hunters behind the working group, told PennLive.com. Right now, hunters are allowed to hunt foxes, crows and coyotes on Sundays. During the public meeting, Daub proposed “adding groundhogs, pheasants, rabbits, squirrels and waterfowl, but not deer” to the approved list, PennLive.com reports. By purposely omitting white-tailed deer from the proposed change, the hope is that hunters who were against the initial proposal will change their minds now that they don’t have to worry about “more hunting pressure on what they perceive as an already depleted deer herd,” according to PennLive.com. The next steps of the newly established Pennsylvania Sunday Hunting Working Group include agreeing to a clear mission for the group to follow, establishing sponsorships and deciding on regional- and county-level leadership so that the group can branch out across the state.