The removal of the prohibition of Sunday Hunting in PA Title 34 Game Law
When you think of The Pennsylvania Game Commission does the monarch butterfly or the Great Horned Owl come to mind; it should! Did you know that in the North American model of wildlife management, the 62 hunted game species in Pa. foot the bill of conservation for all game and non-game species? Our lands are vital sanctuaries for all wildlife species, 365 days a year.
What can we do as hunters? The answer is simple, what we do best - Conserve. Hunt. Share. Support. We’ve all shared a special moment with someone who’s introduced us to hunting. We reminisce of Smore’s over a campfire at our grandfathers hunting cabin. Riding to our favorite Dove hunting spot in the bed of an old, rusty pick-up truck, waving at the wildflowers as they dance along the roadside.
Unfortunately, special moments like these have been on the decline. From 2011 to 2016 there were over 2 million less hunting licenses sold according to the PGC. Let’s face it, hunters pay the way for public lands which are enjoyed largely by both the non-hunting and hunting community. The math is simple; fewer hunters equals less public land, resulting in less wildlife conservation.
Compounding the issue, the PA Farm Bureau and our Legislators, have created a barbed wire blockade between expanding hunting opportunity, and outdated 17th century blue laws.
In 2011 a six-state study [CN, DL, ME, MA, PA, VA] showed that by lessening restrictions on Sunday hunting, an additional 117,500 hunters would have been added by 2016. As we know, that measure never happened and those hunters were lost. Despite this, we must continue to look towards the future and do what it takes to provide more opportunity for future generations.
We need to recruit, focus on continued hunter education, remain mindful of what we post on social media, and organize ourselves against those who seek to steal our hunting opportunities.
The removal of the prohibition of Sunday hunting in PA Title 34 Game Law will allow the PGC to decide what is best for Sunday hunting, not the Pa. legislators who have no experience or expertise in wildlife management.
Streamlining of the law puts full management and conservation in the hands of the experts - Pa. Game Commission. The transfer of full regulatory control to Pa. Game Commission is the best solution for game management in Pa.
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