There was a clear divide among members of the Lebanon Valley Sportsmen Association several years ago when they talked about whether they wanted the state to allow hunting on certain Sundays, and to open deer season on a Saturday, said member Tom Hamm.
The older members of the South Heidelberg Township-based group mostly opposed the changes, saying the altered schedule would disrupt longtime traditions for many. The younger members, though, mostly supported the new schedule, saying it would give them more opportunities to hunt.
“No one was changing anyone else’s mind that day, but I saw both sides of it,” said Hamm, 41, of Wyomissing.
Though the club couldn’t come to a consensus, the state did, with lawmakers approving the change to a Saturday open three years ago, and adding three Sundays to the schedule two years ago.
The prohibition on Sunday hunting was one of the last “blue laws” still on the books in Pennsylvania, and most other states allow the practice.
Pennsylvania’s 2021 statewide regular firearms deer season begins Saturday and runs through Saturday, Dec. 11, including a Sunday for black bear season, a Sunday for archery deer hunting and a Sunday for rifle deer hunting.
Those schedule changes, according to the Pennsylvania Game Commission, have drawn some lapsed hunters back to the sport and encouraged new hunters to take part.
After hunting license sales in Pennsylvania had decreased each year since 2014, they rose the past few years from 855,486 during the 2018-19 season to 887,221 in 2020-21, said game commission spokesman Travis Lau.
The game commission last winter surveyed adults who bought both a general hunting license and an archery license in 2020 after at least two consecutive years of not purchasing either, and a little over 21% said it was the chance to hunt on a Sunday that brought them back.
Among the younger hunters surveyed, added opportunities like Sunday hunting made an even bigger difference in their rejoining the hunting ranks. About 60% of hunters younger than 49 said the chance to hunt on a Sunday was very important or important, and another 12% labeled it somewhat important.
Among hunters 49 and older, 48% said the addition of a Sunday was very important or important and 12% said it was somewhat important.
The return to a wholly concurrent season for antlered and antlerless deer has also been important in creating additional chances for hunters to find the time to harvest deer, Lau said.
Lau acknowledged the changes weren’t popular with all hunters, with some wishing deer season still started on a Monday, and some who didn’t want to open any Sundays to hunting. The majority, though, seem to like the changes, he said.
Hamm said he knows some whose work schedules make it hard to take off a Monday to go deer hunting, but who can now take part on opening day thanks to the Saturday start. Others who are kept busy on Saturdays attending their kids’ activities like that some Sundays are now an option, he said.
But for those who each year enjoyed heading to deer camp the Saturday after Thanksgiving and taking the weekend to check their deer stands, sight their rifle scopes and hang out with their buddies before starting the season that Monday may not like the changes, he said. Now if they wait until Monday their chances of bagging a deer are less, since opening day often provides the best odds, he said.
“So much of hunting is our traditions, and a lot of traditions have gotten uprooted,” he said. “But opening those (three) Sundays helps some of the busier guys. Sometimes Sundays are the only days you have free.”
Peter Pakradooni, 47, of Sinking Spring also sees both sides of the issue. He knows there are hunters who can’t take off work on Mondays, and for them the Saturday open was a good thing, he said.
But he is among those who in the past has spent the weekend after Thanksgiving at a deer camp preparing for a Monday opening, and he sympathizes with those who have had to change that yearly routine.
“That weekend was always good for camaraderie and bonding time,” he said.
Jon Clemente, 59, of Lower Heidelberg Township supports the schedule changes that the state made.
“I love it,” he said.
Though Clemente’s three children are now adults, he thinks back on how much easier it would have been for them to go hunting together if opening day had been a Saturday then or if Sundays were open to hunting.
Between school and soccer and swim practices, it was always a challenge for them to coordinate schedules, he said. So when they got home on weekdays they’d often hustle into the woods for an hour or so before it got dark.
Among other hunters he knows, Clemente hasn’t heard any complaints.
“Now more people are able to go out without taking vacation days,” he said.
The first Sunday this season was a good one for his family, with his son-in-law getting a doe, he said.
“I would like to see hunting allowed on all the Sundays,” he said.
If that were to happen, it too would require approval from state lawmakers.
Lau said the game commission is studying the impact of the changes that already took place, including the effect it is having on hunter recruitment and the deer population, before it decides whether to seek any further alterations.
