For sportsmen clamoring for more weekend hunting time afield, Gov. Tom Wolf signed into law Senate Bill 147, which permits additional hunting on three Sundays per calendar year - one within the archery deer season, one within the firearms deer season and one selected by the Pennsylvania Game Commission.

The law will take effect Feb. 25, 2020, and the first new Sunday hunting opportunities will be identified by the Game Commission thereafter.

Up to now, Sunday hunting was similar to former Sunday Blue Laws where stores weren’t allowed to be open on Sundays. The Pennsylvania Farm Bureau was against allowing Sunday hunting and most likely Mennonite and Amish farmers were not in favor of it since Sunday is strictly held as a day of worship for them, and likewise wouldn’t allow hunting on their vast farmlands.

In Pennsylvania, Sunday hunting generally is limited to the hunting of foxes, coyotes, crows and feral hogs during open seasons.

Introduced by state Sen. Dan Laughlin, R-Erie, Senate Bill 147 passed the state House of Representatives by a 144-54 vote, then passed the state Senate by a 38-11 vote.

Pennsylvania Game Commission Executive Director Bryan Burhans said the signing of Senate Bill 147 by Gov. Wolf is a win for Pennsylvania’s hunters.

“People today tend to lead busy lives and hunters are no exception,” Burhans said. “No matter how badly a hunter might want to get out and enjoy the outdoors during hunting season, other responsibilities might take priority and make it difficult. Providing opportunity to experience hunting on previously closed Sundays has game-changing potential for hunters with tight schedules and, in many cases, will make a difference by enabling those hunters to hunt alongside their children, setting them on a path they’ll follow the rest of their lives.”

Sen. Dan Laughlin, Chair of the Senate Game and Fisheries Committee, said the new law will create opportunities for tens of thousands of working families across Pennsylvania.

“I believe this has been a long time in coming and is truly a tribute to the thousands of hunters and the many organizations who have supported this effort,” he said. “Weekends are essentially the only time that most working men and women can get out into the woods. The same could be said for many young people, the ones who represent the future of the sport. Lifting the ban will give them increased opportunities to pursue the activity that they love,”

Sen. Jim Brewster, D-McKeesport, who also serves on the Senate Game and Fisheries Committee said the new law will boost interest in the sport and open up new opportunities for hunters who are unable to get into the woods on other days of the week.

“This law will create access yet provide reasonable protections for farmers and landowners,” he said. “Sunday hunting will allow us to usher in new generations of sportsmen and women to enjoy our woodlands.”

Before passing the House of Representatives, Senate Bill 147 was amended to require all hunters on private land on the selected Sundays to carry written permission from the landowner. This requirement does not apply on Sundays when only foxes, coyotes, crows and feral hogs may be hunted.

The bill also gives PGC officers the authority to investigate private-land trespassing complaints and enforce trespassing violations as a primary offense. Previously, trespassing violations were referred to police unless a Game & Wildlife Code violation also was alleged. Once the new law takes effect, hunting-related private-land trespassing violations will be enforced year-round by the Game Commission.

TROUT STOCKING

On Nov. 16, local sportsmen clubs stocked several hundred sizable trout from the Lil-Le-Hi trout nursery into a section of the Little Lehigh. Trout were stocked from the police academy bridge downstream to Robin Hood bridge in Lehigh Parkway.