Pennsylvania House passes bill to expand hunting to Sundays

A whitetail deer in Pike County (Capital-Star photo by Peter Hall)

The Pennsylvania House of Representatives on Thursday passed a bill to expand hunting on Sundays, despite some lawmakers expressing concerns about provisions on trespassing and hunting in state parks.

Rep. Mandy Steele (D-Allegheny), the bill’s sponsor said the deer overpopulation in her area was creating problems for farmers and their crops, and making hunting allowed on Sundays would “educate our children about the great American tradition of protecting wild places and the deep connection to the land that comes through responsible and respectful hunting,

Rep. Joseph D’Orsie (R-York) was one of several to raise concerns about trespassing provisions in the bill, calling them “an affront to private property rights masquerading as a provision to strengthen them. Requiring written permission to hunt on land and cross property boundaries is cumbersome for hunters and property owners,” he said.

“I don’t need to produce a signed page to a game warden to know that I’m allowed on my friend’s property or the property that I hunt on where I have a verbal agreement with the landowner. Trespassing already is a crime in Pennsylvania, but let’s not force hunters to keep on their person a signed permission slip to hunt on their friend or neighbor’s property,” D’Orsie added.

Rep. David Maloney (R-Berks) said the bill’s language about trespassing was concerning, as well as the provisions that  the proposal would require game wardens to work Sundays. He also raised concern about an  amendment to the bill that would affect hunting at state parks.

“We have 124 state parks, and 100 of them already are permissible for hunting,” Maloney said. “But we’re going to exclude the state parks? ”

Pennsylvania restricts hunting on Sundays, one of its so-called “blue laws,” or morality statutes dating back to the 19th century that limit individuals’ activities on that day of the week.

Hunting on Sunday was completely banned until 2019, when Gov. Tom Wolf signed a bill to allow hunting on three Sundays, which proved popular, according to the state Game Commission.

The vote was 129-73. It now heads to the Republican-controlled Senate for consideration.

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