Sunday hunting in Pennsylvania took a step forward after the Pennsylvania Senate’s Game & Fisheries Committee on Tuesday approved Senate Bill 147, which seeks to allow hunting on Sundays in the state.

The bill will go to the full Senate for consideration.

Sen. Dan Laughlin, of Millcreek, R-49th District, is chairman of the committee and a prime sponsor of the bill.

Legislation sponsored by Laughlin is a change which would to allow the state’s Game Commission to decide which game could be hunted on Sundays and which Sundays would be open for hunting.

Senate Bill 147 also addresses the offense of trespass while hunting, making the violation a primary offense and increases penalties.

“This is a historic vote, as it takes a major step toward increasing recreational opportunities for the thousands of Pennsylvania sportsmen and women who enjoy hunting,” Laughlin said.

“This will remove one of only two ‘blue laws’ remaining in the state of Pennsylvania. You can’t hunt and you can’t buy a car on Sunday in Pennsylvania.”

What’s next? Senate Bill 147 will head to the Senate Appropriations Committee, and from there, to a Senate vote. If it is approved there, it would move to the House. If approved there, Senate Bill 147 would be before Gov. Tom Wolf, to sign it into law or veto it.

In addition to giving authority over Sunday hunting to the game commission, the bill also amends the Pennsylvania Game Code to address trespassing while hunting, making the violation a primary offense and increasing penalties. Trespass violations could also be enforced by the state’s game wardens.

What you need to know

There are a couple of important things to know about Sunday hunting in Pennsylvania. The first is that it’s not correct to say there’s a ban on Sunday hunting; Sunday hunting is already permitted in the state, although on a limited basis — hunters can pursue coyotes, crows and fox. The season on coyotes is year-round; crow and fox seasons have defined start and end dates.

The second is that the initial goal is to expand Sunday hunting opportunities to include small game such as rabbits, pheasants and squirrels. Although the PGC board of commissioners recently gave preliminary approval to opening the state’s firearm season on deer on the Saturday after Thanksgiving, it’s unlikely that hunters will be able to hunt whitetails on Sundays.

One step at a time, says Harold Daub, who heads Hunters United for Sunday Hunting. Daub of Tower City has said that Sunday hunting is needed so that people have more time to pursue the hobby. He described HUSH as a “team” that’s working to have the prohibitive language removed from the Title 34 Game Law and have the PGC regulate wildlife management.

“With every state that borders PA now doing wildlife management seven days a week, we are hearing from more and more Pennsylvania hunters, and property owners/buyers that are gladly paying more money for out-of-state licenses, and higher taxes to have property in neighboring states, just to be able to get more time to hunt,” Daub said.

“In PA we are sitting as an island right now … every state that touches PA offers Sundays in some way for game animals like deer and turkeys and small game.

“So, our avid, hard-core hunters can choose to hunt a neighboring state to take advantage of time, and some won’t even buy a PA license,” he added. “On Sundays … while every other recreational activity is provided the liberty of being permitted all seven days … hunters are shut out.”

Pennsylvania is one of only three states (Maine, Massachusetts and Delaware) that have a near-total restriction on hunting on Sunday. All of Pennsylvania’s neighboring states allow Sunday hunting (Maryland, New York, Ohio and West Virginia). Virginia repealed its Sunday hunting ban in 2014.

Expanding Sunday hunting in Pennsylvania has been on the radar for many years and has come up against opposition each time, including the present proposal. Other outdoor recreational groups, such as hikers, bikers and horseback riders, say they need one day a week to recreate as they choose without encountering hunters. Currently, hikers, bikers and horseback riders can recreate on State Game Lands, State Forests and State Parks 365 days per year.

Those in favor of expanding Sunday hunting opportunities point out that hunting license sales fund state lands and wildlife.

“Pennsylvania is home to 480 species of wildlife,” Daub said. “Through license sales to hunters, who pursue only 62 of those species — the funding is provided to conserve all 480 species of wildlife and maintain 1.5 million acres of State Game Land wildlife habitat.”

In addition to the opportunity for sportsmen, an economic analysis commissioned by National Shooting Sports Foundation revealed that opening Sundays would create an annual impact of nearly $1 billion per year to Pennsylvania. Another national group, The Sportsman’s Alliance, has also been advocating for the change.

“The committee’s overwhelming passage of Senate Bill 147 is a clear signal that support for Sunday hunting is popular with Pennsylvanians from every corner of the commonwealth,” said Bruce Tague, Sportsmen’s Alliance vice president of government affairs. “But there are still powerful organizations who oppose scientific wildlife management policies used in nearly every other state nationwide, and sportsmen need to make sure that their voices continue to be heard and not drowned out by the tiny but powerful opposition.”