Shapiro signs bill lifting ban on Sunday hunting

By JAMES ENGEL
TribLive

Hunters across the state soon could find themselves afield — legally — on almost any Sunday.

Gov. Josh Shapiro on Wednesday signed a bill that lifts the state’s age-old ban on Sunday hunting, opening the door for the Pennsylvania Game Commission to build hunting seasons that include Sundays.

“The Pennsylvania Game Commission could not be more excited to celebrate this long-awaited moment,” Executive Director Steve Smith said. “This landmark law effectively will contribute to keeping hunters engaged and performing the valuable public service they provide in helping manage our wildlife populations and ensuring the future of wildlife conservation.”

State Rep. Mandy Steele, D-Fox Chapel, who sponsored the bill to lift the ban, hailed the signing as long-awaited by hunters.

“This new law totally repeals the prohibition on Sunday hunting, which marks a truly historic win for the current and future generation of Pennsylvania hunters,” Steele said. “Hunters have been working on this issue for decades, to allow them more time in the woods, and it’s been an honor to lead on this issue in the House.

“Families are busier than ever, work and social schedules are demanding as ever, and this new law provides more opportunity for hunters to participate in one of America’s oldest traditions and be on the front line of conservation here in the Keystone State.”

Smith said the Game Commission plans to implement new Sunday hunting opportunities as early as this fall, but the law can’t take effect for at least 60 days, meaning no Sundays could be added before then.

The Game Commission will review the options available to add new Sundays to the established 2025-26 hunting seasons and is working to determine how soon they could occur, Smith said.

The Game Commission’s director of communications, Travis Lau, said hunters should not expect blanket Sunday hunting this season, but forthcoming discussion among commissioners might yield at least a few additional days in the fall.

Future years, though, could be a different story as commissioners issue schedules for upcoming seasons, Lau said.

The addition of Sundays, Lau said, has the potential to shorten seasons if it’s required to preserve wildlife resources, however. That preservation, Lau said, remains the primary goal of the commission, regardless of the change in the law.

Klint Macro, president of Allegheny County Sportsmen’s League, said he has more open Sundays than any other day. With the regulations lifted, he said he plans to use them to get out in the woods.

Macro said his organization had pushed for Sunday hunting for years, and he is “very glad” to see it finally signed into law.

Even if it only lets a small number of hunters more time to stalk prey, Macro said he believes the bill will have a “positive effect.”

“The fact that you can hunt on Sundays is a big win for Pennsylvania hunters or anyone visiting the commonwealth,” he said.

For Randy Santucci, a director at the Unified Sportsmen of PA and longtime hunting advocate, the new bill is good for the sport’s image, but he isn’t expecting any monumental change.

“I just don’t think it’s going to make that much of a difference in hunting participation,” he said.

While he supported lifting the Sunday regulations, Santucci said other recent initiatives to get hunters in the woods hadn’t managed to increase license sales.

Still, he said, allowing hunting on Sundays lifts some of the taboo surrounding the sport, which he said is a great family tradition.

The Game Commission plans to announce changes to the adopted hunting seasons when the information is available.

Currently, state law provides for only three Sundays of hunting per year.