Radio Smart Talk for Tuesday, July 12:
Pennsylvania has about 925,000 licensed hunters. Those numbers are down in the last 20 years as fewer young people have decided to follow in the footsteps of their parents or grandparents and take to the woods and fields of Pennsylvania.
One could point to changes in society and say that's why hunting isn't as popular as it once was. What used to be farmland or woodland are now housing developments and young people have many more entertainment options today.
Not only is hunting a tradition in Pennsylvania, but it also is the main method of controlling the state's wildlife populations -- especially the deer herd, which wander through many of those same housing developments.
The Pennsylvania Game Commission relies on the sale of hunting licenses as its only source of revenue for maintaining state lands and other expenses. Fewer hunters translates into less dollars to pay for the Game Commission's responsibilties.
State Rep. John Evans of Erie County believes he has a solution -- allowing hunting on Sundays in Pennsylvania. Evans has proposed legislation to eliminate the ban on Sunday hunting. Two weeks ago, the Game Commission passed a resolution in support of lifting the Sunday ban.
Proponents cite a 2005 study that said Sunday hunting would bring about $629 million into the state's economy and create more than 5,000 new jobs.
Those who oppose Sunday hunting doubt the report's figures and say farmers need one day a week when they don't have to worry about hunters on their land and hikers and other outdoors enthusiasts are concerned Sunday hunting would limit their activities.
Tuesday's Radio Smart Talk looks at Sunday hunting.
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But is it not true that a substantial portion of the gamelands have been obtained by donations, or token price purchases from organizations like: the Nature Conservancy, Wildlands Conservancey, Western Pa Conservancy. Almost every time I see an article on new state gamelands in the paper, those donations seem to be the source. I suspect the overwhelming majority of members of those organizations are non-hunters. Hikers, bikers, birders, equestrians who are going to be locked out.
About as attractive a notion as mandating nudity in all stores.......
....as if it's safe to walk anywhere anymore.
Let's have at least one day when hiking and other pursuits aren't in the possible line of fire.
Definitely "NO"
Non-hunters should have access to public land at least one day without having to worry about the irresponsible hunter that are out there.
It is not legal to hunt woodchucks on Sunday.
From the PA Game Digest:
WOODCHUCKS (GROUNDHOGS): No closed season, except on Sundays, and during the antlered and antlerless deer seasons. No limit.
• It's NOT a matter of blue laws, it's equal time for those non-hunters to enjoy the woods without worry.
• By my math, about 808,000 residents of Pa had a hunting/trapping or combo license (2009-10 season). We’re less than 7% of all residents. Why should we be so greedy as to dictate to the majority?
• Politicians seem eager to grasp at straws, supporting anything that claims to have an economic benefit. What of the loss to the economy if the birdwatchers, hikers, backpackers, mountainbikers and other outdoor recreationists were to lose the day for their activities? EACH of these groups is larger than the number of us who hunt.
Richard - Senior Resident Lifetime Hunting Licenseholder. Sunday is my day for scouting (what too few hunters do) and "hunting with a camera".
The hunters cannot say they pay for state parks, so why do they get to push everyone else out of the majority of parkland (yes, the majority of parkland is open to hunting) 86% of the time during the best 5 months of the year.
If it wasn't for hunting on "parkland" or DCNR managed properties, the parks would be overrun with deer. I know of more that a couple parks that HAD to bring in hunters to cull the deer herd. The deer were dying of starvation and disease because there were too many in the area to support the population.
This isn't just an issue about deer hunting. Its all managed species. Just because Sunday hunting may come to pass, it isn't a given it will involve the deer season.
Rich, there are 1.4 million acres of State Game Lands. The One MILLIONITH acre was added to the system in 1965. I would guess that little of that was bought by anyone other than the PGC.
Further, a "day of rest" still seems like a strong point anyway.
Back in WI the deer season starts on the Saturday before Thanksgiving and ends on the Sunday following Thanksgiving, so there were only two Sundays in the fall when a great number of hunters were in the north woods.
That simple change in the deer season, I do believe, would make everyone in PA a little more agreeable to hunting on Sunday. As for ducks and pheasants, that's simply a lost cause in PA, but it sure would be nice if working people were allowed to hunt for two consecutive days rather than just on Saturday.
Give information about what hunters must do to obtain a license ... Classes, etc, to educate hunters about safety and how far from trails they must be, etc.
Compare the number of hunting accidents to fishing related accidents -- including boating accidents where passengers were fishing from a boat.
Will you campaign for No Fishing on Sundays so that families can use the lakes and rivers, ponds and streams unmolested by fishermen and women?
Sunday hunting will be good for Pennsylvania economy ... Why would you promote something that would deny increased income to Pennsylvania, especially in our current economic times?
I hike, I fish, I hunt.
Thank you,
Give information about what hunters must do to obtain a license ... Classes, etc, to educate hunters about safety and how far from trails they must be, etc.
Compare the number of hunting accidents to fishing related accidents -- including boating accidents where passengers were fishing from a boat.
Will you campaign for No Fishing on Sundays so that families can use the lakes and rivers, ponds and streams unmolested by fishermen and women?
Sunday hunting will be good for Pennsylvania economy ... Why would you promote something that would deny increased income to Pennsylvania, especially in our current economic times?
I hike, I fish, I hunt.
Thank you,
And people don't HAVE to open their farms to hunters ... farmers can close off their private land any day of the week.
If Sunday hunting were enacted (and the legislation requires the PGC to do so), hunting seasons would have to be shortened in order to regulate the harvest. This fact of life has been ignored.
And - Although Texas has more licensed hunters, Pennsylvania leads the nation in "days afield hunting" . We real hunters do find the time to get out there. . . Our claim of "we need time on weekends" ignores the fact that members of other recreation groups also work 40 hour work weeks.
-Thyra Sperry, President Keystone Trails Association
The many recreational users of the state forest system can enjoy the forest on sundays without fear for their safety. Many non-hunters do not enter the forest during major hunting seasons except on sundays. This is for their safety and also out of respect for the hunters.
I disagree that this is an issue of an antiquated 'blue law' infringing on hunter's rights. This is an issue of fairness to the hikers, bikers, horsers, campers, atvers, snowshoers, XC skiers, and boy and girl scouts. They need a safe day to enjoy the forests of PA!
Allowing hunting on Sundays during those dates is not and should not be such a 'big deal' to anyone. It's not like Pennsylvania is asking for Year Round hunting ... and if a couple more days of hunting will help the economy AND put meat on the table ... [some people do actually know that meat doesn't come from grocery stores] ... how can anyone be against a win-win situation?
The PBS question of the day becomes: What's the hidden agenda here? Is it an 'anti-hunting' agenda or an 'anti-rifle/gun' agenda? Will it morph into an 'anti-fishing' agenda or an 'anti-meat' agenda? Where is this issue really headed?
Will Saul Alinsky please stand up?
There is no agenda other than to present a thoughtful discussion of a topic that may impact the lives of the people in our audience. Our goal is always to produce a civil conversation on important issues and bring some context to those issues. In listening to the program and reading the comments on the website, many of the people who responded identified themselves as hunters. Both guests on the program also explained their positions thoroughly while respectfully acknowledging the other's point-of-view. It's what we try to do every day.
How about some fact finding so that the points are documented with hard evidence?
I have a hard time believing that State Rep. John Evans of Erie County didn't do his research. Ask him what information he used to support his bill.
Thank you for your reporting on this issue.
When the PA Game Commission passed their resolution a few weeks ago that supports repealing the ban on Sunday hunting, they pointed to the 2005 study conducted by Southwick Associates that said allowing hunting on Sundays would bring in $629 million each year and 5,400 new jobs. At a hearing last month, The Humane Society of the United States, Pennsylvania chapter disputed those figures citing U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service data saying wildlife watchers outnumber hunters and contribute $1.4 billion to PA's economy. Those are the facts (depending on who you ask) presented on our program.
I'd be more inclined to believe the 2005 study over HSUS ... can HSUS can produce definitive documentation to compare with Southwick Associates' study?
Anyone who knows hunters knows that the vast majority go hunting early in the AM ... before most hikers roll out of their sleeping bags or drive to the trail head ... and few hunt all day. Those who do are rarely, if ever, near an area where there are hikers or picnickers. An educated hunter doesn't waste his ammunition, either. Even when hiking during hunting season, I'd hear a "pop" ... and maybe a second "pop" if the hunter was a bad shot. But 99% of the time, there was no way to even know if there were hunters in the woods. MOST hunters leave the field after they've harvested their animal/bird.
Early September to late January. Plus May. Almost 6 months?
I might not Bike at the first light of day very often, but I will hike then. I am sure that is when birders are up,
What I read is a lot of emotion and not much actual fact finding.
Opinions are great ... but I'd prefer to see documentation of actual facts.
I'm sure there are hiking and hunting organizations who would be willing to go to trail heads and hunting lodges to obtain this information.
How many times have you hiked or biked on a Forest or hunting area trail in December in Pennsylvania, Rich?
May is just 4 or 5 Sundays ... and the likelihood of hunter-hiker encounters are much less than hunter-hunter or hiker-hiker encounters in May.
Perry county Pa Farmer
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