A bill has passed the State House of Representatives that would allow some additional Sunday hunting in Pennsylvania.
By a 144-54 vote in the State House of Representatives, an amended version of the original Senate bill will return to the Senate for concurrence. The new version of the bill will allow for three additional Sunday hunting sessions: one during rifle deer season, one during archery deer season and one that would be selected by the Pennsylvania Game Commission. The amendments that were added to the bill would waive trespassing violations for unarmed people who enter posted property to retrieve a hunting dog, to allow local police to enforce trespassing rules, and to push back the law’s effective date by three months.
The bill also contains some conditions that were requested by the Pennsylvania Farm Bureau. The bureau had several concerns with the bill in its original form, which would have allowed the Game Commission to determine which Sundays would be open for hunting. One of the conditions that was added while the bill was in the House Game and Fisheries Committee would require hunters to get permission from farmers before hunting on private land on Sundays, with a violation carrying a fine of $250-$500.
Right now, Pennsylvania is one of only seven states that prohibit hunting on Sundays. In Pennsylvania, only crows, coyotes, and foxes can be hunted on those days.
