Two state senators plan to introduce legislation that would return Pennsylvania’s firearms deer season to its traditional Monday start date after Thanksgiving, citing economic harm to rural communities since the change to a Saturday opener.
Sen. Gene Yaw, a north-central Pennsylvania Republican, and Lehigh Valley Democratic Sen. Lisa Boscola announced Friday they are sponsoring the bill to reverse a 2019 decision by the Pennsylvania Game Commission.
That decision moved opening day from the first Monday after Thanksgiving to the Saturday following the holiday. The Pennsylvania Board of Game Commissioners last month tentatively rejected shifting the opener to the Saturday before Thanksgiving, with a final vote set for April.
The Monday opener had been in place for more than 50 years before the commission changed it, aiming to increase participation and hunting license sales. The legislators said those goals have not been achieved.
LehighValleyLive.com explored the shift to the Saturday opener in an award-winning 2024 project called Misfire.
“Moving rifle season to a Saturday has crushed rural communities,” Yaw says. “Small businesses, fire companies, local grocery stores and hunting camps rooted in tradition have all suffered. It’s time to bring rifle season back to where it belongs, support our sportsmen and women, and invest in rural Pennsylvania.”
Boscola said the change has damaged Pennsylvania’s hunting traditions and the rural economy.
“It remains unclear whether moving opening day delivered any real benefit,” she said. “What is clear is the toll it has taken on families and communities across Pennsylvania. I’ve heard firsthand from families with generations of hunters how devastating the change has been to Pennsylvania’s rich hunting tradition, as well as the small businesses that sustain rural areas.”
A Pennsylvania Game Commission spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for comment Friday on the senators’ proposal.
The Monday opener functioned as a community event, with schools giving students the day off and government offices operating on reduced schedules, according to the legislators. Families planned gatherings around the season’s start.
The Saturday opener has created conflicts with Thanksgiving celebrations and made participation more difficult, the senators said. A volunteer fire company in Yaw’s district that hosts an annual fundraiser tied to hunters’ attendance saw turnout drop from hundreds to 40 this year.
Two bills already pending in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives during the current 2025-26 session would restore Monday as opening day of the regular firearms deer season. House Bill 70 and House Bill 1659 are both before the House Game & Fisheries Committee. The latter would use Interstate 80 as a rough dividing line, with a Monday opener to the north, where deer camps are more prevalent, and a Saturday opener across more populous areas to the south.