Pennsylvania senators propose Monday start for deer season

Pennsylvania Sens. Gene Yaw, R-Lycoming and Lisa Boscola, D-Northampton, have introduced Senate Bill 1244 to restore the traditional opening day of the state’s firearms deer season to the first Monday after Thanksgiving, reversing a 2019 change that moved the start to Saturday. Bill would reverse 2019 change For more than 50 years, the Monday after Thanksgiving marked the start of rifle season in Pennsylvania. The Game Commission changed the opener to Saturday with the stated goal of increasing participation and hunting license sales. Yaw and Boscola said the change has produced the opposite effect.“Moving rifle season to a Saturday has crushed rural communities,” Yaw said. “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.”Questions over impact Boscola said it is unclear whether the Saturday opener produced any meaningful benefit, but said the impact on long-standing traditions has been evident.“It remains unclear whether moving opening day delivered any real benefit,” Boscola 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 for Pennsylvania’s rich hunting tradition, as well as the small businesses that sustain rural areas.”The lawmakers said the Monday opener had long served as more than the start of deer season, functioning as a community tradition around which families, schools, and workplaces organized.They said the traditional opener included:Schools often closing for the dayGovernment offices operating with reduced staffingFamilies planning gatherings and hunting camp trips around the season openerYaw and Boscola said moving the season to Saturday disrupted those customs, created conflicts with Thanksgiving weekend plans, and made it harder for some hunters to participate.In Yaw’s district, one volunteer fire company that holds an annual fundraiser tied to hunters’ attendance saw turnout fall from several hundred people to just 40 last year, according to the senators.The senators said Saturday openings have affected:Family holiday schedulesParticipation by multigenerational hunting groupsRevenue for small businesses and community organizations in rural areasThe issue resurfaced Jan. 24, when the Pennsylvania Game Commission considered, but ultimately rejected, a proposal to move opening day even earlier to the Saturday before Thanksgiving.Although that proposal failed, Yaw and Boscola said the debate underscored broad opposition to Saturday openers across the state.Support for Monday openerThe senators said they have heard strong support for restoring the traditional Monday start from hunters, families, small businesses, and communities across Pennsylvania.Senate Bill 1244 would return the statewide firearms deer season opener to the first Monday after Thanksgiving.

Pennsylvania Sens. Gene Yaw, R-Lycoming and Lisa Boscola, D-Northampton, have introduced Senate Bill 1244 to restore the traditional opening day of the state’s firearms deer season to the first Monday after Thanksgiving, reversing a 2019 change that moved the start to Saturday.

Bill would reverse 2019 change

For more than 50 years, the Monday after Thanksgiving marked the start of rifle season in Pennsylvania. The Game Commission changed the opener to Saturday with the stated goal of increasing participation and hunting license sales. Yaw and Boscola said the change has produced the opposite effect.

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“Moving rifle season to a Saturday has crushed rural communities,” Yaw said. “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.”

Questions over impact

Boscola said it is unclear whether the Saturday opener produced any meaningful benefit, but said the impact on long-standing traditions has been evident.

“It remains unclear whether moving opening day delivered any real benefit,” Boscola 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 for Pennsylvania’s rich hunting tradition, as well as the small businesses that sustain rural areas.”

The lawmakers said the Monday opener had long served as more than the start of deer season, functioning as a community tradition around which families, schools, and workplaces organized.

They said the traditional opener included:Schools often closing for the dayGovernment offices operating with reduced staffingFamilies planning gatherings and hunting camp trips around the season opener

Yaw and Boscola said moving the season to Saturday disrupted those customs, created conflicts with Thanksgiving weekend plans, and made it harder for some hunters to participate.

In Yaw’s district, one volunteer fire company that holds an annual fundraiser tied to hunters’ attendance saw turnout fall from several hundred people to just 40 last year, according to the senators.

The senators said Saturday openings have affected:Family holiday schedulesParticipation by multigenerational hunting groupsRevenue for small businesses and community organizations in rural areas

The issue resurfaced Jan. 24, when the Pennsylvania Game Commission considered, but ultimately rejected, a proposal to move opening day even earlier to the Saturday before Thanksgiving.

MediaNews Group/Reading Eagle via Getty Images

Although that proposal failed, Yaw and Boscola said the debate underscored broad opposition to Saturday openers across the state.

Support for Monday opener

The senators said they have heard strong support for restoring the traditional Monday start from hunters, families, small businesses, and communities across Pennsylvania.

Senate Bill 1244 would return the statewide firearms deer season opener to the first Monday after Thanksgiving.