Sunday hunting is a major topic for me as I grew up in one of the states that still has one of these archaic blue laws on the books. Now I live in Virginia where up until this coming year I have had to deal with the same law. When I was a kid growing up in Pennsylvania, I never really thought about it to be honest. For one it was just how it was and all I knew. Heck for all I knew that was the way it was everywhere. Plus, I was fortunate to grow up on an 80 acre property surrounded by farmland, woods and state game lands. I could literally come home from school and walk out the back door and hunt. As an adult, among other challenges staying active in the outdoors due to my career choice, Sunday hunting became an issue.
When I was stationed in North Carolina I was reintroduced to the Sunday hunting ban. It was here that it really became apparent to me this was a ridiculous law. Maybe at one point in time these laws made sense but they just do not stand up in modern times. Today there are many that work weekends, or Sundays are their only day to hunt. I have a very close friend who owns a construction business and works six days a week. Guess which day is his only day off? He would love to get out and hunt like he used to and take his son out and introduce him to the joys of hunting. However, the fact he cannot hunt on Sundays makes it almost impossible. I too have felt much of the same pain. Often, I would be gone for a week or two training or working long hours that made it impossible for me to get out to hunt on a regular basis. The lack of Sunday hunting made the days afield much shorter than they should have been.
I cannot tell you how excited I am about the fact Virginia will be open to Sunday hunting on all lands as of July 2022. This has essentially doubled the number of days I will have available to get out and hunt throughout the seasons. There have been so many times I had only a Sunday available to get out but the fact I could not hunt on a Sunday meant I lost that day. As hunters know there are times during the season, the rut, where you want to maximize you time afield as this is the best time to fill your tag. Not having this one day could easily be the difference between filling a tag and leaving the freezer empty. In a time where more and more people have less and less time to get afield and hunt, we need to be doing more to provide these opportunities.
This topic really is an access issue. Just like access to public lands is a major topic of discussion so is this in the same sense of access. We in the outdoor space like to talk about the declining numbers of hunters and the impact that has on the not only the funding we lose but in the rising costs of fees to help mitigate those losses. I do not know what the data reflects but I would be willing to bet there are plenty of people who do not purchase licenses because of the fact they just cannot get out. What if having that one day open meant that more people could get out? It seems like a no brainer to me. As of today, there are only five states left that do not allow Sunday hunting. It would appear it is working in the other 45 states, so why is there still so much resistance in the five hold outs?
To their credit Pennsylvania did open it up to allow the commission to assign three Sundays throughout the hunting season (all seasons not just deer) as open for hunting. In 2020 they had one each for Bear, Spring Turkey and Deer. Last year it was one in Archery, Rifle and Spring Turkey. I am hopeful that this year the state will just do the right thing and allow Sunday hunting period. Personally, this would be huge as I am still a Pennsylvania resident and travel up to see my parents when I can. Would be so much easier to spend more time hunting on the weekends in Pennsylvania if I had that extra day.
Not everyone agrees with my viewpoint and that is ok. However, I have yet to hear an argument that truly makes sense. If someone has a good argument, I would love to hear it and more than willing to have the debate. Until then I am going to continue to beat the drum to open unrestricted Sunday hunting.
