Most in Valley against Sunday deer hunting

By Wayne Laepple

SUNBURY — Deer hunters across the Valley will take to the forests, fields and farmland a week from Monday, shotguns or rifles in hand, stalking that prized buck or doe.

Some will hunt for six consecutive days.

None will hunt deer for a seventh.

That’s because Pennsylvania is one of only six states to prohibit Sunday hunting of deer.

And that’s just fine with many Valley farmers, whose continued peace may hinge on the outcome of bills introduced in the state House of Representatives earlier this year.

One bill, introduced by Rep. Marc Gergely of Allegheny County, would clear the way for all Sunday hunting. Another bill, introduced by Rep. Edward Staback, of Lackawanna County, would allow archery hunting on Sundays.

Both pieces of legislation languish in the Game and Fisheries Committee, to which both were referred after their introduction.

Also in competition is public opinion: 67 percent of respondents to a statewide online poll conducted by PollWizard.com favored Sunday hunting, while 75 percent of the 670 respondents to The Daily Item’s online poll last week were opposed.

Day of rest needed, landowners say

“I think it should stay the way it is,” said Charles Weiser, who owns 60 acres in Lower Augusta Township, Northumberland County, and participates in the state Game Commission’s cooperative program for hunters.

Sunday, he said, should be a day of rest for both farmers and animals.

“I don’t think Sunday hunting is necessary,” said Weiser’s neighbor, Wayne Klock. “We do enough on Sundays. It should be a day of rest.”

Klock, who farms 250 acres, said that although his property is posted, he permits relatives and neighbors to hunt on his land.

“I need a day of rest,” Klock said, “and so do the animals.”

Pennsylvania’s Legislature banned Sunday hunting in 1873, according to Jerry Feaser, a spokesman for the state Game Commission.

“Since the ban pre-existed the Game Commission, we have no position,” he said. “It’s a societal issue for the Legislature, landowners and the public.”

People in more urban areas generally favor Sunday hunting, while those in rural areas oppose it, he said. Surveys by the commission don’t show support for Sunday hunting, said Feaser, who added that the agency’s only goal is wildlife management, which can be accomplished with or without Sunday hunting.

Even if Sunday hunting were permitted, the Game Commission might not allow hunting of every species seven days a week, Feaser said.

“We might permit waterfowl and squirrel hunting, but not big game,” he said.

Times have changed, hunters say

Chandis Klinger, of Middleburg, says he has a different perspective.

“When I lived in Tennessee, I would get up early on Sunday, take a dog and hunt ducks for a couple of hours, come home and change clothes and go to church,” he said. “Then I’d go back and change clothes and hunt for the rest of the day.”

Hunting is recreation, he said, and allowing it on Sundays would provide another day for those who want it.

Times have changed since he was a boy, said Bob Gift, of Paxtonville. As a youngster, he was forbidden by his parents to do much of anything on Sundays.

“Society is a lot different now,” he said. “There are so many things to do today. I don’t think I’d hunt on Sundays, but I don’t have a problem with those who would.”

Brent Bacon, of Lewisburg, hunts in Pennsylvania and in New York. He owns property in both states and sometimes hunts in both states on the same weekend.

“It’s not an issue to me,” he said. “I would fully support Sunday hunting.

“It’s not like the woods are ablaze with gunfire,” he said. “People go target shooting on Sunday.”

Bacon said he understands that Sunday is a day of rest, though he believes it’s a day of rest from one’s vocation and hunting is recreation, not a vocation.

As for the deer, Bacon said, they can rest during the week because that’s when most people are working and unable to hunt.

Vote would be close, Game Commission official says

The issue comes up regularly in Harrisburg, says state Rep. Russ Fairchild, R-85, of Lewisburg.

“It’s been around for a long time, but the votes just aren’t there,” he said. “The agriculture community is opposed, and sportsmen are divided.”

Thomas Boop, a Sunbury attorney who represents the region with the Pennsylvania Game Commission, said the agency is divided as well.

“It’s never come up as an agenda item,” he said, “but if it did, it would be a close call, either a 4-4 to 5-3 vote.

“We’ve heard all the arguments, and there are compelling arguments on both sides,” Boop said. “My sense is the majority doesn’t favor it. I feel an obligation to support the people in the region who are opposed.”

The Farm Bureau and Pennsylvania State Grange, which represent farmers, oppose Sunday hunting. Because a great deal of hunting takes place on private land, the views of landowners are important.

And six days, says Lower Augusta Township farmer John Kopp, is enough.

Though not a hunter himself, he keeps his 177 acres open to nimrods, which helps keep the deer herd in check.

“I would post my land ‘No Sunday Hunting,’ but I would still allow hunting the other days,” he said.

That would be fine with Alan Hackenberg, of Sunbury, who — citing a decrease in the deer herd — said Monday through Saturday is enough time to hunt.

“Wildlife need a break, too,” he said. “I’m not in favor of Sunday hunting.”

Don’t scare my horse, rider says

Watsontown resident Jean Kear often goes horseback riding on Sundays on State Game Lands near Elimsport in Lycoming County.

That’s the only day she can ride, and if Sunday hunting became possible, she wouldn’t want to continue riding out of concern not only for her horse but for the hunters.

“I wouldn’t want my horse to be scared,” she said, “and I wouldn’t want to deal with irate hunters.”

Earlier this year, the New Jersey Legislature passed a bill to permit limited deer hunting on Sundays. Pennsylvania does permit Sunday hunting for crows, foxes and coyotes, joining Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina and West Virginia to allow limited Sunday hunting.

Thirty-nine states have no Sunday restrictions.

“It’s being debated,” said Erman Lepley Sr., of Beaver Springs, who also participates in the Game Commission’s cooperative program for hunters. “I have mixed feelings, but I’m not really opposed.”

Lepley, who lives on a 117-acre farm in West Beaver Township, said he understands that some people might be against Sunday hunting because the noise of gunfire would disturb church services.

“Maybe,” he said, only half in jest, “they could open Sunday just for archery. There wouldn’t be any noise.”

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