logo
Weather page
GET THE APP
ePaper
google_play
app_store
  • Login
  • E-Edition
    • Marketplace
  • News
  • Sports
  • Obituaries
  • Opinion
  • Classifieds
    • Place an Ad
    • All Listings
    • Jobs
  • Special Sections
  • Photo Gallery
  • Contests
  • Lifestyle/Entertainment
  • Games
    • News
      • Local News
      • PA State News
      • Nation/World
    • Sports
      • Local
      • College Sports
      • State
      • National
    • Obituaries
    • Opinion
      • News
        • Local News
        • PA State News
        • Nation/World
      • Sports
        • Local
        • College Sports
        • State
        • National
      • Obituaries
      • Opinion
    logo
    • Classifieds
      • Place an Ad
      • All Listings
      • Jobs
    • E-Edition
      • Marketplace
    • Subscribe
    • Login
      • Classifieds
        • Place an Ad
        • All Listings
        • Jobs
      • E-Edition
        • Marketplace
      • Subscribe
      • Login
    Home News Shapiro signs bill to fully allow Sunday hunting in Pa.
    Shapiro signs bill to fully allow Sunday hunting in Pa.
    Gov. Josh Shapiro prepares to sign a bill repealing Pennsylvania's limit on Sunday hunting at the Blue Ridge Sportsman Club of Harrisburg on July 9. (Pennlive.com/TNS)
    Local News, News, Outdoors
    July 9, 2025

    Shapiro signs bill to fully allow Sunday hunting in Pa.

    By ZACK HOOPES Pennlive.com

    HARRISBURG (TNS) — Pennsylvania’s centuries-old ban on Sunday hunting is now fully ended, as Gov. Josh Shapiro signed a bill into law Wednesday that will allow the state game commission to open up an unlimited number of Sundays to hunt.

    The longstanding prohibition is “a relic of the earliest days of this commonwealth” and one that “doesn’t make sense anymore” given the pace of modern life and Pennsylvania’s burgeoning deer population, Shapiro said Wednesday during a bill-signing ceremony at the Blue Ridge Sportsman Club in northern Dauphin County.

    The idea of opening up Sundays to hunting has been floated for years as a way to attract more Pennsylvanians to the hobby, given that the number of hunters in the state has been on a broad decline over several decades.

    In 2019, the state’s game law was amended to allow the Pennsylvania Game Commission to schedule three Sundays for hunting, including one during deer archery season and another during deer rifle season. Hunting is otherwise allowed on Sundays only for crows, coyotes, and foxes.

    The three-day lift of the Sunday hunting ban “showed that Sunday hunting would work in the commonwealth and paved the way” for the complete repeal that will go into effect 60 days from Wednesday’s signing, just in time for the fall deer season, said Game Commission Executive Director Steve Smith.

    The broad ban on Sunday hunting was “incredibly unpopular to enforce,” Smith said, and being able to schedule more Sunday hunts during deer, turkey and bear seasons will “significantly increase our ability to recruit and retain new hunters.”

    For years, measures to completely eliminate the Sunday hunting rule had run into staunch opposition from farmers who voiced concerns about hunters trespassing on croplands.

    But farmers — including the influential Pennsylvania Farm Bureau — gradually came around to the idea, as crop damage from excessive deer populations increased. Legislators also pledged to package Sunday hunting with tighter anti-trespassing laws, which the bill signed Wednesday includes.

    “Every time you turn around, there’s a deer damage concern,” said Secretary of Agriculture Russell Redding. Completely eliminating the Sunday hunting ban is a chance for a “symbiotic relationship” between hunters and farmers, Redding said.

    The bill, sponsored by Rep. Mandy Steele, D-Allegheny County, overcame some remaining opposition from outdoor groups who wanted Sundays to remain gunfire-free, as well as a late-breaking controversy over whether deer urine used as a lure should be tested for chronic wasting disease (CWD).

    But there was a bipartisan push to get the bill through, according to Steele and other lawmakers. While Sunday hunting may seem like an issue that speaks more to rural, conservative constituents, Democrats saw it as a chance to break a perceived divide in cultural politics, Steele said.

    “This has kind of become an area that’s thought of as Republican — guns and hunting,” Steele said earlier this week, “but this is a Democrat-sponsored bill that is heading to a Democratic governor’s desk.”

    Exactly how many Sundays will be included in a given hunting season has yet to be determined by the game commission, Smith said, but is being discussed by the commission’s board in consultation with wildlife biologists and law enforcement.

    “All I can tell [hunters] as of today is ‘stay tuned and buy your hunting license,’” Smith said.

    {"to-print":"To print", "bradfordera-website":"Website"}

    The Bradford Era

    Local & Social
    ePaper
    google_play
    app_store
    Latest news for you
    Rinsing recyclables in dishwater
    Lifestyles
    Rinsing recyclables in dishwater
    July 10, 2025
    Dear Heloise: I, too, live in Tucson, Arizona, and follow the same ritual for rinsing recyclables in dishwater as J.B. I also put some items in the di...
    Read More...
    {"to-print":"To print", "bradfordera-website":"Website"}
    Boyfriend’s daughter complicates long-term relationship
    Lifestyles
    Boyfriend’s daughter complicates long-term relationship
    July 10, 2025
    DEAR ABBY: I have been seeing my partner, "Gil," for five years. After my husband passed, Gil came into my life again. We had been colleagues about 10...
    Read More...
    {"to-print":"To print", "bradfordera-website":"Website"}
    ‘Round the Square: More Mount Gretna missives, part 1 of 2
    Round the Square
    ‘Round the Square: More Mount Gretna missives, part 1 of 2
    July 10, 2025
    ANOTHER: The Era received a second letter from Orderly L.M. Peterson, sent from the Pennsylvania National Guard training grounds at Camp Miner, Mount ...
    Read More...
    DIFFERENCE MAKERS: ‘Be(ing) the change’
    Local News
    'Be(ing) the change'
    DIFFERENCE MAKERS: ‘Be(ing) the change’
    Cinda Roberts doesn't hesitate to help
    By SAVANNAH BARR s.barr@bradfordera.com 
    July 10, 2025
    Cinda Roberts believes that everyone should help where they can and, as Gandhi encouraged, "be the change you wish to see in the world." Roberts knows...
    Read More...
    {"newsletter-daily-headlines":"Daily Headlines", "newsletters":"Newsletters", "to-print":"To print", "bradfordera-website":"Website"}
    Pittsburgh Steelers are done adding to their roster, insider says
    National Sports
    Pittsburgh Steelers are done adding to their roster, insider says
    Nick Farabaugh pennlive.com 
    July 9, 2025
    (TNS) - Could the Pittsburgh Steelers be done adding to their roster after trading for Jalen Ramsey and Jonnu Smith? ESPN insider Adam Schefter believ...
    Read More...
    Would any of these Penguins be a good fit for Red Wings?
    National Sports
    Would any of these Penguins be a good fit for Red Wings?
    Ansar Khan mlive.com 
    July 9, 2025
    (TNS) - The rebuilding Pittsburgh Penguins have a handful of veterans with multiple years remaining on their contracts they wouldn’t mind unloading, a...
    Read More...
    This Week's Ads
    Current e-Edition
    ePaper
    google_play
    app_store
    Already a subscriber? Click the image to view the latest e-edition.
    Don't have a subscription? Click here to see our subscription options.
    Mobile App

    Download Now

    The Bradford Era mobile app brings you the latest local breaking news, updates, and more. Read the Bradford Era on your mobile device just as it appears in print.

    ePaper
    google_play
    app_store

    Help Our Community

    Please help local businesses by taking an online survey to help us navigate through these unprecedented times. None of the responses will be shared or used for any other purpose except to better serve our community. The survey is at: www.pulsepoll.com $1,000 is being awarded. Everyone completing the survey will be able to enter a contest to Win as our way of saying, "Thank You" for your time. Thank You!

    Get in touch with The Bradford Era
    Submit Content
    • Submit News
    • Letter to the Editor
    • Place Wedding Announcement
      • Submit News
      • Letter to the Editor
      • Place Wedding Announcement
    Advertise
    • Place Birth Announcement
    • Place Anniversary Announcement
    • Place Obituary Call (814) 368-3173
      • Place Birth Announcement
      • Place Anniversary Announcement
      • Place Obituary Call (814) 368-3173
    Subscribe
    • Start a Subscription
    • e-Edition
    • Contact Us
      • Start a Subscription
      • e-Edition
      • Contact Us
    CMG | Community Media Group
    Illinois
    • Hancock Journal-Pilot
    • Iroquois Times-Republic
    • Journal-Republican
    • The News-Gazette
      • Hancock Journal-Pilot
      • Iroquois Times-Republic
      • Journal-Republican
      • The News-Gazette
    Indiana
    • Fountain Co. Neighbor
    • Herald Journal
    • KV Post News
    • Newton Co. Enterprise
    • Rensselaer Republican
    • Review-Republican
      • Fountain Co. Neighbor
      • Herald Journal
      • KV Post News
      • Newton Co. Enterprise
      • Rensselaer Republican
      • Review-Republican
    Iowa
    • Atlantic News Telegraph
    • Audubon Advocate-Journal
    • Barr’s Post Card News
    • Burlington Hawk Eye
    • Collector’s Journal
    • Fayette County Union
    • Ft. Madison Daily Democrat
    • Independence Bulletin-Journal
    • Keokuk Daily Gate City
    • Oelwein Daily Register
    • Vinton Newspapers
    • Waverly Newspapers
      • Atlantic News Telegraph
      • Audubon Advocate-Journal
      • Barr’s Post Card News
      • Burlington Hawk Eye
      • Collector’s Journal
      • Fayette County Union
      • Ft. Madison Daily Democrat
      • Independence Bulletin-Journal
      • Keokuk Daily Gate City
      • Oelwein Daily Register
      • Vinton Newspapers
      • Waverly Newspapers
    Michigan
    • Iosco County News-Herald
    • Ludington Daily News
    • Oceana’s Herald-Journal
    • Oscoda Press
    • White Lake Beacon
      • Iosco County News-Herald
      • Ludington Daily News
      • Oceana’s Herald-Journal
      • Oscoda Press
      • White Lake Beacon
    New York
    • Finger Lakes Times
    • Olean Times Herald
    • Salamanca Press
      • Finger Lakes Times
      • Olean Times Herald
      • Salamanca Press
    Pennsylvania
    • Bradford Era
    • Clearfield Progress
    • Courier Express
    • Free Press Courier
    • Jeffersonian Democrat
    • Leader Vindicator
    • Potter Leader-Enterprise
    • The Wellsboro Gazette
      • Bradford Era
      • Clearfield Progress
      • Courier Express
      • Free Press Courier
      • Jeffersonian Democrat
      • Leader Vindicator
      • Potter Leader-Enterprise
      • The Wellsboro Gazette
    © Copyright The Bradford Era 43 Main St, Bradford, PA  | Terms of Use  | Privacy Policy
    Powered by TECNAVIA