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for all of you pro saturday opener guys

29K views 453 replies 81 participants last post by  burninghxcsoul 
#1 ·
#2 ·
The article quotes two numbers for hunters apposing the Sat. opener, 81% against and 65% against. If those numbers are true and the GC knew that and did it any way that would tell us just how much our emails, calls, and letters mean to the the GC.
 
#24 ·
The big stores like walmart and others are not that dependent on those sales like the northern tier shops. The northern tier shops and mom and pop shops depend on rifle season, trout season heck even snow mobile season as their main source of income and do not have a big steady flow of cash like the big stores do daily. I agree the numbers to seem a little high and maybe exaggerated a little. Mom and Pop stores have been shutting down their businesses for years due to the lack of hunters up north. This was predicted to happen but no one really wanted to hear or believe it and the PGC could care less about that anyway because its not hurting them.
 
#26 ·
i made my first trip to Grices in clearfield on Monday. while i was in there gun sales were going like crazy. at least ten guns were sold in 30 minutes at the handgun counter. people were waiting to cash out, buy ammo, look at guns. the guy i went with bought a $1,200.00 6.5 creedmore and a small ruger 9mm for $219.00 plus ammo.


now the three days before the Saturday opener also includes black friday sales...that store could have lost $200,000 in sales easily. it is mindboggling huge, its crazy.
 
#28 ·
I would love to see it restored to Monday.



Loss in PA sales does take away from PGC in form of Pittman Robertson funds, doesn't it?
Many of us would like it to be restored to Monday but unfortunately i think we are stuck with it especially with some of the BOC members on that board that want the changes to benefit them and not the hunters themselves.
 
#29 ·
Ok so my take from it all the one guy admitted that sales were strong during archery. So isn’t it getting pretty obvious that archery season may be the favorite season and rifle is taking the backseat? And second why would anybody wait until almost opening day to go buy that new rifle or the supplies they need. I mean I will admit I bought things right before season but I have always been prepared well before. And with the decline of hunters there sales are going to further suffer anyway especially with the death of brick and mortar stores.
 
#33 ·
I remember as a kid going to different shops on Saturday and Sunday before the opener and buying stuff like an extra box of shells, a new stool, orange tape, gutting gloves...that was all without going to camp. Well ---- I guess it was going to camp, it was hunting with "the gang", but we stayed at a cousin's place and the roster was at the farm. I just never thought of it as deer camp, they way a lot of guys go a cabin up north.
 
#31 ·
It's not just spending money, it's revisiting people your uncle or even grandfather knew when they were young. It is a big deal changing a 3 day holiday into a 1 day rush job. Shoot a buck on Saturday, and a lot of people end up going home on Sunday. A friend of mine's brother did just that, and probably thousands of other guys did the same.
 
#32 ·
When I was in high school, I helped out in a "mom and pop" shop during the busy season. We were open to 10 pm on Sunday the day before opening deer and sold many new guns, mounted scopes, sold endless hunting license and boxes of ammo. It was craziness for Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Same thing with small game and trout season.
 
#39 ·
The January PGC meeting is this coming Friday afternoon and Saturday.

Not content with just changing opening day of rifle, they did away with the old Sunday afternoon "gripe and moan" public input day. That will now be on Saturday morning. But big crowds were no longer coming to the January Sunday session to grumble anyway, like they did for many years.

That February 20 thing in Charleroi, is a House Game and Fisheries gig on the Saturday opener.

For those finding fault with that article on rural businesses losing money with the Saturday opener, I'd like to point out that most of those small businesses rely on an influx of non locals each year, to make a decent profit.

Being located in rural areas, many of them with fairly poor local economies, there's only so much to be made annually, when you have to make do with only local expenditures. Just how it is.

If any of you remember what Ackley's in Wesfield was like from Friday to Sunday before buck season back in its glory days, then you know what a rural business can do in that short period of time, with hundreds and hundreds of hunters showing up each year. And you might be surprised at how much of Mort's annual profit came from just that brief period, plus trout seasons, each year?

Like most other small businesses in rural areas, he had to rely on what the local folks had to spend during the rest of the year, minus the big annual hunter crowds.
 
#42 ·
If any of you remember what Ackley's in Wesfield was like from Friday to Sunday before buck season back in its glory days, then you know what a rural business can do in that short period of time, with hundreds and hundreds of hunters showing up each year. And you might be surprised at how much of Mort's annual profit came from just that brief period, plus trout seasons, each year?
.
I spent many a mid day off season hours browsing in Ackley's....and the cash box drawer didn't open once during many of those hours. But during peak season...different story. I could only imagine what the place was like the 3 days before season.
 
#41 ·
Those that were lucky enough to get to camp on Fridays in years gone by had a couple of days to fill with things not essential to the hunt before the hunt began. Now they get to camp Friday and have to hunt the very next day... no time for the non essential, but always enjoyable, trip to the local stores. Where of course, they spent money. Lots of money$$$.
 
#43 ·
So the general sentiment seems to be that the Northern tier local businesses and Mom & Pop stores need some economic stimulus or redistribution of consumer spending via Game Commission scheduling? I'm shocked...
Most here seem to take a very difference stance when it comes to all other forms of redistribution and prefer capitalism....
 
#45 ·
The US has never been a pure capitalist economy...it's a mixed economy. If purely capitalist, monopolies would have taken over long ago. A little socialism in the form of government over site in terms of taxation and regulation keeps things running smoothly, for the social good. Key word here is a little.

Ever hear of farm subsidies....not capitalistic. Many other examples of government intervening for the good of society. If a Monday opener helps a struggling segment keep afloat, I have no problem with that.
 
#44 ·
No, the general sentiment is simply aligned with the majority. "the Game Commission’s 2017 Deer Hunter Survey in which 65 percent of hunters were against the change, and in another instance, he said there were calls by 1,300 hunters to the Game Commission — 81 percent of them against the change." To ignore the effects of the change is to be purposefully obtuse. Those effects include a rushed holiday schedule and a loss of income for merchants AND the PGC PR funds. Unless I misunderstand how that works...but I don't think the PGC gets any of that money if stuff is bought out of state via the internet.
 
#48 ·
Sorry, all the "justifications" here for going back to Monday quoting "woe is me" stories from businesses claiming losses as a direct result of the scheduling change.
Ever stop for a moment to think that those very same businesses created their business model purposefully to take advantage of a schedule that didn't exist about 60 years ago?
A schedule that was never guaranteed to stay constant? Much like many crying about the change for their personal "losses"...
Claiming that the opinions of 1300 hunters reflects those of the remaining 650,000 is purposefully obtuse. It ignores the fact that those in opposition to a direction a most likely to voice an opinion.
It is not in the PGC's charter to manage economic impact beyond their own budgets. They manage wildlife and the lands they hold/acquire...
They stated their reasons for the change. It's forward-looking. Sometimes the medicine tastes bad, but it's what the body needs in the long term.

Ah, I guess I'm kidding myself thinking folks will get past this any time soon... This will likely be a recurring topic around every BOC meeting and the month or two leading up to Opening Day, regardless of what day that happens to be every year going forward....
 
#46 ·
The mission of the Pennsylvania Game Commission is: To manage and protect wildlife. To manage wildlife habitat. To inform and educate the public on wildlife and safe hunting practices.

Nothing in there about scheduling seasons to the benefit of businesses.

How many of these business owners would consider themselves politically conservative, and in other circumstances want to keep government out of business? But on this issue, can't pick up their pen fast enough to ask government to help them get relief?

Don't get me wrong, I sympathize. Patronizing small businesses was a big part of my family's camp tradition, long before I was old enough to go to camp. We went to the local grocery store, hardware store, gun shop, ice cream shop, and the one I looked forward to most, the Saturday night stop at Truman's to talk to the gentleman in the well-worn rocking chair. This year, Truman's closed in early November. Were they bracing for this? I don't know, but I imagine the buck season change influenced the early close.

I can't blame business owners for doing what's within their reach for the benefit of their businesses. When things are going well, some see no need for change. When it's not going well, some try to fight/avoid/stave off the need for change - because things were going just fine before X change, out of our control, happened. In capitalism, businesses must adapt to survive. As much as many of us don't want these negatively-impacted businesses to fold, it's not up to government to decide which businesses win or lose. That's up to the business and it's up to consumers. Consumers' habits change based on any number of influences, including the timing of hunting seasons.

For the past 50+ years before 2019, how many business owners wrote the PGC thank you cards to express gratitude for the success of their businesses on the three days leading up to the opener?
 
#47 ·
I'd like to see an article written about the businesses that didn't sit around and wait to see if their predictions came true, but adapted and survived, or even flourished. You know, a feel-good story instead of "look at how bad things are."

Lack of time to shop has been listed several times as a reason hunters weren't able to patronize businesses that typically depend on hunters' money. Could these shops offer a pickup service? Online or phone orders could be taken in advance and appointments made to pick up the orders, similar to many grocery stores today. This would save the time of shopping, but money would still be spent locally. You would pay in advance, preventing the store from eating the cost of over-ordering or no-shows. There is still the opportunity for last minute or impulse purchases when hunter come in to receive their orders. Just an idea.
 
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