Stay out of it Boscola.
Pennsylvania State Senate
MEMORANDUM
Posted: | March 8, 2023 01:48 PM |
|---|---|
From: | Senator Lisa M. Boscola |
To: | All Senate members |
Subject: | Changing Opening Day of PA Deer Rifle Season |
| In the near future, I intend to introduce legislation that will permanently move the opening day of Pennsylvania Deer Rifle Season back to the Monday after Thanksgiving. The annual deer rifle season is special in Pennsylvania. My office received a number of letters and phone calls regarding the impact of moving opening day to the Saturday after Thanksgiving. Local business owners and hunters seem aligned that the move of opening day has hurt businesses and many of the traditions associated with the longstanding original opening day. Currently, deer season begins the Saturday after Thanksgiving. It has been this way since a change in 2019. This legislation will not affect Sunday hunting, nor will it determine the duration of the season. It is my hope that you will join me in supporting legislation to change opening day back. |
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Cheer up, ya still got the tradition of complaining. 🤣This topic has been on the top of all pages for the past four years.
Most hunters already were weekend hunters. And give me full Sunday hunting and I can use my vacation time even better to take multiple 3 and 4 day weekends throughout the fall hunting season.Saturday opener turned a lot of folks into weekend hunters
Maybe many of you camp guys are done and gone by Sunday but maybe that just shows how inconsequential the camps have become to deer harvests because most of the hunters I know continue hunting beyond the Sunday. Not our fault most camps don't hunt as much as they'd like the rest of us to believe.😉
Although at my friends camp most guys stay until Tuesday and several stay thru the whole first week.
Although at my friends camp most guys stay until Tuesday and several stay thru the whole first week.
But you said everyone leaves the camps on Sunday?😉
I don't care whether you support a Monday opener or Saturday opener, I respect you're right to either opinion. Including your right to organize and advocate that position to the PGC. However, the people that ran to get the legislature even more involved in PGC business and those that applaud getting the legislature involved are incredibly short-sighted and foolish. I actually find it despicable.
They were still going to camp on Friday or Saturday anyway when it was a Monday opener. They sure as heck weren't visiting with their relatives when they were buying ammo, visiting the other camps, supporting the firehouse dinner, etc over that weekend while waiting for Monday.The biggest opposition that I hear to the Saturday opener has nothing to do at all with hunting. It has to do with family being in from out of town for the Thanksgiving holiday. Guys don't want to leave to go to a camp or go out hunting and leave family sitting at home who they might only get to see a couple times a year.
Almost every guy I know that belongs to a camp usually left that Friday afternoon anyway (because they either packed that day and then left or they worked and left right after work. The rest left first thing Saturday morning. Not a whole lot of extra visiting going on.
It's such a BS reason. Of course this is a BS state made that way by a BS legislature. If they really wanna support businesses that rely on just about solely on hunting dollars then they'd end their ban on Sunday hunting entirely.I wanted to give an update on this subject. I emailed all the Republicans and Democrats in Harrisburg over this and I got a reply back from one representative so far. He is saying it is just talk so far. He did say the reason they want to change it back is because license sales have not increased because of the Saturday opener and business are loosing money. He said he would be voting to take it back to Monday opener. He said he has to support the businesses who are loosing money. With that being said can anyone on here tell me why the legislators have a say in this and not the PGC? I'm just curious.
Most of those businesses that are doing the best up there rely on outdoor recreation tourist dollars, which goes well beyond just hunting. And again, allowing for full Sunday hunting only helps add more dollars through all the hunting seasons.
Scamtucci and Davila are sending another round of letters to the editor in newspapers (online & print editions) across the state trying to convince everyone this has widespread bipartisan support in thr legislature and this involvementis so great. If you believe in the Saturday opener and the increaed opportunity or even if you dont but understand this is a terrible move to involve the legislature. Let you're state rep and state senator each know. And keep contacting them "early and often." The squeaky wheel gets the grease.
Well smarty somebody else included them so the only way to get them out of this is to tell your rep Not To Support it.17 names sponsoring HB495 that was introduced Friday, that's decent support
I kind of agree but what other means do you suggest
Wait I thought you said involving them was a terrible idea
I'm guessing you haven't? Because I've been up in the Loyalsock State Forest area and guess what??? Plenty of camps were occupied along with lots of camping too. Plenty of those camps were occupied for Easter weekend too. Some of my buddy's are going up to their camp in Potter for the trout opener. That's about a 3.5 hour drive. Although I totally believe that some people pretty much only go up for rifle season and maybe turkey. I can often get an idea of that from their posts.Everyone has a trout stream or stocked waters within 15 minutes of their house. I don't think a lot of people make the annual pilgrimage to their backwoods camps for trout fishing. They go local.
Saw a letter to the editor today from a pro-saturday group that pushed back on Santucci's disingenuous letter campaign with some solid evidence supporting Saturday and economic gains.
Yeah, you're not getting it.
Are you serious with this? It's nonsense. I don't care where in PA you live, there is a rifle range, whether public or private, within reasonable distance of every shooter in this state. And there are 365 days a year, plenty of time to plan a day or two to sight in properly or get some shooting practice in even if you have 3-6 kids.I'll bet half of PA's opening day rifle hunters don't shoot their rifles outside of deer season. Not everyone is as into it as we are. I have buddies with 3-6 kids. They have a lot going on all through the year. They live near the Phila city limits. Shooting the deer rifle is not top of mind most of the year and public, 100 yard rifle ranges are not handy. It is what it is.
From Havertown to Gamelands 205 in Schnecksville PA is 1hr. So I'm pretty sure there's even more than one and in 365 days, if one can't find a little time to at least sight in you're not acruslly trying and don't care. These are just incredibly weak excuses and certainly not a credible basis for a Monday opener.
Went to the PGC site and it took me all of about 5 seconds to type rifle ranges and hit search and go to the shooting range page where a map will show every public rifle, pistol, shotgun and archery range in the state. So, so very hard to find. 😄🙄I never knew it existed. I can assure they didn't.
And how often does one need to shoot a rifle to sight it in. My deer rifle is on, I don't need to keep shooting it. I know how to shoot properly and I only take high percentage shots on game.
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