HARRISBURG — The Pennsylvania General Assembly finalized legislation to lift restrictions on Sunday hunting, sending the measure to the governor’s office to sign into law.
House Bill 1431 allows the Pennsylvania Game Commission to routinely include Sundays when setting its annual hunting season calendar, expanding beyond the current limit of three Sundays each year and ending a “blue law” prohibition in place for two centuries.
“We are so close to repealing this archaic blue law, so close. For 50 years, people have fought for this and we are here today because of all who fought for this before us,” Rep. Mandy Steele, D-Allegheny, said from the House floor Monday, referring to the long legislative efforts to change the law.
“We are going to be the body that finally gets this done,” she said ahead of the successful vote.
Steele is the primary sponsor of House Bill 1431. Her efforts in the House were aligned with those of Sen. Dan Laughlin, R-Erie, who offered companion legislation in the Senate.
The House first approved Steele’s legislation on June 11, 131-72. Once in the Senate, it was amended to remove two particular provisions — that a member of the Game Commission Board have an agricultural interest and that the commission create a self-reporting system for deer and other game taken on farms for crop management purposes.
Stripped of that language, the Senate voted 34-16 on June 26 to return the bill to the House. On Monday, the House concurred to the changes and saw support increase, 142-61. It now awaits Shapiro’s signature. Unless vetoed by the governor, the bill’s provisions would take effect 60 days after becoming law.
“These restrictions will hinder our residents no longer,” Laughlin said in prepared comments. “Pennsylvania hunters, young and old, will now have the chance to fully participate in a cherished outdoor tradition while also continuously building family bonds and enjoying our commonwealth’s great outdoors. This is a change I am truly proud to have fought for.”
Those who support the Sunday expansion argue it provides more opportunities for hunters to spend time with family in the woods and preserve the tradition of hunting. Opponents argue the change removes the one day during hunting seasons that allows safer exploration of forests for non-hunters like hikers and horseback riders.
“For generations, Sunday has stood apart, not because it’s inconvenient but because it’s deliberately inconvenient,” Rep. Robert Leadbeter, R-Columbia, said on the House floor before voting in opposition.
“This bill threatens to erase that cultural pause, to take what little breathing room remains for landowners, hikers, horseback riders and, yes, even other hunters who choose to rest and replace it with another day of pressure, noise and conflict over shared land,” he said.
Aside from expanding the hunting calendar, HB1431 also permits the use of deer urine to attract game and includes updates to trespass provisions to enhance the degree of summary offenses and mandate the forfeiture of hunting licenses for one year or three years in cases of defiant trespass.
In 2019, lawmakers approved legislation allowing the Game Commission to include three Sundays on the hunting calendar — split evenly for archery and rifle season for deer and rifle season for bear.
It’s long been legal to hunt foxes, coyotes and crows on Sundays year-round.
The Game Commission, Pennsylvania Farm Bureau and varied hunting and sportsmen organizations supported the change.
“The Game Commission has worked hard on behalf of Pennsylvania’s hunters to help get this bill across the finish line, which now is in sight,” Game Commission Executive Director Steve Smith said in a prepared statement.
The potential addition of Sundays to hunting calendars will be announced by the commission after the bill becomes law.