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<p>A bill designed to lift the ban on Sunday hunting in the state has advanced in the state Senate, but not everyone is on board with the idea.</p><p>Senate Bill 147, which is sponsored by Sen. Dan Laughlin, R-Erie, was voted out of the Senate Game and Fisheries Committee on Feb. 5 by an 8-3 vote. The bill would empower the Pennsylvania Game Commission to implement Sunday hunting as it sees fit. Currently, only coyotes, crows and foxes can be hunted in Sunday in Pennsylvania.</p><p>State Sen. John Yudichak, who serves on the committee, voted in favor of the bill. State Sen. Lisa Baker also favors the measure.</p><p>&#8220;We need to find ways to grow the sport to more families and children with busy schedules. I&#8217;ve always been open to testing Sunday hunting on public lands currently permitted for hunting, so this bill seems to be a good starting point for further discussion,&#8221; Baker said.</p><p>In his memo to the Senate on Dec. 14, 2018, Laughlin said the bill &#8220;would leave all hunting management decisions to the Game Commission.&#8221;</p><p>&#8220;This bill is for Pennsylvania&#8217;s young people, to get them outdoors when they have more time available and obviously some of our older hunters would like to spend more time in the field as well,&#8221; Laughlin said in a news release.</p><p>The Pennsylvania Farm Bureau and Keystone Trails Association are two groups that have come out in opposition to Sunday hunting.</p><p>According to a news release from the KTA, board president Ernie Werstler stated the need for the non-hunting public to have input on the measure. He also believes expansion of Sunday hunting could have a detrimental economic impact if trail users discontinue their activities to avoid hunters.</p><p>Farm Bureau spokesman Mark O&#8217;Neill said his organization was &#8220;disappointed but not surprised&#8221; that the bill was passed out of committee. He expects PFB members to become more vocal in their opposition as the bill moves closer to a vote on the Senate floor.</p><p>O&#8217;Neill added he has heard claims that there are plenty of PFB members that support Sunday hunting, but he questioned the validity of such assertions.</p><p>&#8220;That&#8217;s one of the bogus claims we hear all the time,&#8221; O&#8217;Neill said, adding that the Sunday issue came up during the bureau&#8217;s annual meeting in November.</p><p>He said PFB members, not staff, voted to reaffirm their opposition to Sunday hunting.</p><p>&#8220;That was one of the first things they did,&#8221; O&#8217;Neill said. &#8220;Our farmers are making the policy, not staff. The vast majority said no.&#8221;</p><p><strong>Conditions</strong></p><p>Farm Bureau members also approved a second policy on Sunday hunting that O&#8217;Neill said isn&#8217;t a compromise. Instead, according to the second policy, the bureau would take a neutral, but not supportive, stance on Sunday hunting if the following provisions were met:</p><p>&#8226; Hunting be expanded to include antlerless deer and woodchuck only.</p><p>&#8226; Sunday hunting for antlerless deer be limited to the first Sunday of archery season, the first Sunday of flintlock season and the Friday, Saturday and Sunday after the Thanksgiving holiday.</p><p>&#8226; Trespass laws be amended to address Pennsylvania Farm Bureau trespass policies (includes making hunting-related trespassing a primary offense enforceable by the PGC).</p><p>&#8226; Hunting be allowed only with written permission by private landowners.</p><p>&#8226; Hunting for deer be allowed on state game lands and in state forests (for doe and woodchucks only on the three Sundays referenced above), if private landowners living adjacent to those public lands are provided &#8220;No Sunday Hunting&#8221; signage free of charge when the landowners request the signage.</p><p>O&#8217;Neill said that a PGC poll conducted in 2017 showed 53 percent of hunters supported Sunday hunting.</p><p>&#8220;There isn&#8217;t overwhelming support,&#8221; he said regarding the survey.</p><p>As for trespassing, the bill does include stricter penalties on hunters who trespass, and such a violation would be enforceable by the Game Commission.</p><p>Currently, game wardens enforce trespassing only if it occurs as part of another game violation, according to agency spokesman Travis Lau.</p><p>&#8220;If we get a call where the only reported offense is trespassing, we advise to call the police,&#8221; he said.</p><style>
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<div class="metaInfo"><subheadMeta>PA Farm Bureau among those opposed to expansion of Sunday hunting</subheadMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Tom Venesky</p><p>tvenesky@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div>

Sunday hunting measure advances, but some groups oppose it