Must have been Brett's sig line......Sunday Hunting in PA?

Virginia's hunter numbers have plummeted. If we are going to strike and get Sunday hunting approved, we must do so now. The economy is bad and hunter numbers are on the steep decline, which means the iron is hot. $$$

 

I agree with Gary and Vito. You give a clown with a gun and he can't shoot a deer hunting opening day and Saturdays an extra day on the weekends he still isn't going to shoot a deer. There may be a slight increase for those lucky blind squirrels finding a nut, but it's not like they will suddenly be laying down deer.

Also, if it's that big of an issue do what NJ did and only open Sundays for archery season.

 

I see there being a bigger impact on harvest numbers during the Sundays in rifle season, but really if they kept the start date and end date the same, then it's really only one Sunday that they are out there in full force. Keep it the same in archery season, and it's only 4 more days to hunt. I think it HAS to equate to higher success of guys that hunt regularly.

 

So it sounds like this will mostly effect bowhunters, as far as giving them more time to hunt. That leads me to believe even stronger about harvest numbers staying nearly the same.

Even including all hunters, they normally harvest around 315,000 deer a season in PA (if I remember correctly). For those that think it will increase, how much would you guess? What would you consider a big increase?

 

Ben, what percentage of hunters do you think hunt "regularly"? I think sometimes we fall into the trap of thinking we are the average hunter (meaning most hunters are just like us). Fact is, almost everyone on this forum would be considered "hardcore" compared to all hunters in their respective state...and I would bet hardcore hunters make up a small percentage of all hunters.

 

I'm thinking that the Sunday hunt might result in a 5% bump in hunter success for both bucks and does. That's 1 guy out of 20, shooting a deer on a Sunday who otherwise would not have gotten that deer. I think that's realistic.

Using round numbers, let's say that PA has 1,000,000 licensed hunters:

If the buck success rate is 12%, then we're looking a projected harvest of 120K.
If the doe success rate is 25%, then we're looking at a projected doe harvest of 250K
Total deer harvest of 370,000.

Now, if we bump both numbers by 5%, we're looking at 17% buck harvest (170K) and 30% doe harvest (300K).
Total deer harvest of 470,000.

That's a pretty dramatic increase, especially when we're already having a BIG problem establishing any cognizable age structure within our whitetail buck herd. Pouring gas on the fire, IMO.

That said, I SUPPORT Sunday Hunting. I also support either a buck tag lottery or a dramatic license fee increase (to reduce the # of hunters afield), and I don't think you should have one without the other, if indeed your real objective is to create the best hunting conditions.

Of note, depending on how the PGC opts to include Sundays, there could be as few as 7, or as many as 10 more days of the most popular deer seasons (early archery and gun)

Ben: I agree 100% about the biggest impact coming in gun season. It'll be interesting to see if they aim to include just the one, or expand the dates to include BOTH Sundays in the open gun season. I'm with you - open Sundays will undoubtedly lead to more dead deer at the hands of the narrow demographic of dedicated, skilled hunters.

 

I don't hunt PA, so I really don't know what type of hunters you have there. I've heard from guys that hunt both states, as well as the general consensus, is that MI and PA are similar in deer herd dynamics and hunter numbers/mentality. If our hunters are similar, you are giving the average a hunter a LOT of credit. If Sunday hunting in MI was new, I would guess about 1/100 hunters would kill a deer on Sunday vs not having killed a deer that season. And that may be giving them a little too much credit still.

Which leads me to my next question...how many days afield do you think hunting on Sundays would allow the average hunter? "Average" being the key word is this entire conversation.

 

I am not a gambler at all, but I will take that bet!!!!! If it does go up, it will be less then 1 percent.

 

Vito, HuntingBry, you both bring up valid points. I couldn't care less who hunts Sundays or any other day for that matter. The religious argument against Sunday hunting is bull and I don't agree with it at all.

I'm in the boat with most here. I get Saturdays only to hunt as I have to work through the week and take 1 week vacation during the rut. Having the option to hunt on Sunday would be really nice.

Farmers, again, put up big signs around your property that say NO SUNDAY HUNTING if you're opposed to it. Problem solved there.

 

I've been saying there should be a buck drawing for a second buck tag in PA. Preseason. 10 bucks to apply, 100 bucks should you get drawn. Issue 25,000 of them. In a state that kills what 650,000 whitetails, how many of those tags get filled? That's my money making idea for PGC.

 

You know what else would make money for the PGC? Raising their out of state license fees more. I'm not against any out of state hunters. But it really burns me when I just paid almost 500 bucks for tags and fees to hunt Illinois and you can come and hunt PA for half that.

I respectively disagree with offering a second buck tag. We're already having a hard enough time getting bucks through to another year.

 

Hey now!!! I like the nonresident fees ... if they raise it, I wont buy one ... but maybe that's what you want ... Illinois has more to offer with their bucks, hence the price ....

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