Some rural Pa. businesses want to change day 1 of rifle deer season

CJ Spirits was once packed with hunters traveling to rural McKean County to prepare for the start of rifle deer season in Pennsylvania after Thanksgiving.

The hunters would drive camping on Friday, shop locally in Kane over the weekend, and hit the road early Monday morning in search of their first deer.

But the state Gaming Commission’s decision in 2019 to move opening day to Saturday instead of Monday changed long-standing traditions and spending habits. Now it’s a rush to go camping, shoot a deer by Sunday, and return home to work or school on Monday.

Speaking to Spotlight PA, owner Sam Cummings Jr. said the change resulted in thousands of dollars in lost revenue at CJ Spirits. In terms of work, it’s almost “no weekend,” he said.

The Gaming Commission did not review potential statewide economic impacts before approving the new opening day, and there has been no comprehensive review since. But local officials and business owners say they’re losing money because hunters now spend less time in their communities. Additionally, they worry about the long-term effects of change. The population of rural areas is decreasing.

Tina Johns Solak, executive director of the Cameron County Chamber of Commerce and Craftsman Center, said local business owners often talk about the impacts of the transition.

“The misconception is that we make most of our money during the hunting season – it’s a joke because we don’t do it anymore,” he told Spotlight PA. “Deer viewing is very important here. It brings a lot of people. We have people coming and that has helped, but it still hasn’t replaced the hunting season.”

Game Commission studies showed that current hunters favored keeping the Monday opening by a 2-to-1 ratio, as then-Commissioner James Daley noted during a meeting. April 2019 public meeting. He added that at the time, an additional survey of veteran hunters found that only a small percentage would purchase a license with a Saturday opening.

“The disruption for many hunters and rural businesses outweighs the potential benefits,” Daley said at the meeting. He resigned after the Gaming Commission approved the new date.

Some commissioners said they had not heard strong opposition to the change, which aims to make hunting more accessible to people with weekday restrictions. Feedback on the transition was not enough to sway the majority.

But information from business owners and hunters over the past five years has convinced some lawmakers. to suggest Back to Monday – still legislation He died largely before he could get out of the committee.

Recently, State Rep. David Maloney (R., Berks) pushed to add language reverting to a Monday opening to an expiring bill. Sunday hunting is almost completely banned in Pennsylvania. When the Gaming Commission made the changes in 2019, it said “athletes were ignored”.

But lawmakers rejected the idea in committee and advanced the bill, which later expired in the state House.

Policymakers who oppose the switch back said the weekend opening makes sports easier to access, especially for students who can’t get the Monday off from school. In some rural areas of Pennsylvania, the first day of rifle deer season was a holiday in itself.

State Rep. Anita Astorino Kulik (D., Allegheny), who chairs the House Game and Fishing Committee, said she discussed the issue with members of the Game Committee in October and expects those conversations to continue.

Executive Director Stephen Smith said the agency stands behind this change and thinks it is the best move for the future of hunting in Pennsylvania.

He told Spotlight PA that Pennsylvania had avoided National trend toward decreasing hunting license salesthanks in part to opening day Saturday.

Pennsylvania sold an average of 902,138 hunting licenses per year from 2014 to 2018, reporting consistently lower numbers each year. While recent sales are still lower than in the past, the annual decline is not that steep.

The Gaming Commission does not receive money from the state’s General Fund, so it relies primarily on license sales and gas and oil leases on state Gaming Lands for revenue.

“Our colleagues around the country have been experiencing a pretty slow and steady decline in license recipients going back decades, and when the board made this change, we saw the decline stop,” Smith said. “Essentially, we went through a period where license sales stabilized and we are no longer losing hunters at the rate we were before the board made this change.”

He also attributed the state’s steady numbers, averaging 858,434 since 2019, to increased hunting opportunities on Sunday and the Covid-19 pandemic increasing interest in hunting.

In 2021, the Gaming Commission signed a contract with Responsive Management. questionnaire Pennsylvania hunters are planning the opening day of deer season after the move to Saturday. The majority of respondents (60%) supported the Saturday opening. Opposition to the change was higher among hunters 55 and older and those who hunt at camp. Hunters who supported the Saturday opening said they had work obligations on Monday.

If license numbers remain steady — or even increase in the future — Smith said he hopes the benefit will also be felt by communities and businesses connected to the sport, noting he hasn’t heard directly from people upset with the 2019 change, but the Gaming Commission is open to that debate.

“The board actually made this decision because they felt it was in the best long-term interests of the sport,” he said. “That said, the board is always open to feedback and input from our stakeholders across the spectrum.”

90.5 WESA partners with Spotlight PA, a collaborative, reader-funded newsroom producing responsible journalism for all of Pennsylvania. More spotlightpa.org.