HUNTERS UNITED FOR SUNDAY HUNTING COMMENT TO PA GAME COMMISSION, JAN 23, 2021

 

Senate Bill 147 signed and made legal by the November 27, 2019, PA Act. 107

Statement to PA Game Commissioners, January 23, 2021

Executive Director Burhans, Deputy Executive Directors Grohol and Palmer, Commissioners, and Staff:

Be advised that the mission to bring full regulatory authority to the PA Game Commission is alive and well.  As the executive director of Hunters United for Sunday Hunting thanks for the opportunity to submit this letter as part of the PA Game Commission January 2021 public meeting.  Many of my comments are not going to be new but are still valid and pertinent to the current Sunday hunting situation that you as commissioners are managing. 

As commissioners, you are faced with the challenging decision of how to best manage the three Sundays of hunting opportunity for the upcoming 2020-2021 hunting and trapping season.  Please take comfort in the fact that we know you are working to do the best you can under the guidelines placed upon you by our legislators.  

As you well know. The fight to bring hunting on Sunday has never been about a particular species or season. It is not about deer, it is not about specific seasons, it is not about this firearm or the other. It is about the increased opportunity based on your agency's resource-first model and the North American Model of Wildlife Management.

It is encouraging that initial reports indicate that you as commissioners and an agency are looking to be as inclusive as possible for huntable species in the upcoming season.  This will allow hunters the opportunity to maximize their time afield for both small and big game animals.  As previously mentioned in last January’s statement, if there is a biological reason certain species can’t support additional hunting, we simply ask that we be educated on that scientific reason so we as hunter-conservationists understand. The conservation and hunting community supports the wildlife management decisions made by this agency. 

In closing as one of the leading organizations for Sunday hunting, Hunters United for Sunday Hunting asks that you maximize these three Sundays by allowing as much hunting opportunity as is biologically permitted. 

I also ask that you welcome Hunter Nation and Hunt The Vote for joining the conference of nearly 25 organizations that are working on the removal of the prohibition of Sunday hunting in PA Title 34 Game Law and transfer full regulatory control to your agency to allow and decide what is best for Sunday hunting.

Thanks for your time;

Sincerely; 

Kevin B. Askew

Executive Director, Hunters United for Sunday Hunting