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EMAIL: huntersforsundayhunting@gmail.com
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Statement from Kevin Askew, Executive Director, Hunters United for Sunday Hunting (HUSH)
REGARDING REPUBLICAN SENATOR GENE YAW’S FACEBOOK ANNOUNCEMENT
“It’s Time to Bring Back a Pennsylvania Tradition” and Legislative Memo – Returning Firearms Deer Season Opening Day to the First Monday After Thanksgiving
As Executive Director of one of the lead organizations that helped bring an end to the Sunday hunting blue law with HB1431/Act 36 of 2025, signed by Governor Josh Shapiro on July 9, 2025. I have received numerous questions over the past several days regarding Republican Senator Gene Yaw’s Facebook announcement and legislative memo proposing to return the firearms deer season opener to the first Monday after Thanksgiving.
Below are those questions and my responses:
Q: What are your thoughts on Senator Yaw’s announcement to legislatively set the rifle deer opener to Monday every year?
A: Let’s level-set from the start: At Hunters United for Sunday Hunting, we will always advocate for more opportunity, not less. Less political interference, not more.
Nothing has been lost by having Saturdays and Sundays available. As with any other activity in life, if you do not like it, you do not have to participate, regardless of the day of the week.
Regarding Senator Yaw and what he is proposing, the only word that comes to mind is hypocritical. Senator Yaw voted YEA on HB1431, which removes the blue law and gives the Pennsylvania Game Commission full authority to set seasons and bag limits on all days of the week. Only a politician could vote to expand hunting opportunity and then, within eight months, attempt to restrict that same opportunity legislatively.
There is no other word to describe it than hypocritical.
Q: Are you surprised this is coming from a Republican Senator and the Republican Caucus?
A: Not at all. One of the lessons learned through the Sunday hunting fight and when examining hunter issues as a whole is that Democrats have supported hunter-conservation more consistently than Republicans.
Sunday hunting was a Republican talking point for more than 30 years. What was accomplished during that time? Nothing. It took Representative Mandy Steele, prime sponsor and author of HB1431, a Democrat, just two years to do what Republicans could not in nearly three decades: remove the Sunday hunting prohibitive blue law.
Since 2019, there have been at least six different bills and two legislative hearings on this subject. All have produced the same result: no action. Most were sponsored by Republicans.
Meanwhile, the Pennsylvania Board of Game Commissioners has discussed the Monday vs. Saturday opener at nearly every quarterly meeting between 2019 and early 2026, more than 25 meetings in total. The Commission made the correct decision to expand opportunity. It is up to hunters to take advantage of the Saturday opener or not.
Q: What about the economic argument that businesses, fire companies, and others are suffering because of the current season structure?
A: That argument is hyperbole.
How many businesses have listed on IRS closure forms: “Closing because deer season opens on Saturday”?
How many news headlines read: “Fire company closing because pancake breakfast cannot be held before Monday opener”?
How many churches claim fundraisers failed because of the Saturday opener?
The answer is none.
The “business harm” claim is a straw-man argument.
As Rob Southwick, President of Southwick Associates, a market research and economics firm specializing in the hunting, shooting, sportfishing, and outdoor recreation markets, explains:
“The economic impact of hunting and sport shooting cannot be overstated. If hunting and shooting were a company, the jobs supported would rank as the third-largest private-sector employer in the nation, and the $65 billion in retail sales generated would place it 52nd on the Fortune 500 list.”
Conversations with the Pennsylvania Realtors Association indicate that traditional “label camps” are in the extreme minority. Recreational properties are being purchased statewide for year-round use, summer, fall, winter, and spring, generating sustained economic activity.
Pennsylvania’s Northern Tier real estate and recreational property market remains popular for people seeking a "home away from home".
A simple review of land-use data for Pennsylvania’s Northern Tier shows that a high percentage of private, non-agricultural, non-residential land in Bradford, Lycoming, Sullivan, Tioga, and Union counties is used for recreational purposes, with hunting being a primary activity but including water sports and fishing, hiking, biking, and ATV riding, camping (seasonal/year-round), skiing, tubing, and snowmobiling, etc.
Sullivan County: Experienced high demand, with median home prices increasing by 48.85% over 3 years as of late 2025, suggesting strong, competitive interest in its rural/recreational market.
Bradford County: Features a mix of residential and rural, with a median home price around $199,900 as of December 2025.
Tioga County: Offers access to the "Pennsylvania Grand Canyon" (Pine Creek Gorge), driving, and tourism-related property sales.
Q: What about the argument that the Monday opener supports hunter recruitment and retention because of deer camp tradition?
A: Let’s examine the numbers, keeping in mind that this legislation and position are a return to the 2019 rules and regulations.
In 2010, Pennsylvania had 925,029 hunting license holders.
In 2021, Pennsylvania had 857,964.
That is a decline of 67,065 hunters over eleven years, well before the Saturday opener change in 2019.
If the Monday opener and camp culture were the key drivers of recruitment and retention, license sales would not have steadily declined under the old structure.
The data simply does not support the claim.
Q: Camp owners argue they do not have enough time to travel and relax under the Saturday opener. Your response?
A: It is interesting that some camp owners feel something has been taken away. It is even more interesting that this minority believes legislation is necessary to dictate when they travel to or occupy their camp.
Our country was founded on life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. If camp life brings happiness, nothing prevents people from going more often.
Why does this require legislative intervention?
Closing Comments
To Senate leadership, particularly Republicans, this is simple:
You did the right thing by endorsing Act 36 of 2025 and removing the Sunday hunting blue law. It would be a mistake to undermine that progress because of one rogue proposal.
Regarding alignment with Mr. Randy Santucci and Unified Sportsmen of PA, there are well-documented concerns within the conservation community about their credibility, factual distortions, and past actions related to chronic wasting disease efforts and opposition to programs such as mentor hunting. Policymakers should consider that history carefully.
HUSH Mission Statement - Remove the prohibition of Sunday hunting in PA Title 34 Game Law through education, and influence legislatures to change the law accordingly.
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