PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE EDITORIAL... REMARKS THAT MISFIRED: NOT A GOOD REASON TO DERAIL SUNDAY HUNTING.

View Video of Sunday Hunting Testimony Here

Ego and wounded feelings should not stand in the way of  commonsense legislation.

THE EDITORIAL BOARD
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette 
September 25, 2019

Pennsylvania lawmakers should not allow ego and wounded feelings to stand in the way of a bill that would permit hunting on Sunday a few times a year. 

Passage of the Sunday hunting bill was expected to be smooth and swift until some unfortunate remarks were made Sept. 10 by the new executive director of the Pennsylvania Federation of Sportsmen and Conservationists — a major proponent of the initiative that has been sought for more than a decade. 

Harold Daub, a former leader of Hunters United for Sunday Hunting, was at a legislative meeting with the Game and Fisheries Committee, meant to prime the state House about a Senate bill that would permit limited Sunday hunting. But Mr. Daub rambled into territory considered by some as rude. The Dauphin County resident rapped the Pennsylvania Farm Bureau, urging lawmakers not to allow the bureau to “bully” them. He also made a sarcastic and dismissive remark about the Keystone Trails Association.

Mr. Daub was not diplomatic. Nor was he politically smart. But this bull-in-the-china-shop behavior shouldn’t derail a good move. 

A Sunday hunting ban initially was part of a package of “blue laws” aimed at promoting church attendance, a notion that fails. Many Pennsylvanians are not Christian and Sunday hunting and church-going aren’t mutually exclusive.

Pennsylvania is one of only three states that haven’t lifted a general no-Sunday-hunting ban. Some limited hunting in Pennsylvania — coyotes and crows, for example — currently is allowed. The compromise Senate bill passed in June would have allowed three Sunday hunting days.

A perennial concern has been the safety of walkers, hikers and those who want to otherwise play in the woods. But this is a concern that applies seven days a week. Other states with safety concerns engaged in a test run of Sunday hunting, found it worked fine and lifted their bans. 

The Pennsylvania Farm Bureau has opposed Sunday hunting for a reason that applies to the other six days of the week as well: trespass. Some hunters (and others) illegally trespass on private land. For farmers, that can mean crops being trampled at certain times of the year. For them, six days a week of hunting is better than seven days a week. This concern was dealt with in the pending legislation by creating a new primary offense: Hunting trespass. It would be enforceable by police and the state Game Commission and would be punishable by high fines and the possible loss of hunting privileges.

Senate Bill 147 was expected to pass the House with little debate until Mr. Daub’s inappropriate comments. That’s not a good enough reason for lawmakers to derail a process that’s been in the works for many years.

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette link:
https://www.post-gazette.com/opinion/editorials/2019/09/25/Pennsylvania-Sunday-hunting-remarks-Harold-Daub/stories/201909160022

PA FARM BUREAU SUNDAY HUNTING STANCE - RELIGIOUS OPPRESSION

Josh First, Jewish Faith, Saturday is a day of worship

Letter sent to Mr. Luke Brubaker, Chair of Lancaster County Farm Bureau’s Local Affairs Committee

From: Josh First

June 20, 2019

Mr. Luke Brubaker, District 8

PA Farm Bureau

680 Musser Rd

Mount Joy PA 17552

Dear Mr. Brubaker,

It is difficult to express the full amount of frustration my son and I feel due to the PA Farm Bureau's position against Sunday hunting. Like you we are religious people, but we observe Saturday as our day of rest, which prohibits us from hunting, driving cars, using phones or computers or doing much else other than attending services, Bible study, and relaxing with friends and family. That leaves us Sunday as our one weekend day to hunt, and as Isaac has gotten older we are seeing the end of his youthful outdoor opportunities before he goes off to college and moves out of our home. Maryland has Sunday hunting, so last November we went to Maryland, over three hours from our home, so Isaac could hunt deer without missing school. So it was on a Sunday morning in Maryland that my son killed his first deer, not in Pennsylvania, where he was born and has lived his entire fifteen years. Not at his family's hunting camp, where he has grown up shooting off the porch. Instead it was in Maryland, a serious inconvenience and a disconnect from what is an important rite of passage.

We own active crop land in Dauphin County and a tree farm in Lycoming County, and we would like to hunt on Sundays on our own land. We do not ask anyone for permission to hunt on their land, we are just fine with what we have. Our Dauphin County land is open to hunters we have approved. The PA Farm Bureau's opposition is the only reason Pennsylvania has not adopted Sunday hunting like the rest of the states surrounding us, and at this point, we believe the PA Farm Bureau is stealing our family's private property rights and persecuting us for our religion. I dislike saying these things, but the PA Farm Bureau's actions have put us in this position. You need to hear about the consequences of your actions.

How would you feel if you were in our shoes? I can answer for you.

You would feel terrible. You would feel like your fellow Pennsylvanians were oppressing you out of close-minded zeal, instead of making room for everyone to live happily here according to their conscience and free choices, as our state was originally founded. If you believe that the role of religion is to oppress, coerce, and deprive people, then you can guess why I eldered out of the Quaker faith decades ago. As I experienced then and now, too many Christians believe it is their duty to force others to live a certain way, instead of  demonstrating the correctness of their values and beliefs through their simple, gentle deeds and good living. That coercive behavior drives people away instead of bringing them closer, and the behavior of the PA Farm Bureau is driving me and many others far, far away from what you say your represent. If you are against other people enjoying Sunday hunting out of your own religious conviction about what is right for you, then you are shooting yourself in the foot, because you are setting a bad example by proving you believe in force, not love. Sorry to say. Thank you for your time.

Sincerely,                                                            

Josh First

**As of publication. Josh has not received a response to his letter**

SATURDAY IS OUR DAY OF WORSHIP. SUNDAY WE COULD HUNT.

Daniel Bowers and his son share a day making memories while hunting. 

Story submitted from/by Daniel Bowers, Seventh Day Adventist; Saturday is a day of worship.

The ability to enjoy outdoor recreation is something everyone should have access to.  Fisherman, boaters, and hikers have the opportunity to choose from any of the seven days a week without regard to their religious affiliation.  For some reason, hunters are limited to only six days and not allowed to hunt on Sundays. 

As a Seventh Day Adventist Christian, my family observes Saturday as our day of worship.  This means we do not hunt Saturday and are left with only Monday through Friday.  The outdoor lifestyle is a large part of our recreation.  From the time hunting seasons end, we are busy preparing for the next year.  This includes land improvement, habitat management and planting crops.  All of this we can do during the five days of the regular work week (evenings of course...have to pay the bills and attend school) and Sunday but still observe our Saturday religious beliefs.  In order for us to hunt together, we maximize our time afield with short evenings or arranging work and school schedules to take the day off because we cannot hunt on Sunday.

Having Sunday hunting would be a game changer for us...we could hunt together without worrying about work or school schedules.  It would also allow us to further enjoy time in the outdoors that we work so hard on to prep for the hunting seasons.

I think this is also true for anyone that doesn't observe the same faith as our family.  Families can hunt full weekends at their camps instead of just one day.  As an avid outdoorsman for 30+ years, being involved with coaching archery for 25+yrs and having teenage hunters of my own, I can see NO downside to allowing Sunday hunting.

Story submitted from/by Daniel Bowers, Seventh Day Adventist; Saturday is a day of worship