A state bill that would repeal Pennsylvania’s ban on Sunday hunting is headed to the House for a vote after the Senate passed it Thursday.

Allegheny County Sportsmen’s League President Klint Macro said members of the group have been in favor of opening up hunting on Sundays for decades. He thinks the additional day will be a draw, especially for people who have busy schedules and are limited in their hunting availability.

“This is certainly going to give a lot of Pennsylvanians, and out of state hunters, more opportunity to get into the woods,” said Macro, vice president of Firearm Owners Against Crime.

House Bill 1431 is sponsored by state Rep. Mandy Steele, D-Allegheny. It originally passed the House June 11 by a vote of 131-72, according to the Pennsylvania General Assembly. Thursday’s Senate vote was 34-16.

Hunting of crows, coyotes and fox are allowed on Sundays by the Pennsylvania Game Commission. The state currently allows hunting on three Sundays in the fall — one each during archery and rifle seasons, and a third of the commission’s choosing.

During a Game and Fisheries Committee meeting earlier this month, Steele said her research in creating the legislation showed that the deer population is damaging farmers’ crops and decimating woodlands. Lifting the ban, which she called archaic, could mean more opportunities for hunters and better wildlife management.

“This is a groundbreaking collaboration of the Pennsylvania Farm Bureau, the Pennsylvania Game Commission and multiple advocacy groups,” she said.

Other sportsmen organizations around the region did not return messages from the Trib Friday.

The Allegheny County Sportsmen’s League did not take a position on House Bill 1431 because of split decisions among members about other details in the legislation unrelated to lifting the ban. For example, Macro said he’s concerned about a requirement to get written permission for Sunday hunting from a landowner because it holds hunters to a higher standard than someone else using the same land for a different form of recreation.

Nonetheless, Macro thinks lifting the ban will allow hunters more opportunities, such as going away for a weekend.

“I am kind of intrigued to see how quickly that moved,” he said. “We’ve always been for Sunday hunting, repealing that restriction.”

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