Pennsylvania Game Commission proposes 10 additional Sunday hunting dates for 2025

Hunters could get up to 10 additional Sundays to hunt this fall under a proposal going before the Pennsylvania Game Commission’s board of commissioners on Monday.

The new dates are being proposed by the agency after Gov. Josh Shapiro signed a law earlier this month fully repealing the longstanding ban on Sunday hunting in the commonwealth.

A draft resolution included in the commissioners’ July meeting agenda would direct Game Commission Executive Director Steve Smith to permit hunting by executive order on Sundays starting Sept. 14 and continuing through Dec. 7.

As of now, under seasons and bag limits set in April, the Game Commission scheduled three Sunday hunting dates for 2025: Nov. 16, 23 and 30.

Game Commission spokesman Travis Lau cautioned that no official action has been taken by the board, so the proposed additional 10 Sundays are not final.

“Like any proposal up for board consideration, the proposed resolution in the posted agenda could change in any number of ways,” Lau said.

The proposed new Sundays for hunting all fall within the framework of the state’s existing fall hunting seasons, so any game that could be legally hunted at that time of the year would be included in any Sundays that are approved by the board.

For example, the Sept. 14 date comes the day after the squirrel hunting season begins, while the Dec. 7 date falls on the second and final weekend of the firearms deer season. The one exception is migratory game birds, since the season length framework is established by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. Adding a Sunday date would then require removing a day elsewhere within the season.

Lau noted that agency staff had to consider a number of factors in recommending any new Sunday hunting opportunities.

“With this proposal, in general, adding Sundays to established seasons by executive order will allow for providing new opportunities earlier,” Lau said. “Adjusting seasons by board action would require affirmative votes at two meetings, meaning the first new Sundays would not be available until sometime in November, after a lot of the peak time for hunting participation had come and gone.

“The list of additions could change, though. That said, I’m sure the board will want assurance that whatever Sundays are added will not negatively impact wildlife.”

Pennsylvania historically banned Sunday hunting except for pursuing foxes, coyotes and crows. Act 107 of 2019, introduced by state Sen. Dan Laughlin, R-Erie, allowed for Sunday hunting on three dates during the year — one during the archery deer season, a second during the first weekend of the firearms deer season and a third date of the Game Commission’s choice.

Earlier this year, state Rep. Mandy Steele, D-Allegheny, introduced House Bill 1431 that fully repealed Pennsylvania’s Sunday ban. The new legislation, which doesn’t go into effect until early September, also requires written landowner permission when hunting on private property on a Sunday.

Steele said providing more time for hunters is an important step in keeping them involved, carrying out tradition and working for the good of wildlife.

“Hunters have been working on this issue for decades, to allow them more time in the woods, and it’s been an honor to lead on this issue in the House,” Steele said in a news release earlier this month. “Families are busier than ever, work and social schedules are demanding as ever, and this new law provides more opportunity for hunters to participate in one of America’s oldest traditions and be on the front line of conservation here in the Keystone State.”

As for how Sunday hunting will be incorporated into future hunting seasons, that will be discussed by Game Commission staff as they start planning later this year for the 2026-27 slate of seasons and bag limits that will be presented to the commissioners’ board at its January 2026 meeting.

“We will have to see what happens in 2025-2026 first, but no matter what Sundays are approved,” Lau said,” next year would figure to be different in that the board will be starting fresh will the ability to include Sundays within seasons rather than adding Sundays to seasons that already have been established.”

Pennsylvania’s proposed additional 2025 Sunday hunting dates

• Sept. 14, 21 and 28
• Oct. 5, 12, 19 and 26
• Nov. 2 and 9
• Dec. 7

What’s next?

The Pennsylvania Board of Game Commissioners meets at 2 p.m. Monday, July 28 at 2001 Elmerton Ave., Harrisburg. The commission live-streams commissioners’ meetings on YouTube.