The Saturday start to the 2019 deer hunting season might not be permanent.
Differences of public opinion has the Pennsylvania Game Commission already agreeing to re-examine the controversial issue after this year.
After 55 years of opening the Monday after Thanksgiving, the board voted last month to move up the start of the firearms deer hunting season by two days this year- starting it on Nov. 30. On Tuesday, the board said it will see how things go in November before deciding if the move is permanent.
The commissioners plan to see if there’s evidence the Saturday opener increased hunting license sales and hunter success. The board will also gauge the opinions of hunters who will have taken part in the state’s first Saturday opener in decades.
When the decision to move opening day up was made, hunters were split in their support of the change. Some who have been unable to hunt on opening day due to work or school commitments strongly supported the change. Some who travel considerable distances to their hunting spots, and now must do so earlier in the holiday weekend, strongly opposed it.
Tim Layton, the president of the Board of Game Commissioners, said that when the board selects an opening day for the 2020 firearms deer season, it will take all of these findings into consideration to arrive at a decision that clearly provides the most benefit.
“Acting in the interest of the state’s hunters and the future of hunting in Pennsylvania, always are important components to decisions by the Board of Game Commissioners,” Layton said. “The board gave these factors careful consideration before voting to move the opening day of the firearms deer season to Saturday, and in the coming year, we’ll be drilling even deeper to make sure we understand what the majority of hunters want.”
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