Trending
The Pennsylvania Game Commission comes under scrutiny for many decisions.
The simple truth is their Board of Commissioners are unpaid political appointees devoting their time to managing hunting and wildlife resources.
The decisions they make can be thankless and not without scrutiny by all parties. Certainly, some of their decisions are right, some arguable, and yes, some wrong. But like most things, you hear little when things go right, and a lot when things go wrong. They have had recent questionable expenditures and hired and later fired a lobbying firm due to legislative scrutiny.
The agency certainly does good in many instances, but they seem to circle their wagons when controversy arises with a them vs. us culture, and that must end.
A controversial topic, requires input from outside the agency, and it is never too late for post-assessment of a decision to determine its success or failure.
One of one of those failed decisions, was changing the Monday rifle deer opener in 2019. There is a documentary available on YouTube by searching "pgc public comment 2024."
Arbitrarily moving the deer opener from the Monday after Thanksgiving, two days earlier to the Saturday after Thanksgiving, has been anything but beneficial over the last five years.
That weekend can be deeply personal for many hunters, as it impacts their favorite hunting weekend with family and friends.
There is a problem called Thanksgiving.
"What happens the day after Thanksgiving?" Family home visiting? Resting from Thanksgiving travel or activities? Shopping on that Black Friday?
The Saturday opener has major negative family impacts baked in, due to the proximity of the Thanksgiving holiday.
Hunters now have only one day between the most traveled family holiday of the year, and Pennsylvania's biggest deer hunting season opening day of the year. There's less than 10 hours of daylight between Thanksgiving dinner with family, and being in the woods Saturday morning just doesn't cut it.
Many hunters travel hours which consumes additional Friday time.
Businesses, restaurants and a variety of stores that hunters previously patronized along travel routes when the Monday opener existed were hurt.
One of their biggest annual retail sales weekends disappeared.
Nonprofits and first responders suffered. Many held fundraising events in their little towns bulging full of hunters that weekend. Not all -- but enough.
This social change by the PGC had nothing to do with deer management or biology. It has been such a mistake. Additionally bipartisan legislation is sponsored in the Pennsylvania House and Senate to return the opener to Monday.
Hunters are pushing to have the Monday reinstated in commissioner meetings, emails, town halls, and basically by every means possible.
Presumptive license sales benefits from the PGC have not materialized. Resident Adult sales and Resident Junior sales continue in decline.
The many traditions, linked to the Monday opener weekend, are possibly the most damaging of all.
Fellowship and family time that unfolded within that Monday opener weekend are cherished. It's now reduced to just filling a tag.
I hope the PGC board's final vote on the opener issue happening on April 13 for the upcoming season, brings back the Monday opener for all the reasons stated.
Throw the Saturday opener in the scrap heap of failed experiments and bring back what wasn't broken.
Randy Santucci and Dan Davila are founders of the Facebook Group Pennsylvania Hunters Against the Saturday Deer Opener.