When the Pennsylvania Game Commission board changed the traditional Monday opener to the first Saturday after Thanksgiving in 2019, it was a contentious move.
Hunters were split on the issue – although some data at the time showed more were against the change. Businesses that depend on deer hunters for revenue were largely against the prospect of losing their busiest weekend of the year, and the commissioner that originally proposed the change – Jim Daley – changed his mind and said it wasn’t a good idea after seeing the data that showed a Saturday opener might not have been the best choice.
Daley ultimately resigned after his fellow commissioners refused to back away from the change, and the House Game and Fisheries Committee even held a hearing on the matter. The legislators listened to plenty of evidence both for and against the Saturday opener, but they never followed up on any of it.
So, after the dust settled, the rifle deer season opened on a Saturday for three straight seasons and those who opposed the concept begrudgingly dealt with it.
But their fight was far from over.
Apparently, it was understood the switch to a Saturday opener would be revisited after three years. Those who originally opposed the change, along with others who fell out of favor after giving it a try, anxiously waited for the PGC board to review the matter. To them, it was a chance to say “We gave it a try, now let’s go back to Monday.”
After three years of frustration, however, those opposed to the Saturday opener never got the long-awaited review from the PGC. Instead, the agency issued a news release touting the results of a survey that found 60% of the 2,000 questioned preferred the Saturday opener. Somehow, this equated to the conclusion that the vast majority of hunters are fine with the Saturday start.
Case closed.
Or is it?
Surveying 2,000 hunters hardly qualifies as a thorough review of the most significant change ever made to Pennsylvania’s biggest hunting season. The Monday supporters felt like they never had a chance to communicate their concerns before the entire board in what should have been a transparent review with plenty of opportunity for dialogue.
After all, this was a decision that not only impacted hunters, but numerous businesses as well. There are quite a few who stated their revenue dropped significantly with the loss of the post-Thanksgiving weekend, which includes Small Business Saturday.
If true – and I have no reason to doubt these business owners are making it up – the Saturday opener certainly had a detrimental impact on the state’s economy. I think the economic impact is a topic we’ll be hearing a lot more about in the near future.
While the PGC survey would seem to be the final nail in the coffin for those who liked the Monday opener better, such a conclusion may be premature.
Currently, there’s a renewed push to bring the Monday opener back. Randy Santucci – whose ads and commentary on the matter you’ve seen in this publication – and Dan Davila, an Ohio resident who owns a deer camp in Pennsylvania, are leading the charge.
Santucci and Davila have raised some interesting points about why the Saturday opener shouldn’t be, even claiming that license sales today are actually lower than before the change was implemented in 2019.
How could that be? If 60% of hunters surveyed like the Saturday opener, surely it must entice them to stick with it and keep buying licenses.
And if the Saturday opener is what’s needed to get young people into the sport, license sales would’ve certainly increased as a result.
I had to look it up for myself.
In the categories that pertain to deer hunting – resident adult, resident junior and junior combination – license sales as of Nov. 30, 2021 (after three years of a Saturday opener) were noticeably less than the figures from 2018 (as of Dec. 31).
Think about that. If the Saturday opener was good for hunter recruitment or retention, why did fewer resident adults buy licenses in 2021 compared to 2018? And why didn’t the change bring an influx of youth hunters into the fold?
Maybe it’s because Santucci and Davila are right: Most hunters just don’t like it.
Still, no matter how strong of an argument Santucci and Davila have, and no matter how bad small businesses are suffering from the lost weekend, it’s going to be tough to get the PGC board to change deer season back to a Monday start (even though there are still two Saturdays during the season for those who can only hunt on that day).
The commissioners have dug in their heels, crossed their arms and are convinced the decision was the right one.
Regardless, the commissioners and the PGC would be wise to at least listen to Santucci and Davila with an open mind because the support behind their movement may be larger than imagined.
I contacted Santucci and asked him about the feedback to his ad, which was also placed in other newspapers around the state.
In less than two weeks after the ads were published, Santucci said he and Davila received more than 1,000 emails and calls from hunters against the Saturday opener, and it hasn’t slowed down.
If the groundswell of support is enough to sway the board, or maybe even catch the attention of legislators, remains to be seen.
But the interesting thing about the movement that Santucci and Davila have started is it’s basically a democratic process for hunters, minus the elections.
While the PGC is somewhat of an independent entity, like an elected official the agency does have constituents – i.e. hunters.
Santucci and Davila are rallying the constituents to tell commissioners, “We don’t like this change. You represent us, so fix it.”
Isn’t this how the process should work when it comes to a change that was strictly social? Shouldn’t PGC commissioners be accountable to the will of their constituents, along with the business owners who depend on the hunting economy?
I have a feeling we have yet to see just how many oppose the Saturday opener, nor do we know the true scale of the financial impact behind the change.
But we will. And if it all merits changing the opening day of deer season back to the traditional Monday, we’ll see if the PGC commissioners are really accountable to their constituents.
- This column originally appeared in Pennsylvania Outdoor News.
2000 polled hunters is a pathetic number to base a traditional hunting day opener change! Return to Monday opener!
I am 110% in favor of the Monday opener of deer season and not the Saturday after Thanksgiving the Pennsylvania game commission should be held accountable for what they have done to the small businesses that depend on The camps and the hunters to go with the camp up in the mountains, They should never have changed it from the Monday opener to a Saturday that was a stupid move on their part and Ruining other Peoples lives that depend on the hunters in a camps to go shopping in their store. I am an avid hunter myself I’ve been hunting since I was 12 years old with my dad and my older brother and I will always remember that was first day of deer season was always on Monday after Thanksgiving not the Saturday I am in favor with the Monday opener of deer season. You know the game commission is supposed to be an agency that protects wildlife and all that and hear the game commission is now running how people live their lives and taking money away from small businesses in the mountains that depend on the hunting season for their income $360,000 of income was lost because of the stupid Saturday opener. So the game commission should have to pay this money to these small businesses that depend on that income every year. I am 110% for the Monday opener and I need to change it back. This was total disgraceful to the small businesses up in the mountains that depend on their income from hunting season. They should never changed it it should be the Monday after Thanksgiving and not Saturday 60% are in favor of the Saturday opener and the rest are in against the Saturday opener and want the Monday opener and I am one of them. 60 years of tradition in the commonwealth of Pennsylvania that it was always Monday after Thanksgiving for opening of deer season and just recently they changed it to the Saturday after Thanksgiving and I think it’s a crock. If you would like to contact me your more then welcome to contact me
Absolutely move the opener back to Monday. These commissioners are like dictators. Nothing like the democracy that it should be.
Pa deer hunting was built on traditional views and that’s what made it so successful.
It’s time to go back to Monday opener.
This is a very tough issue for me because i believe in tradition but i can see the point of the new generation of hunters. That being said i would prefer opening day should go back to the first Monday after Thanksgiving. Because deer season conflicts with a major holiday maybe deer season should start a week later or some other time. Personally i don’t think there is any right answer.
The article missed the biggest key point. The source data for the 2000 hunter survey was folks who had successful rifle deer hunts twice with the Saturday opener – a bit of a skewed set of folks do you think?