Two state senators said Monday they introduced legislation to restore Pennsylvania’s deer firearms season opener to the first Monday after Thanksgiving.
It’s a tradition they say the state wrongfully disrupted in shifting opening day to the Saturday after Thanksgiving in 2019.
Sen. Gene Yaw, R-Lycoming County, and Sen. Lisa Boscola, D-Lehigh County, announced the introduction of Senate Bill 1244 in Harrisburg.
The measure would reverse the 2019 decision by the Pennsylvania Game Commission that moved the statewide firearms deer season opener to Saturday.
The Monday opener had been a Pennsylvania tradition for more than 50 years before the change. The Game Commission made the switch with the goal of increasing participation and hunting license sales, but the legislators said the results have been the opposite.
“Moving rifle season to a Saturday has crushed rural communities,” Yaw said. “Small businesses, fire companies, local grocery stores and hunting camps rooted in tradition have all suffered. It’s time to bring rifle season back to where it belongs, support our sportsmen and women and invest in rural Pennsylvania.”
Boscola said the impact on families and communities has been clear, even if the benefits are not.
“It remains unclear whether moving opening day delivered any real benefit,” she said. “What is clear is the toll it has taken on families and communities across Pennsylvania. I’ve heard firsthand from families with generations of hunters how devastating the change has been for Pennsylvania’s rich hunting tradition, as well as the small businesses that sustain rural areas.”
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LehighValleyLive.com explored the shift to the Saturday opener in an award-winning 2024 project called Misfire.
A Game Commission spokesman did not immediately comment Monday on the proposal from Yaw and Boscola. Last month, when the senators announced plans for the legislation, the commission deferred comment until the bill could be reviewed.
Senate leadership referred the bill Monday to the chamber’s Game & Fisheries Committee.
A copy of the bill provided by Elizabeth Weitzel, spokeswoman for Yaw, indicates the proposal would amend Pennsylvania’s Game Code, Title 34, to say: “The regular antlered deer hunting season shall open on the first Monday following Thanksgiving.”
The senators said the Monday opener functioned as more than just a calendar date. Schools traditionally gave students the day off, government offices often operated on reduced schedules and families planned gatherings around the season’s start.
The Saturday opener has created conflicts with Thanksgiving celebrations and made participation more difficult, according to the legislators. One volunteer fire company in Yaw’s district that hosts an annual fundraiser tied to hunters’ attendance saw turnout drop from hundreds to just 40 last year.
The issue gained renewed attention Jan. 24 when the Pennsylvania Game Commission considered and rejected a proposal to move opening day even earlier to the Saturday before Thanksgiving. Yaw and Boscola said the vote reinforced widespread opposition to Saturday openings across the state.
The senators said they have received overwhelming support from hunters, families, small businesses and communities who want to see the traditional opening day return.
Two bills already pending in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives during the current 2025-26 session would restore Monday as opening day of the regular firearms deer season.
House Bill 70 and House Bill 1659 are both before the House Game & Fisheries Committee. The latter would use Interstate 80 as a rough dividing line, with a Monday opener to the north, where deer camps are more prevalent, and a Saturday opener across more populous areas to the south.