Last fall, Split Reed reported on progress regarding Sunday hunting bans in northeastern states, when Connecticut and Pennsylvania sunset their Sunday hunting bans.
Both states were some of the last few holdovers that had “blue laws,” which were enacted during colonial times to restrict recreational activities on the Christian Sabbath, restricting hunting on Sundays. Conservation groups have worked to steadily chip away at those restrictions in the name of increasing access, particularly for people who work on weekdays.
At the time those bans were repealed, Connecticut was not expected to extend the “privilege” to hunt on Sundays to waterfowlers, but Pennsylvania was. The reported reason that the PA Board of Game Commissioners didn’t do so last season was that it would’ve messed up the “compensatory days” that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service had already allocated to the state.
But earlier this spring, the PA Board of Game Commissioners approved the state’s 2026-27 dates, and waterfowling was notably excluded from hunting on Sundays. According to reporting from Lehigh Valley Live, the rationale for this was that a recent survey of migratory game bird hunters in the state showed a “slight preference” for maintaining the Sunday hunting ban.
“You’ll find people in the waterfowl hunting community that oppose [hunting on Sundays] because, ‘well, this is the way it’s always been,” said Cyrus Baird, Vice President of Government Affairs for Delta Waterfowl. “They’re very misguided in their opposition, and it’s frustrating.”
In a press release, Baird particularly pointed to the fact that waterfowl hunters played a large role in getting Pennsylvania’s Sunday hunting ban repealed in the first place. “It feels like duck hunters were left at the altar,” he said. “Their reward for their years of advocacy efforts is to watch deer, turkey, and bear hunters spending their Sundays in the field while they cannot. Make no mistake, Delta will continue to lead on Sunday hunting and see these opportunities realized for waterfowlers.”
The PA Board of Game Commissioners says it will revisit the topic before setting the 2027-2028 hunting season dates.