Sunday Hunting Bills Advance - Finally

The week of June 6th, marked a historic event for hunters in the state of Delaware, as legislation was sent to Gov. Jack Markell that would permit hunting on Sundays in The First State for the first time since U.S. colonial days.

It may seem unusual – even un-American to many hunters living outside of the northeastern U.S. — but until just a few years ago nearly a dozen states continued to enforce “blue laws” dating back to the 1700s that prohibited certain types of hunting on Sundays.

- In 1996 New York opened Sunday hunting on three Sundays during deer season. Within five years the law was changed to allow all Sunday hunting, except on specifically designated lands.

- In 1998 Ohio passed a bill allowing a test of Sunday hunting on public lands for a period of three years. In 2002 the legislature made Sunday hunting permanent without opposition from groups that had concerns when the test began. The state wildlife agency supported the change.

- In Michigan, Sunday hunting was banned on private land in certain counties, but in 2003, all Sunday hunting closures were repealed. The bill was supported by the state wildlife agency.

By 2014, 11 states, all located on the East Coast, continued to have bans or partial limitations on Sunday hunting.

Fast forward to 2016, when lawmakers in three of the five remaining states prohibiting hunting on Sundays advanced legislation to reverse some of the final Sunday hunting restrictions remaining on the books. Only Pennsylvania, Maine, Massachusetts, Connecticut and Delaware continue to prohibit all Sunday hunting.

In Pennsylvania, Senate Bill 1070 has gained the support of the state game commission and numerous sportsmen’s groups and appears to be heading toward a compromise in the legislature. And in Massachusetts, a measure permitting deer hunting with archery equipment on Sunday is being considered after falling short in 2015.

But back to tiny Delaware: If enacted, HB 289 would allow for the hunting of deer on the five individual Sundays that occur between the opening and closing dates of the October muzzleloader deer season, between the opening and closing dates in each of the November, December and January Shotgun deer seasons, and the Sunday at the end of the November Shotgun deer season. Sunday hunting will be allowed to occur on private lands at the discretion of the landowner and on public lands designated by the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control (DNREC). DNREC will hold public hearings to discuss the lands designated to be open for Sunday hunting.

In recent years, groups fighting to expand Sunday hunting in those states restricting it have argued that other outdoor activities were allowed on Sunday, including those that take place on public and private property, such as fishing, hiking and golf. Such a view ignored the important fact that hunting is part of America’s heritage and hunters contribute billions of dollars to wildlife and conservation programs, through license fees and revenues generated through purchases of firearms, ammunition and archery equipment.