4 replies to this topic

[buckeye dan]

Pennsylvania Farm Bureau Finds an Ally in its Fight Against Sunday Hunting: The Animal Rights Lobby

For many years,  the fight to prevent Pennsylvania sportsmen from  having the same rights as sportsmen in 39 other states has been led by  the Farm Bureau.  Which is ironic, of course, because their opposition  means that they are actually asking the government to prevent their own  members – farmers – from being able to decide how to use their own land.

While you are free to go watch the Steelers play football in  Pittsburgh on Sunday, or the Phillies play baseball on the other side of  the state, you are not free to go hunting.  Because Pennsylvania  remains one of the few states left that retains this old “blue law.”

Sportsmen, though seem much more determined this time to have the  right to choose which day they will hunt.  Uniting under the banner of  the Sunday Hunting Coalition, national and state sportsmen’s  organizations and sporting goods businesses are pressing Pennsylvania  legislators to overturn the ban. In response, State Representatives John  Evans ® and Ed Staback (D) introduced House Bill 1760 to do just  that.

Predictably, sportsmen have been met with opposition from the Farm  Bureau.  And now the effort to kill House Bill 1760 includes the most  powerful animal rights organization in Pennsylvania, and the whole  country for that matter, the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS).

That the Pennsylvania Farm Bureau and HSUS could wind up on the same  side of a fight over hunting and landowner rights stretches the  imagination to the breaking point.

It is HSUS that called bacon and eggs the “Breakfast of Cruelty.”  It  is HSUS that champions ballot issues across the U.S. to force farmers  into more costly animal confinement methods that hurt their bottom lines  and drive up food prices.  It is HSUS that opposes hunting.

And yet it is HSUS that is on the same side of this fight as the PA Farm Bureau.

And there is simply no logical or defensible reason for this to be the case.

There are no biological reasons to restrict Sunday hunting.  Wildlife  will continue to thrive.  There are no safety reasons to defeat House  Bill 1760.  Hunting is remarkably safe.  There are no reasons to have  the government tell landowners what they can do with their own  property.  Under House Bill 1760, a farmer can still refuse to allow  hunting on Sundays, as they can the other six days of the week.   Trespass is not a concern.  Trespass rates are very low and Sundays do  not provoke greater incidents than Saturdays for instance.

And last, Sunday hunting will produce a meaningful economic impact in  Pennsylvania – a fact that is welcome news in this recession.

Where in the world in all of this news is there a reason to oppose passage of House Bill 1760?

For HSUS it is simple.  They oppose hunting.  They claim these days,  that they only oppose cruel practices.  Their definition of cruelty  includes bowhunting, which helps reduce crop damage from whitetail  deer.  It includes trapping, which helps control disease carrying  animals from spreading rabies.  It includes hunting bears, which helps  to reduce livestock losses.

The list goes on and on.  HSUS is anti-hunting.  HSUS  is anti-livestock farming.  While they try to project a less radical  image, the truth is the organization is run by well-known animal rights  activists who have spent their lives in the crusade to stop hunting and  farming practices involving animals.

It is really easy to understand why HSUS opposes House Bill 1760.   They know that hunting on Sunday will strengthen the future of hunting  by allowing families a day to be in the field together when work or  school does not compete.

But it is not easy at all to understand why the Pennsylvania Farm Bureau is on the same side.

In fact it makes no sense at all.   Hunters and farmers should be on the same side.  We are natural allies.

Take Action! The animal rights and  anti-hunting organizations are pulling out all the stops to flood  members of the House of Representatives and the Senate with phone calls,  email, letters and more.  

Pennsylvania sportsmen must reach out to their state representative  today in support of HB 1760.  Tell them that there is no justification  for the ban on Sunday hunting.  Tell them that the time has come for  sportsmen and sportswomen to be treated as first class citizens.   Removing the ban will increase hunter opportunity, encourage new hunter  participation, and boost the state’s economy.

To find your state representative’s contact information, use the USSA Legislative Action Center at www.ussportsmen.org/lac.

[crappie-tom]

For my family's votes,  I'm a dedicated hunter of PA for the last 34 years and, I enjoy the safe opportunity of taking my family into the woods on Sundays. We enjoy taking a walk to view wildlife or picking mushrooms and, I take comfort knowing they don't have the possibility of getting shot.  You can hunt 86% of the week in PA. Leave it alone.

c-t

[Tim50]

crappie-tom, on 13 August 2011 - 09:03 AM, said:

For my family's votes,  I'm a dedicated hunter of PA for the last 34 years and, I enjoy the safe opportunity of taking my family into the woods on Sundays. We enjoy taking a walk to view wildlife or picking mushrooms and, I take comfort knowing they don't have the possibility of getting shot.  You can hunt 86% of the week in PA. Leave it alone.

c-t

How many Sundays are we talking? People are able to wander thru SGL BECAUSE of the hunting community of Pennsylvania. Why do you feel it necessary to take your walks on Sunday? Is it because your children are out of school & possibily you are of work? The same reason Sunday hunting is so attractive to the shrinking hunting community! Why don't you take that walk Monday thru Friday? Very few hunters in the woods other than opening days. How often have you taken your family out in the woods on Sundays AFTER Thanksgiving? I completely understand what you are saying. We can just agree to disagree!

I do not agree with the state using some outdated blue law to keep me & my family from hunting our own land! As for the Farm Bureau...if they align themselves with the HSUS what a shame! If this is their position then state should no longer contribute monies for crop damage! The state is giving these farmers a viable option to cut crop damage & they are turning their backs on it! I have read that some farmers have threatened to "post" their land if Sunday hunting is approved. If that is the case then those farmers with posted land should not be eligable for crop damage funds. You cannot have it both ways! The HSUS is a one trick pony! Farmers with livestock will not appreciate the HSUS positions on that part of their platform. The Farm Bureau had better take a long hard look at who they are crawling in bed with!

[pa crossbow]

I agree with Tim50 in that we all should have the right to choose to go hunting on Sunday or perhaps just walking in the woods enjoying nature. I do both when and where I choose which is the way it should be. HB 1760 is about the legislature passing control of Sunday Hunting to the PGC where it belongs.Where or when they decide to use it should and I believe will be based on sound game management practices. All land owners should and would have the option to allow Sunday Hunting on their property.  If the farmers have chossen to side with HSUS its a shame as Tim has stated you cant have it both ways. This of course is just my opinion as each of us have the right to have in this great land of America.

[Jetster]

Tim50, on 14 August 2011 - 11:29 AM, said:

How many Sundays are we talking? People are able to wander thru SGL BECAUSE of the hunting community of Pennsylvania. Why do you feel it necessary to take your walks on Sunday? Is it because your children are out of school & possibily you are of work? The same reason Sunday hunting is so attractive to the shrinking hunting community! Why don't you take that walk Monday thru Friday? Very few hunters in the woods other than opening days. How often have you taken your family out in the woods on Sundays AFTER Thanksgiving? I completely understand what you are saying. We can just agree to disagree!

I do not agree with the state using some outdated blue law to keep me & my family from hunting our own land! As for the Farm Bureau...if they align themselves with the HSUS what a shame! If this is their position then state should no longer contribute monies for crop damage! The state is giving these farmers a viable option to cut crop damage & they are turning their backs on it! I have read that some farmers have threatened to "post" their land if Sunday hunting is approved. If that is the case then those farmers with posted land should not be eligable for crop damage funds. You cannot have it both ways! The HSUS is a one trick pony! Farmers with livestock will not appreciate the HSUS positions on that part of their platform. The Farm Bureau had better take a long hard look at who they are crawling in bed with!

Exactly,maybe he could/should afford to take his family to the movies or a walk at the mall instead of walk in the woods a few months out of the year.