Image: pa_sunday_hunting

Pennsylvania hunters can now hunt on more Sundays thanks to a bill that repeals the long-standing ban. (Photo by Tom Reichner)

Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro has signed House Bill 1431 into law, fully repealing the state’s ban on Sunday hunting.

CBS News reports that Shapiro signed the bill on Wednesday, July 9, 2025. He says the Game Commission now has the freedom to set hunting seasons "that make sense for today's sportsman."

"At a time when folks in Pennsylvania and elsewhere are busier than ever before — so many hunters are working five, six days a week — this is a commonsense change that gives hunters more freedom to choose when they want to head into the woods," Shapiro said. "It also opens up more freedom for moms and dads and aunts and uncles and grandmas and grandpops to introduce younger generations to the tradition of hunting."

Pennsylvania Game Commission executive director Stephen Smith praised the repeal, saying that before the law was signed, 47 other states had more Sunday hunting opportunities than Pennsylvania.

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"As a parent, I know what it's like to be on the sidelines of a ball field in the fall Saturday after Saturday after Saturday watching the fall tick by, wondering how you're going to get out to hunt, let alone how you're going to have your children go out to hunt," Smith said. "But today, we're taking a huge step towards changing that."

The Pennsylvania Game Commission meeting will be postponed until July 28 to allow more time for public comment before the board reviews options to potentially add new Sunday opportunities to the upcoming fall hunting season.

House Bill 1431, sponsored by state Rep. Mandy Steele of Fox Chapel, passed the state Senate on June 30 after passing the state House of Representatives on June 11.

The bill then went back to the state House for a final vote on concurrence before it reached Gov. Shapiro's desk.

Before the bill passed, Pennsylvania didn't allow any hunting on Sundays — except for foxes, coyotes and crows during open season. In 2020, then-Gov. Tom Wolf signed a bill into law that set aside three Sundays for hunting deer and bear during archery and gun seasons.