Pennsylvania Game News - February 2020 - 40

SUNDAY HUNTING UPDATE

WILD PHEASANT YOUTH HUNT

It's official: expanded Sunday hunting
is coming to Pennsylvania in 2020.
Gov. Tom Wolf on Nov. 27 signed
into law Senate Bill 147, which permits
additional hunting on three Sundays per
calendar year - one within the archery
deer season, one within the firearms
deer season and one selected by the
Pennsylvania Game Commission.
The law will take effect Feb. 25,
2020, and the first new Sunday hunting
opportunities will be identified by the
Game Commission thereafter.
Further updates on Sunday hunting in
2020 will be provided in Game News when
they become available.
Prior to passing the House of
Representatives, Senate Bill 147 was
amended to require all hunters on private
land on the selected Sundays to obtain
written permission from the landowner.
This requirement does not apply on
Sundays when only foxes, coyotes, crows
and feral hogs may be hunted.
The bill also gives Game Commission
officers the authority to investigate
private-land trespassing complaints and
enforce trespassing violations as a primary
offense. Previously, trespassing violations
were referred to police unless a Game &
Wildlife Code violation also was alleged.
Once the new law takes effect, huntingrelated private-land trespassing violations
will be enforced year-round by the Game
Commission.

Over two Saturdays in November,
youth hunters selected by lottery pursued
wild pheasant roosters on four farms in
Montour and Northumberland counties,
within the Central Susquehanna Wild
Pheasant Recovery Area.
Every hunting group flushed wild
pheasants in the third annual hunt,
and the majority of hunters had the
opportunity to harvest a rooster.
Over the hunt's two days, 177 birds
- including 92 roosters - were flushed,
62 shots were fired and five long-tailed
male ringnecks were put in the game
bags of several very excited youngsters.
This annual hunt marks the continued
success of a decades-long collaborative
project to restore habitat and wild
pheasants to the Keystone State.
Pennsylvania has two active Wild
Pheasant Recovery Areas (WPRAs) -
the Central Susquhanna and Franklin
County WPRAs.
At this time, wild-pheasant
hunting has occurred only the Central
Susquehanna WPRA, which hosted
its first youth hunt in 2017. The hunts
continue a centuries-old Pennsylvania
tradition.

PURPLE PAINT SOON AN OPTION FOR POSTING PRIVATE LAND
Landowners who post their properties will
have the option of using purple paint rather
than signs to alert others the posted lands are
private.
Gov. Tom Wolf on Nov. 27 signed into law
House Bill 1772, which adds language to the
section of state law dealing with criminal
trespass.
Under the law, a person is considered a
"defiant trespasser" - which carries enhanced
penalties - if he or she enters or remains in

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any place where notice against trespassing is
given by actual communication, lawful posting
or fencing.
House Bill 1772, which will take effect 60
days after it was signed into law, makes the use
of purple paint on trees or posts a lawful posting
method. Vertical purple lines must be at least 8
inches long and 1 inch wide. The bottom of the
mark must not be less than 3 feet or more than
5 feet from the ground. And painted marks must
not be more than 100 feet apart.
Pennsylvania Game News - February 2020

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