Thank you for printing Senator Gene Yaw’s Opinion column, “Protect Pennsylvania’s hunting economy”, in your March 11, 2026 newspaper. Senator Yaw clearly stated the reasons why the Pennsylvania Game Commission (PGC) went the wrong way when it decreed in 2019 the Opening Day of rifle deer season in PA would be the Saturday after Thanksgiving. There was NO hunter input asked for by PGC before this decree changing opening day of rifle deer season. The fallout was worse because many rural community churches, fire halls and local businesses suddenly “Lost” much needed revenue by the change of opening day. The hunters’ dinners and breakfasts were eliminated. Sporting goods stores no longer had long lines of customers and other small-town stores had no hunter customers that weekend before “The Opener.”

The PGC has the PALS license selling system in place where licenses can be purchased on site. The PGC often asks hunting license buyers questions such as: “did you bag a migratory bird?”, etc. Why did PGC NOT Ask if hunters wanted to change the Opening Day of rifle deer season? PGC did not ever ask because it sits on 1.5 million acres of State Game Lands bought since 1920 by PA hunters. Most of that rural hunting land sits on top of Gas and PGC now has over $500 MILLION in the bank and no longer needs hunter input.

Thank You Senator Yaw for taking corrective action for the PA deer hunter and the fragile economies of small-town Pennsylvania.

RON BENJAMIN

Mansfield

Submitted by email