Photo by Getty Images A hunter aims a gun while standing on field in Jamestown, Kan.

The start of firearms deer season could return to the first Monday after Thanksgiving, under a proposal put forward by a bipartisan pair of state lawmakers.

That’s how it was for decades until 2019, with that Monday being treated as a sort of holiday in many parts of the commonwealth. Then, the Pennsylvania Game Commission voted to move the opening day to the Saturday after Thanksgiving.

It’s been a controversial decision since.

Sens. Gene Yaw (R-Lycoming) and Lisa Boscola (D-Northampton) say the move has had a negative impact on rural economies that rely on hunters. On Thursday, they issued a memo announcing their plans to introduce a bill that would return opening day back to the Monday after Thanksgiving.

“The traditions associated with going to hunting camps in anticipation of opening day created a concentration of economic activity unique to rural Pennsylvania,” their memo read. “Rural businesses flourished and benefited from the economic bump needed to survive the winter. Virtually every volunteer fire department in rural Pennsylvania held special fundraising events oriented towards hunters. This concentration of economic activity has been diluted simply based on the choice which must be made between hunting time or Thanksgiving time.”

The text of the legislation itself has yet to be introduced.

It’s not the first time lawmakers have tried to move the start of firearm deer season back to its original start date through legislation.

Last year, Rep. Brian Smith (R-Jefferson) introduced a measure in the House that attracted a bipartisan group of co-sponsors. But the bill never made it out of the Game and Fisheries Committee.

Boscola also introduced a similar bill in late 2024, which stayed stuck in the Senate Game and Fisheries Committee.

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