John E. Haines

Renovo

Saturday, April 5 is the first day of trout season, and according to the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission, they sell 790,000 fishing licenses! What I’ve learned is that Pennsylvania is the only state in the union that has a separate Game and Fish Commission. It’s my opinion that it would be advantageous if the Commonwealth would combine the two. It would reduce expenses and make the two more efficient.

Another thing I would like to see is Pennsylvania move the opening day for deer season back to the traditional Monday after Thanksgiving, statewide. It’s time to bring rifle season back to where it belongs.

The Monday opener was not just a date on the calendar, but a community event. Schools gave students the day off, and steel mills scheduled down time for maintenance, that particular week. Since Pennsylvania sells 800,000 hunting licenses, those hunters can have a significant economic impact on rural economies.

Similarly the Game Commission is considering letting rifles in archery season, to control the deer population in the agriculture areas. To me that sounds like a formula for disaster. Furthermore, southeast Pennsylvania is so crowded with new development that hunting with a rifle is just outright dangerous.

I think those counties should be limited to archery, non rifled shot guns and flint locks, for safety’s sake.