Hunters and farmers in Butler County have mixed opinions about proposals to allow hunting on Sundays and to move the opening day of deer season to the Saturday after Thanksgiving.

The state Senate Game and Fisheries Committee recently advanced a bill that would allow the Pennsylvania Game Commission to open 14 Sundays to hunting. The bill would have to be approved by the full Senate before the House considers the measure. With House approval, the bill would go to Gov. Tom Wolf for final approval.

The game commission gave preliminary approval to moving the first day of the rifle hunting season for deer to the Saturday before Thanksgiving. The traditional opening day has been the Monday after Thanksgiving.

Larry Voll, president of the Butler County Farm Bureau and a farmer, said he and the bureau are against Sunday hunting, but he believes the bill will become law.

He said he supports moving opening day to Saturday because it would help get more youths interested in hunting. However, he said the Farm Bureau as an organization is against Sunday hunting, pointing out that area farmers already work long hours and often spend Sundays with family.

“I think Sunday hunting will come. I think that's inevitable,” Voll said, adding that Sunday “is a day when (farmers) don't have to worry about what's happening on their property. I like to have the day off.”

Voll said he spends the weekend before opening day with his hunting buddies before they go hunting on Monday.

Moving opening day to Saturday would result in having three Saturdays for the rifle season.

“Three Saturdays gives kids more chances to hunt. I'm for it. I have no problem with it,” Voll said.

Deer and other animals cause crop damage, so Voll said he welcomes hunters who ask permission to hunt on his farm.

“I welcome it on my farm, unless they don't treat the property right. Deer and groundhogs cost me a lot of money,” he said.

Voll said he believes most farmers would let hunters on their land if they ask permission, but some hunters hunt on farms without permission.

Mike Cumberland, president of the Moraine Conservation and Sportsmen's Association in Slippery Rock, said he doesn't like either of the proposed changes.

“I'm opposed to Sunday hunting. That's the day you're supposed to go to church. It shouldn't even be a discussion. I think they should put the blue laws back in,” Cumberland said. “Sunday is supposed to be a special day.”

The restriction on Sunday hunting is one of few of the state's blue laws that hasn't been repealed. Blue laws, some of which date to the 1600s when Pennsylvania was a colony, included prohibiting working and selling alcohol on Sundays.

Cumberland said he likes spending the Saturday before the Monday opener with his family at their hunting camp in Clearfield County.

“I don't like moving the first day to Saturday because that's the traditional camp weekend,” Cumberland said. “A lot of guys don't get to camp until Saturday afternoon.”

He said he understands the game commission is trying to attract more youths to hunting but doesn't think parents have any more time to take their kids hunting on Saturdays than they do on Mondays.

“If parents can't go Monday, I don't think they can go Saturday either. I see us having trouble getting youth involved in the club,” Cumberland said.

Farm bureau member Evelyn Minteer, who has a farm in Franklin Township, said she supports making the deer season longer to reduce the number of deer, but doesn't like either of the proposed changes.

“I'm against Sunday hunting,” Minteer said. “Farmers want to have the right to go Sundays without worrying (about) someone shooting us.”

She said some hunters don't respect farmers' properties. As evidence, she said she has seen multiple deer shot and left where they fell on neighboring farms. She said most hunters target bucks — and not does, which cause more crop damage — for their antlers.

Minteer agrees with lengthening hunting season by another week to reduce the number of deer eating the crops on which farmers rely, but is not in favor of opening day moving to the Saturday before.

Bureau member and Cabot farmer Jim Boldy said he supports a Saturday opener as long as hunting remains illegal on Sundays.

“Saturday — I have no problem with that as long as they leave Sunday alone,” Boldy said. “It's a time for family. Hunters should give us a day of rest and peace.”

Ken Metrick, owner of Metrick's Harvest Farm and Market in Connoquenessing Township, said he understands both sides of the Sunday hunting debate.

“The Farm Bureau has always been against Sunday hunting. I guess I can see both sides. I can see farmers not wanting hunters on Sundays,” Metrick said, adding that most farms near his property are posted as off limits to hunting.

According to Metrick, deer end up getting pushed onto those properties by hunters during the season. He doesn't believe allowing Sunday hunting would change that.

Metrick said he might support Sunday hunting if it was limited to state game lands. He also liked the idea of opening deer season on Saturday, and believes the change could help attract young people to hunting.

“Saturday might be a good thing. I really don't have a problem with that. It's a good idea to get youth involved in hunting,” Metrick said. “I'd rather see kids in the woods on a Saturday than tramping through the mall. I think our youth need to spend more time outdoors.”