Public commenters link decades-long youth decline to falling hunting-license sales, urge Saturday rifle opener
January 25, 2025 | Game Commission, TOURISM & RECREATION, Executive Departments, Organizations, Executive, Pennsylvania
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Speakers at a Pennsylvania Game Commission public comment session on Oct. 12 told commissioners long-term demographic shifts, not just agency management, help explain a decades-long decline in hunting-license sales and urged policies such as Saturday rifle season openers to make hunting more accessible.
Jonathan Furness, board secretary of the Pennsylvania Federation of Sportsmen and Conservationists, pointed to Center for Rural Pennsylvania and U.S. Census data and told the commission that Pennsylvania has seen large declines in the population aged 0 to 19 and that decline helps explain falling license numbers. Furness said the state's hunting-license peak came roughly a dozen years after the youth population peak and noted license sales fell from about 1.3 million in 1982 to roughly 850,000 in 2023. "Some will claim it's a management issue ... but that dog don't hunt," Furness said.
Why it matters: hunting-license revenue and active participation affect wildlife-management capacity, public access and the volunteer and commercial networks that sustain hunting. Several commenters told commissioners that opening rifle seasons on Saturdays can increase youth and working-adult participation by making the first day of season more accessible.
Dennis Dusa, a retired Game Commission employee, said Saturday openers "help school aged children extend their hunting opportunities" and make it easier for people with limited vacation time to consolidate trips. "In short, it works," Dusa said, urging the commission to keep policies that lower barriers to participation.
John Zemian, a longtime Game Commission field worker and member of the Kinzua Quality Deer Cooperative, described local observations that support the Saturday opener. "Since 2019, we've had 10 to 15% more cars parked the first day of hunting season than we did prior to the Saturday, Sunday opener," Zemian said, adding that concurrent seasons spread hunters across terrain and increase overall participation.
Other commenters and association representatives echoed the call for accessibility. Ed Sadler, vice president (West) of the Pennsylvania Federation of Sportsmen and Conservationists, and Mike Kriner of the federation said the organization's membership has grown in recent months and that the federation publicly supports Saturday openers and Sunday hunting as recruitment and management tools.
Speakers also connected licensing trends to aging rural populations. Furness cited Center for Rural Pennsylvania analysis showing an increase in rural seniors and a decline in rural youth and said recent licensing-category additions between 2018 and 2023 have slowed, but not reversed, overall declines.
The public-comment period concluded and the board recessed for a break before the full meeting. No formal commission action was recorded during the comment session.
Jonathan Furness, board secretary of the Pennsylvania Federation of Sportsmen and Conservationists, pointed to Center for Rural Pennsylvania and U.S. Census data and told the commission that Pennsylvania has seen large declines in the population aged 0 to 19 and that decline helps explain falling license numbers. Furness said the state's hunting-license peak came roughly a dozen years after the youth population peak and noted license sales fell from about 1.3 million in 1982 to roughly 850,000 in 2023. "Some will claim it's a management issue ... but that dog don't hunt," Furness said.
Why it matters: hunting-license revenue and active participation affect wildlife-management capacity, public access and the volunteer and commercial networks that sustain hunting. Several commenters told commissioners that opening rifle seasons on Saturdays can increase youth and working-adult participation by making the first day of season more accessible.
Dennis Dusa, a retired Game Commission employee, said Saturday openers "help school aged children extend their hunting opportunities" and make it easier for people with limited vacation time to consolidate trips. "In short, it works," Dusa said, urging the commission to keep policies that lower barriers to participation.
John Zemian, a longtime Game Commission field worker and member of the Kinzua Quality Deer Cooperative, described local observations that support the Saturday opener. "Since 2019, we've had 10 to 15% more cars parked the first day of hunting season than we did prior to the Saturday, Sunday opener," Zemian said, adding that concurrent seasons spread hunters across terrain and increase overall participation.
Other commenters and association representatives echoed the call for accessibility. Ed Sadler, vice president (West) of the Pennsylvania Federation of Sportsmen and Conservationists, and Mike Kriner of the federation said the organization's membership has grown in recent months and that the federation publicly supports Saturday openers and Sunday hunting as recruitment and management tools.
Speakers also connected licensing trends to aging rural populations. Furness cited Center for Rural Pennsylvania analysis showing an increase in rural seniors and a decline in rural youth and said recent licensing-category additions between 2018 and 2023 have slowed, but not reversed, overall declines.
The public-comment period concluded and the board recessed for a break before the full meeting. No formal commission action was recorded during the comment session.
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