On Tuesday, Jan. 27, 2015, the Pennsylvania Game Commission approved a restriction on mentored hunting involving participants under the age of seven. Under the proposal, which will be on the commission’s April agenda for final approval, mentored hunters under the age of seven will be required to share a tag with their mentor for deer or wild turkey.
This action was an attempt by the commission to placate opponents of the original proposal, which would have eliminated mentored hunting for big game entirely for those nine years of age and younger. The outright ban proposal resulted in massive opposition from sportsmen across Pennsylvania who contacted commissioners, legislators and packed the room during the commission meeting held on Sunday, Jan. 25.
While the commission approved the tag sharing proposal, it did not address the underlying and unsubstantiated reports about abuse of the mentored hunting program.
“We’re pleased the Commission rejected the original prohibition on younger mentored hunters,” said Evan Heusinkveld, U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance vice president of government affairs. “At the same time, we are deeply disappointed and concerned that the game commission would enact these sorts of restrictions without providing any supporting data. We know for a fact, that unnecessary restrictions on hunting result in a decrease in participation. For this reason, the U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance and our partners will continue to encourage Pennsylvania sportsmen and women to oppose unnecessary restrictions to the mentored hunting program unless real data can be produced that justifies them.”
Tuesday’s vote was not final, however. The amended proposal will again be considered for final approval at the April game commission meeting.
“It’s our sincere hope that the Commissioners will look at the facts and see that the data does not support new restrictions on the mentored hunting program,” said Heusinkveld.
About the U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance
The U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance (USSA) is a 501(c)4 organization and provides direct lobbying and grassroots coalition support to protect and advance the rights of hunters, trappers, anglers and scientific wildlife management professionals. The USSA is the only organization exclusively devoted to combating the attacks made on America’s sportsman traditions by anti-hunting and animal rights extremists. This is accomplished through coalition building, ballot issue campaigning and legislative and government relations. Stay connected to USSA: Online, Facebook and Twitter.
