Pennsylvania’s rifle season for deer will start on a Saturday rather than the traditional Monday beginning this fall.

The Pennsylvania Game Commission met Tuesday and approved the change, according to spokesman Travis Lau.

“Moving the opening day to Saturday will create an expanded, 13-day season that includes three Saturdays,” Lau said in a prepared release. The season will open Nov. 30 rather than Dec. 2.

“In recent months, the Game Commission received and reviewed a plethora of public comment on the issue, and hunters’ opinions clearly were split,” the PGC release stated. “Many of those supporting the move to a Saturday opener said they are unable to hunt on a Monday opener because they are unable to take off work or school to do so. Many of those who supported sticking with a Monday opener cited logistical concerns with traveling to their hunting camps during the Thanksgiving weekend.”

People who spoke to The Era Tuesday regarding the issue said they could see both sides.

Smethport Mayor Wayne Foltz, who commented via Facebook, said, “I like tradition and would like for the Monday start to stay, but this will give more opportunity to those with busy lives and dwindling time in today’s society.”

Bradford Mayor Tom Riel said he doesn’t hunt as much as he used to, but added that thinks a Saturday opener could be a good thing.

“If it enables people who might not normally be able to take off on Monday to hunt, then it will be a good thing,” he said. “There will be a lot more people out in the woods.”

This region traditionally has seen many hunters come here the weekend after Thanksgiving to prepare for the Monday hunt, which is a boost to the local economy.

“There are concerns about the economic impact” with the change to a Saturday opener, said state Rep. Martin Causer, R-Turtlepoint. “There’s a concern that they might not come or might come in just for the weekend and then leave.”

In recent years, people have been staying for about a week in an area hotel, eating in local restaurants and stocking up on hunting supplies at local stores.

“I have mixed feelings,” Causer said. “I would rather stick with Monday.”

It’s largely because of tradition, he admitted with a laugh, but added that he is concerned about the economic impact.

“I guess time will tell,” he added. “No sportsman decision is easy.”

Riel said it seems to him that fewer people hunt now than ever before, adding that he feels it is because the deer herd is shrinking. “There are too many predators in the woods right now, which results in a high mortality rate for fawns.”

However, he said, he’s hopeful the Game Commission’s change will be a positive for the region.

Lau said the commissioners were divided on the issue as well.

“Commissioner James Daley, who represents the Game Commission’s District 1, made an amendment to retain the opening day as the Monday after Thanksgiving, Dec. 2,” he explained. “And commissioners Tim Layton, District 4, and Michael Mitrick, District 6, voted with Daley in support of the Monday opener.”

The rest of the board — including Scott Foradora of Brockway, representative for McKean, Elk, Potter, Cameron, Centre, Clearfield and Jefferson counties — voted for the Saturday opener, with the 5-3 tally carrying the vote. And the final list of 2019-20 seasons and bag limits that included a Saturday opener was approved by 7-1 margin, with Daley voting against, Lau said.

Commissioner Brian Hoover, who represents District 8, and who voted for the Saturday opener, said that the level of support or opposition to move varied from one part of the state to the next. Hoover said, in his region, there was little opposition to the move, and Commissioner Stanley Knick Jr., said the same of Region 7.

Hoover said he also feels a Saturday opener in which more hunters can participate is good for hunter recruitment, which is a big part of why it was proposed in the first place.

“We need to look to the future concerning our hunters and bringing in more youth,” Hoover said in comments provided by Lau.

The commissioners said the Game Commission in the coming year will track the response to a Saturday opener through license sales, deer harvest and comments about the change.