The Pennsylvania Game Commission announced that beginning Sept. 14, and through the second Sunday in firearms deer season Dec. 7, all Sundays that fall within established hunting seasons will be included as part of those seasons and open to hunting.

Migratory game bird seasons are the lone exception. No Sundays will be added to the 2025-26 migratory game bird seasons because those seasons are set through federal frameworks and adding any Sundays at this time would result in a loss of hunting days in 2025-26.

For other species with open seasons, the Sundays authorized for hunting in 2025 are: Sept. 14, Sept. 21, Sept. 28, Oct. 5, Oct. 12, Oct. 19, Oct. 26, Nov. 2, Nov. 9, Nov. 16, Nov. 23, Nov. 30, and Dec. 7.

The firearms deer season still will end on Dec. 13. Many established hunting seasons will continue to close as scheduled on a Saturday. Sundays must fall between the established opening and closing days of a season to be open to hunting.

The second round of antlerless deer tag sales opened Monday.

In addition to these new Sunday hunting dates, the previously approved Sundays for foxes, coyotes and crows remain in place for the 2025-26 seasons.

The Sundays to be added to the 2025-26 seasons follow the passage of House Bill 1431, which was signed into law July 9 as Act 36 of 2025. The new law, which takes effect Sept. 7, repeals Pennsylvania’s long-standing prohibition on Sunday hunting, allowing the Game Commission to fully regulate Sunday hunting.

Allowing expanded Sunday hunting only through the firearms deer season will help to ensure the new opportunities align with wildlife-management goals, as well.

When the board begins the process of setting the 2026-27 hunting seasons in January, with the benefit of including Sundays when establishing seasons instead of adding Sundays to already-established seasons, the slate of opportunities might look different.

“Hunters have sought expanded Sunday hunting for decades, but state law limited the opportunities we could provide,” game commission director Steve Smith said. “We’ve carefully reviewed these expanded season dates and are confident they will not jeopardize our healthy and abundant wildlife populations. We will closely monitor the impact of these additions to help inform future season dates.”