Frontier to Freedom
Recent victory in the fight against Open Fields Doctrine
They were hiking along the banks of a gently flowing stream, stepping over moss-grown chunks of slate. Through the forest’s canopy streaked the midsummer sun, falling in jagged beams all around them. The redolence of ancient laurels, ash and beech reminded the grandfather of countless hikes he had made in these parts with his siblings… long gone, long ago. Now he hoped that his accompanying granddaughter would fall in love with this storied Pennsylvanian landscape, just as he had.
As the streambed wended southwards, the pair turned off to scale the gently sloped embankment towards the gravel path which led to the clearing where they had parked. It was there that a stranger approached them. No introductions nor small talk. The stranger let the chest badge and holstered Glock® handle those details. Instead it was all, “Have you been leaving food out for the elk? What about mash for the black bears? Did you dump old tires in the pond?” The stranger peppered the grandfather with questions in the mien of someone entitled to such information, but the grandfather knew otherwise.
This was an exclusive club for outdoorsmen, accessible only to dues-paying members invited through known sponsors. Its 1,100 wooded acres were gated and marked, so no law-abiding person could even be here. This camouflaged stranger must have clambered over a fence to interlope here. The irony, however, was that the stranger was abiding by the law, at least as it had existed until one week ago.
On July 21st, 2026, the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania decided Punxsutawney Hunting Club, Inc. v. Pennsylvania Game Commission, which balanced landowners’ rights against the mandate of an agency tasked with wildlife conservation. The aggrieved club’s petition to the Court was considerable since it was requesting that the Court overturn its own precedent.
