do you wear hunters orange

[fordman650]

It was opening weekend here last weekend and i read an article in the paper on tuesday about a hunter being shot when another hunter missed the deer and shot him,the article said neither one of them seen each other ,and were not wearing orange he was in thick brush. the article also said that only 40 states require hunters to wear orange and Oregon isn't one of them. normally i don't but this year i did and we were about a mile from the shooting.i think i will start wearing it all the time now. i would like to hear everyone thoughts on this,or would it have helped?
Larry

PS. the hunter was shot in the back and it exited out one of his arms and is in serious condition

 

[ArmedBear]

I do, sometimes.

We're not required to wear it here, either.

However, if conditions warrant it, I even wear blaze when I'm at an open shooting area, plinking. I've sent some pistol rounds a bit too close to a kid who was hiking down a canyon to change his targets. I didn't see him at all.

I carry a hat and a mesh vest to throw on, when I'm hunting. If there's someone else around, I'll wear them. A few bucks each at Wal-Mart, and the vest stuffs in a pocket and slips on over whatever I'm wearing, in any weather.

Orange spooks birds, though, at least late in the season.

 

[R.W.Dale]

Deer season or not If I'm in the woods when there's some kind of hunting season going on I at least wear an orange hat.

I've gone so far as to put orange hat's on each corner of my ground blind.

 

[Polishrifleman]

Mandatory in Washington during modern firearm. Not required during tukey.

So the short answer is yes.....

 

[redneck2]

I'm old enough that hunter that I hunted for years without orange. When we first had to use it, the feeling was weird. Now that I've used it for years, you feel really weird without it.

FWIW....I use an orange stocking cap (we're required to use one item that is predominantly orange). If I'm in a blind, I can take off the orange cap and hang it on a tree branch up high where it's easy to see.

You can see other hunters way, way off but it doesn't spook deer at all. Last year I had a shot at a 12 point buck. Pulled up and saw orange directly in the line of fire on the next property over.

 

[.45Guy]

I have a set of blaze coveralls and matching hat. With the number of Chicagoans AKA FIB's, and crazy amish deciding to drive through posted private property I feel a bit safer

 

[gspn]

The states I hunt require it during any open firearms season and I wear it. I now use a flashlight when coming or going as well. An acquaintance of mine took his son and his nephew hunting 3 years ago. On the way out after dark the nephew mistook the son for a deer and shot him. He was gut shot and died right there in the woods with his cousin crying over his body. Obviously a piss poor judgement call on the shooters part, but since I can't control that I CAN use a $10 flashlight to differentiate myself from an animal. Many nights I'm hunting by myself and I still use the flashlight because I can't control poachers either. I used to really like walking out in the dark by the moon or starlight.

 

[Rupestris]

Yep. Manditory here in MI too. Vest and hat minimum. You can wear orange with camo design but a certain percentage must be orange.

Turkey, and deer durring bow season are exempt. Required durring firearm deer season.

Call me paranoid but if I'm obscured by brush and still-hunting, I'll hang an extra hat in the tree above me like redneck2 does.

 

[dakotasin]

i do. its mandatory and all, but even if it weren't, i'd wear orange.

 

[countertop]

Yes

I don't like to get shot at, plus it makes it easier to see my buddies as we are moving through brush

 

[nico]

iirc, the law in MD is 200 square inches of blaze or a blaze hat without any logos on it. This year, I'll be wearing a 3/4 blaze camo vest from cabelas (~300 sq in) and a "woodsman" hat from Outdoor World in blaze, just to be safe. With all the idiots out there, it really doesn't make sense not to wear blaze.

 

[dfaugh]

I wear a minimal vest, plus a stocking cap, there rest is camo. I've also painted parts of the tree, and my tree stand (more of less randomly) for an additional measure of safety (even though it on my own property). Around here the "hunter density" is high, and there are many who never touch a gun, except to go out and bang away at the 1st thing that moves during deer season.

Over the years, I've had 2 slugs (we must use shotguns) whistle past me (no fault of the other hunters, we could couldn't see each other through dense brush) but I'd certainly rather have it than not.

 

[mikeb3185]

yes...always

would not for turkey, but i only hunt on private land

 

[skipjack]

Absolutely! It is mandatory in Md and Pa, I hunt both states.

I am a hunter ed instructor, and have seen statistics on the added safety of blaze orange. Deer see it as white; they lack the capacity to see shades of red. I wear it to and from my bowhunting stand, and remove it once in my stand or blind. Blaze camo is also effective; but 9 times out of 10 hunters get busted by deer due to movement, camo or not.

We also recommend using it while in spring gobbler season when moving through the woods. A blaze orange sash tied around a tree near where you are calling is also suggested. Hunters are also cautioned to not wear red white or blue as this is the color of a gobbler's head. We have an inordinate number of accidental shootings of humans during turkey season.

 

[abearir]

skipjack is spot on. I too am a HE instructor. The human eye "sees" the orange in all light conditions much better than nearly all colors. Its a margin of safety I use even when not required.

 

[mete]

But orange doesn't help with AHs that shoot at moving brush or at sound.More than a few hunters have been shot while wearing orange. A big change occured when they required hunter training courses.NY was the first in 1959 IIRC.

 

[22-rimfire]

It is required where I hunt except during archery and turkey seasons. If it were not required, I would wear a minimum of a blaze orange hat. I prefer the blaze vests to slip over your coat or jacket. Cabela's sells a couple really nice ones.

 

[stevelyn]

Nope. Alaska has not interfered with personal choice. Although I found an upland vest that has some blaze on it that I'm thinking of getting, but only because I like the design and utility of the vest, not for the orange.

 

[MCgunner]

Only on public hunting areas where it's required. The government can kiss off when I'm hunting my own land. In Texas, private property is private. Bag limits and hunting regulations still apply, but there are no requirements for orange on private property.

 

[ArmedBear]

One thing is strange, though. My HE instructor said that blaze orange does not exist in nature; that's why it's a good safety color. But we live in California, where the state flower is the California Poppy.



When those things are in bloom, blaze orange is the best camo there is.

 

['Card]

I do most of my rifle hunting in WV, which requires blaze orange, but I'd use it even if they didn't.

In fact, here's what I wear:

I found some blaze orange camo fleece material on the web, and my Mom is a pretty talented seamstress so I had her make me a vest out of it. As long as you wash the clothing with detergent that doesn't contain UV-brighteners, and it's not one big block of solid color, the deer aren't going to see it anyway.

In fact, the same morning this picture was taken I had a big doe walk up to me, less than 20 feet away. I was sitting on a stump and she was looking right at me, but she couldn't tell what I was or where I was, and she was stomping at me trying to make me move so she could pick me out. If she'd been able to spot the orange from the other colors there's no way she would have gotten that close to me.

 

[ArmedBear]

As long as you wash the clothing with detergent that doesn't contain UV-brighteners

Something that most people don't even know about...

 

[redneck2]

Only on public hunting areas where it's required. The government can kiss off when I'm hunting my own land. In Texas, private property is private. Bag limits and hunting regulations still apply, but there are no requirements for orange on private property.

You should go back and read my previous post. IMO, anyone hunting during deer season should have orange, no matter where they're at. You never know who's out there, legally or not. If that dude had been camo'd up, I'd have sent a 12 gauge slug right at him.

As other posters have said, deer just don't see orange (assuming you don't move). There's just no reason not to wear orange IMO unless you have a death wish.

I've deer hunted for over 40 years. There's no way in hell I'd deer or elk hunt without orange, required or not. YMMV

 

['Card]

Something that most people don't even know about...

Really? No, I guess you're probably right.

In a nutshell... deer don't distinguish colors all that well at the low end of the visible spectrum, but they can see much higher into the UV range than we can. From what I understand, this is pretty common among herbivores and allows them to better distinguish what plants are ripe for eating and such.

Humans can't perceive into the UV range all that well, so when something is blasting out lots of UV-range light, to us it just looks 'brighter'. So detergents that claim to have 'brightening' agents are really just pumping up the UV factor in the clothes you wash with them.

While that may make your lime green MC Hammer parachute pants look awfully spiffy, it's bad for deer hunting. You can buy some moderately high-dollar detergent specifically for hunting, but from what I understand any generic detergent that doesn't have brighteners (or scents, but that's another subject) does pretty much the same thing.

Oh, and this is also why blaze orange plastic or nylon 'road guard' type vests are bad for hunting. Those things are practically beacons in the UV range, and no amount of washing will get that out. It's an inherent part of the material. Go with something cloth (or fleece, which is what I like because it's quiet and warm) and wash it, and you're good to go.

 

[ArmedBear]

Our local Wal-Mart was selling Sport Wash for $3 a bottle, since no one was buying it. They bought the camo clothes next to it, but no Sport Wash.

I bought a bunch of 'em! It's good for Gore-Tex and for getting rid of gym clothe odor as well. And REI wants 10 bucks for the same bottle.

any generic detergent that doesn't have brighteners

We've had a really hard time finding any, these days, and we've looked. I've got my wife on an anti-UV-dye kick, too.

See, it was turning our gray or light tan clothes this weird shade of iridescent lilac. No lie. It was only visible in certain light, but it looked really bad, especially on me. I'm not an iridescent lilac kinda guy.