Do you wear Orange? If so why? If not Why not? :)

[Culvercreek hunt club]

WOW---just catching up on the reading of the post. I kind of fell behind. After reading all 9 pages of this I think we should add a  topic for "Bright Orange For Crossbow hunting During Bow Season"...lol ;D

[sits in trees]

i always wear blaze during rifle or small game season, but one year i was bowhunting late bow/muzzle season up in my climber stand and was dressed in my usual camo when i saw a guy with a smoke pole walking about 150 yds away across a stream stop and start looking at me, for a second i didnt know what to do and thought if i move he might think i'm a bear and if i don't move he might think i'm a bear, so i just let out a pretty loud yell and he got the idea and walked off. so now during late bow in NY i will put on a blaze vest even though i hate hunting with any blaze on while bowhunting..

[Doc]

I do not bowhunt the late season when there are muzzleloaders out there. Just a little too cold for me to be using a bow ..... lol. If I did, I would be wearing blaze orange.

Doc

[bushnell]

I don't wear any orange in the early season of archery. As soon as small game season comes in then i wear orange. In rifle season the only things that aren't orange are my boots and my gloves. I just assume to be safe by wearing orange. It catches the eye even if you see only a small portion. People say that the deer can see your orange. In my couple years of hunting I have had deer closer to me in orange than I do in camo. Just my experiences and opinions.

[HVOprostaff_1]

Depending on Where and when I am hunting.. I always have a vest in my pack and orange tape. On my land and land I have permission to hunt I ususally know when there is some one else in there and they are guys I have hunted with my whole life. The good ole' boys who make sure its a deer and whats behind it before letting one fly. When I get into my stand or get settled in to my spot on the ground I usually take the orange off. When putting on a drive orange is a must any one whose doesnt have orange either borrows a vest or goes home.

[Doc]

Depending on Where and when I am hunting.. I always have a vest in my pack and orange tape. On my land and land I have permission to hunt I ususally know when there is some one else in there and they are guys I have hunted with my whole life. The good ole' boys who make sure its a deer and whats behind it before letting one fly. When I get into my stand or get settled in to my spot on the ground I usually take the orange off. When putting on a drive orange is a must any one whose doesnt have orange either borrows a vest or goes home.

Do the tresspassers notify you before they step through the posted line? Seriously, we always think we know who is on our land and when, but the reality is that unless you have an electrified 8' fence around the perimeter, you never know who is there and who isn't. My property is posted such that you are always in sight of 3 bright yellow posted signs at any point along the boundary, and still I occasionally come across trespassers deep inside my land.

And a word about "the good ole' boys who make sure its a deer and whats behind it before letting one fly". I truly believe that the only place where you know what's behind (or in front of) what you are shooting at is when you are shooting at a shooting range that has an earthen backstop and all trees and bushes removed between the shooter and the target. I have had guys walk right past me during bow season and never know I was there. Camo works!

So to those who feel absolutely safe on their own land during gun season, I can only say that yes, the odds are definitely more in your favor there, but never say never. you have decided to accept the more favorable odds and that is certainly your right, but do not get the feeling that nothing bad can happen. It just isn't so. I would never recommend that anyone go into the woods during a firearms deer season without a generous amount of blaze orange. And that applies to hunters or non-hunters.

Also, in my mind there is nothing about a deer drive that requires blaze orange more than any other hunting situation.

Doc

[fasteddie]

My sister in law used to gun hunt . She may go out once or twice a year now . Anyway , she has 69 acres in Geneseo . She would wear a pair of brown Carhart coveralls with a little blaze orange hat . She has made a few enemies by kicking tresspassers off of her property . I warned her that someone might "accidently" shoot her and at least got her to wear a Blaze Orange Vest .  The carharts are about the same color as the deer .

[Doc]

It is amazing that Carhart chose that brown color, and even more amazing that people would wear them out during a deer season. They seem to be decked out with everything but a pair of antlers strapped on their head .....  : . I am constantly amazed by people who could mistake a human for a deer, but I am equally amazed by those that seem to get a kick out of tempting fate by going out and trying like crazy to tempt one of those idiots to shoot them. I don't get it.

Doc

[bushnell]

Those carharts are wonderful. I use them in second season for hunting rabbits. They are

wonderful for the brush. I would not use them to hunt deer with.

HVO I know you may think that you are safe on your land but just this past spring, I

went on a call with the Fire Dept I belong to and it was for a hunter who was shot. He was

shot by a trespasser who had no right to be on that land. In fact he had no right to possess

a firearm since he was a convicted felon. Now the hunter who was shot cannot see and

may never see again. Just throwing that out there to you. Anything is possible and you never

know who is on your land.

[HVOprostaff_1]

DOC and bushnell I appreciate your inputs and will definitely take them in to consideration for this years hunts. I guess I do seem to feel more comfortable when hunting on my property or property that I have hunted on since a youth. But I do agree it is true that you never can really know who is trespassing and anything can happen. As far as the good ole boys comment I to agree that a range is the only true place where the target and beyond is a definite, I was thinking more along the lines of that I know the general area where my friends are going to be  and that they know the area I will be. We communicate exstensively and all though there is always the potential for an accident we are pretty careful to make sure that we watch out for each other.

[biggamefish]

  Something bright to wear moving from stand to stand driving etc is just a good idea.  I tend to not wear Orange on stand I take it off so I am not spotted.  Don't know why I do it but if I move I put the orange back on.

[orion]

"I take it off so I am not spotted"

Interesting!

[Doc]

Here is a little thought that makes it real easy for me to wear blaze orange.

Picture the wound on any of the deer that you have seen shot with a 12 guage. Now look at your arm or elbow or stomach and picture that wound there. Doesn't even have to be in a lethal spot. Just picture that. Perhaps that is a good exercise for keeping people from burying their heads in the sand and pretending they are invincible and that nothing bad can ever happen to them.

Here's another thought. How many shots have you taken at deer where you could swear with any real certainty that there was nobody tucked away next to some tree way in the background dressed in some of today's hi-tech camo? Unless your hunting on a prairie or a sanctioned backstopped and cleared shooting range you might find that your answer is "never". Does the lack of a blaze orange law only effect the idiot that is out there in camo? Maybe not always.

Doc

[wztirem]

It perhaps will only take one incident where a hunter is wounded because he failed to wear blaze orange to make some of us realize its importance.

[Culvercreek hunt club]

Hell DOC....caution is one thing but if you focus on "any" danger that much might better stay in the house....it is a dangerous sport and despite all the caution bad things can happen. I agree with stacking the odds in our favor but I guess even on the couch a meteror could hit us...lol

[Jim W]

I wear an orange vest when I am walking into and out of my blind.  When I get to my blind I take the orange vest and hat and put them on branches near my blind.  I do this even when I am hunting on public or private property.  It just makes sense.  I have had people walk towards my blind and say they never saw the vest or hat hanging there.  Must be blind.

[Jimbo]

I guess most of you missed my point.  I think that we all should have something available with us to wear if we feel the need.  My point was that we should not allow the State or any other entity to dictate to us what we need to wear.  It would be just another one of our rights taken away by Big Brother.

[Culvercreek hunt club]

Right on the money ....Jimbo

[Doc]

Hell DOC....caution is one thing but if you focus on "any" danger that much might better stay in the house....it is a dangerous sport and despite all the caution bad things can happen. I agree with stacking the odds in our favor but I guess even on the couch a meteror could hit us...lol

It's the one's that don't think about these things that bother me. And there's way too many of them out there. As long as I continue to be surprised by guys on heavily pressured state land on opening day that are dressed in head to toe camo (including face paint) or read about such things on this or any forum, you can count on me speaking out against such things. And if it takes graphic examples to get the point across, so be it. I understand that it's not a pleasant subject, but it's not really all that healthy to hide from it either.

Doc

[Doc]

I guess most of you missed my point.  I think that we all should have something available with us to wear if we feel the need.  My point was that we should not allow the State or any other entity to dictate to us what we need to wear.  It would be just another one of our rights taken away by Big Brother.

Yes, heaven forbid that we lose the right to be stupid. My gosh people, I am right in your corner when it comes to the protection of individual rights, and the protection of freedoms. But I've got to tell you that it scares the hell out of me when I come across some of these jerks out there dressed in full camo. There is a difference between a right to be stupid vs. trying to have an involuntary hunter assisted suicide. When someone wants to simply be an idiot and risk their own welfare, that's one thing. But when they are out there baiting other innocent hunters to become involved in a hunting mishap, that's something else.

Doc

[wztirem]

Gun hunting is "potentially" dangerous to ones health and well being!For me wearing blaze orange lessens the chances of being mistaken for a game animal or not being seen by another hunter.  Albeit,its a tenuous safety blanket but nonetheless it provides me with a sense of security. Without quesion, anyone who decides to forgo wearing blaze orange during gun season is allowing themselves to become a potential shooting victim.

To date, no one has come up with a legitimate reason as to why B/O is not necessary to wear during the open gun season.

I am with Doc, stupidity is the reason!

Good luck.

[HounderEmily]

I do most of my hunting with hounds. Most of the coon hunting takes place at night.  I wear a hunting light at night.  My dogs wear lights on their collars. Orange wouldn't be visible, and I don't bother to wear it at night.  

When I hunt during the day, I do wear something in an un-natural color--not always blaze orange.  I am old enough so that I grew up before blaze orange, when hunters mostly wore red, so sometimes its red.  I have a fluorescent green jacket that I sometimes wear in the rain.  What I choose depends on the weather and the season.  Blaze orange doesn't always seem the best choice when the fall leaves are at their peak.

I don't let my hounds out during the first week of rifle season no matter what. Blaze orange isn't enough. My hounds and I stay in my yard. It may be legal to run them that week, but very few of the hound hunters I know care to risk their hounds that way. I do wear blaze orange that week, even if I'm only walking down the road to the post office.  

[BowHunter24]

Yes but minimal, should wear more.....Shouldn't have to wear any, but there are those IDIOTS out there that take sound shots or movement shots......Southern Tier is like a war zone......

[steve863]

Here's another thought. How many shots have you taken at deer where you could swear with any real certainty that there was nobody tucked away next to some tree way in the background dressed in some of today's hi-tech camo? Unless your hunting on a prairie or a sanctioned backstopped and cleared shooting range you might find that your answer is "never". Does the lack of a blaze orange law only effect the idiot that is out there in camo? Maybe not always.

Doc

This is a very good point.  Absolutely NO way that any of us can be absolutely sure, most especially in the heat of the moment when we concentrate on making a clean kill and surely aren't thinking of what might be behind it.  I think only a liar would tell us that they knew with absolute certainty that nothing else could possibly be behind our target.  I would have NO problem with a law that made blaze orange mandatory.  Yeah, most people wear it, but some don't and that puts everyone at risk.  I don't buy the theory that this gives up our rights.  As we all know hunting is not a free for all where we do whatever we want and shoot whatever we want.  We already have to follow many rules.  One more, especially one that everyone pretty much agrees is only common sense, would not take away anyone's rights in my opinion.  Like others I am absolutely amazed when I see other hunters not wearing any blaze orange during gun season.  Just can't understand it for a second.  I guess these people have a lot of trust in their fellow man.  I sure as heck, DON'T!

[Paulie]

I think that we all should wear some orange front and back for our own good.  Wearing orange isn't going to kill you but not might.

I was walking into the woods a few years ago along a very long field that was kind of arced...as I approached the top of the arc i saw a few deer about 100 yards off grazing towards the woods. Behind them there was a hill that went almost vertial for 150 feet (great background for shooting)....on one side of the hill the land was flat for about 30 yards (of woods) until it went up the mountain. The deer were in no hurry, so while I was watching them to see if I could pick up any more I was also checking the the woods on the side. (Probably about 40 yards from where I would be shooting). Long story short was that there was nothing there....I had the gun up and was getting ready to shoot when the deer took off! What the hell just happend I thought to myself as I lowered the gun. Just then I see a guy and his 12 year old son walking out of the woods in full camo (faces painted and all).

I said what was on my mind and a bit more to them as they were trespassing as well.

In any event, I started playing things out in my head...if the deer ran the other way towards them (and it wasn't me hunting..cause I wouldn't take that shot) they would have been right in the line of fire and I highly doubt anyone would have seen them through the scope...could have been a really bad situation.

Sorry for the long post, but just thought it could put some perspective to it.....

So since then I make sure I have orage on my chest, front and back as well as my head.......i don;t think you need to look like a pumpkin but have enought to be seen.