Do You Wear Blaze Orange

[Saltydog235]

It is required here in SC on state lands though not many people follow it. I normally don't wear it going into my stand in the AM or coming out in the PM because it is dark. During the daytime, I wear it when walking in or out just as a precaution. On the club we have to tag in and out of our stands as well as sign in. The stands are spaced so that you really cannot see or encounter someone going in to yours unless they aren't supposed to be there. Doesn't matter to me, I want it on.

I never do any walking during deer season in the woods without having the BO on, just foolish not to if you ask me. When I take my favorite hunting partner with me, he looks like a traffic cone I have so much on him. Heck my dogs wear BO vest in the field, wouldn't want to shoot my GSP's at all, reminds me I need to get a couple of new ones.

 

[hogdogs]

Only when required by law... I am usually in the pieces of woods where the lazy slob hunters wouldn't see me sneakin' around anyway...

I prefer to hunt the blocks so dang nasty and thick that only the hunter shy critters can be found there...

If I haven't shimmied across a downed tree to cross a creek or waded a few creeks nipples deep than I am too close to the slob lazy reckless sorts...

Now fetchin' a dead hundred pound hog out of there... That is when i second guess my plans...

Brent

 

[SPEMack618]

Oh, forgot to add, my dog has a blaze orange bandana that e wears perpetually during gun season as well.

And an orange doggie life vest for those cold, cold morning hunts.

 

[FrankenMauser]

It is also required in my current state of residence. In fact a certain sq. in. amount is required. I guess in the area where I deer hunted last time, the game officials didn't have enough to do as I was stopped twice in the same day to check my license. The second time, I was done hunting, had unloaded my rifle and was walking back to my cabin with my orange hat off. I still had a long orange jacket, and orange gloves on yet was chastised by the game commission officer for not wearing my hat and not having enough sq. in. of orange on. I explained I was NOT hunting, that I was travelling back to my domicile with my rifle unloaded, slung over my arm. He said it did'nt matter, that I could be written up anyway. He let me go with a verbal warning, but it still left a bad taste in my mouth.

Utah's blaze orange laws follow that same concept - that it doesn't matter if you're hunting, or not.

In fact, anyone in the area, during blaze-orange-required hunting seasons (and in legal hunting areas) is required to wear it. Very few non-hunters comply, and the wardens leave them alone. But, the letter of the law says it IS required.

 

[papadude]

I dont hunt during our shotgun season, just bow and early muzzle loader. I spend that time trapping my property and I always wear blaze orange while I'm trapping just for saftey. You never know when a trespasser might start shooting away.

 

[AllenJ]

Calfornia does not require we wear blaze orange for deer hunting but I always wear my blaze orange hat during the rifle season. Bow hunting I don't.

 

[tnelson31]

I always wear some orange if there is a chance of any other hunters in the area I am in.

+this, I do not want to get shot--even accidentally.

 

[Pathfinder45]

Forked horn or better.

I think that the wearing of Blaze-orange should be entirely optional. In Oregon we aren't required to wear it yet. So I don't. Don't want to either. In what state is it legal to shoot another hunter if they aren't wearing Blaze-orange? Where is it legal to shoot anything that moves in the brush? "I thought it was a deer." Yeah right; and how many points did that guy have on his antlers? Requiring Blaze-orange doesn't promote being sure of your target. I think it promotes carelessness. If others want to wear it, fine. We have more than enough regulations as it is.

 

[warbirdlover]

It's required in Wisconsin for gun deer hunting OR if you're bow hunting DURING gun deer season. They do allow for camo blaze orange and that's what I wear. You also have wear a blaze orange cap if you wear a cap. I envy all these guys I see on tv running around rifle hunting in camo. Must be nice.

 

[RonR6]

I wear a vest and a hat when required.

 

[bswiv]

Wear at least something blaze orange while on the ground ( Unless it's after deer season and I'm after turkeys or trying to lower the coyote count. ).

To tell the truth where we hunt now I am not all that worried about other hunters but I figure it'll make it less likely Louann uses a hunting accident as a way to get rig of my old wore out @$$........

 

[FrankenMauser]

I envy all these guys I see on tv running around rifle hunting in camo. Must be nice.

I feel like I'm on a vacation from blaze orange, when hunting in Wyoming.
They only require one article of clothing.
Often, I opt for just a cap:

That's about the most "camo" you'll ever seen me wear, as well. And, I only have those BDU pants on, because still they fit (original issue), they're rugged, they're comfortable, and I like cargo pockets.

 

[okiewita40]

Here for deer gun season we are required to have a vest and hat of blaze orange. I think the total is about 400 square inches.

 

[PawPaw]

I wore enough camo when I was in the army that I don't even like camo anymore. My deer hunting is normally in bluejeans, a flannel shirt, and and an earth-tone jacket. When I'm moving about the lease, I wear orange as a safety precaution, but when I'm in my box blind, I see no reason to wear orange. No one can see in the blind, not even the deer. They don't know if I'm wearing orange or not.

For late-season squirrel hunting, I wear orange. The squirrels in our woods have been so acclimatized to orange that they know if you're wearing orange, you're not squirrel hunting. More than a few squirrels have made that mistake, and they only make it once. I also wear orange when hunting rabbits with a pack of dogs and a pack of grandkids. I want everyone to be seen when we're tromping through the woods.

 

[Major Dave (retired)]

The point the game warden was trying to make,

when he said it didn't matter whether you were hunting or not, is that some other hunter, who WAS hunting, might mistake you for a game animal. This is especially true under dim lighting conditions, such as the end of the day. At that time of day, some hunters are tired and start back to the parking lot. At the same time, other hunters expect more game movement, and assume that anything they see moving IS game.

What always struck me, when hunters mistake a person for game, is that most game laws specify a minimum antler size, or even that you can't shoot antlerless game. Under such game laws, how can you shoot a person with antlers that meet the requirements of legal game?

On another aspect of blaze orange use, have you noticed how many hunters put on a BO vest, then cover it up with their backpack(in camo), their binos, their hydration pack, their tree stand or ground blind, and any number of other equipment items. The end result is that only a few small patches of BO can be seen - especially when viewing the hunter from the side. I am guilty of that, so I went down to a fabric store, where the sell fabric by the yard to ladies who sew up clothes, and bought 2 yards of blaze orange in a soft (quiet) fabric. I folded it in half, and cut out about a 10 inch diameter circle, making me a BO "cape" that I put on over my tree stand, binos, etc. It's cheap, quiet, and covers me completely, and gives me peace of mind during my trips to the woods.

 

[Brian Pfleuger]

What always struck me, when hunters mistake a person for game, is that most game laws specify a minimum antler size, or even that you can't shoot antlerless game.

While I consider 100% target identification to be non-negotiable, I wouldn't say that "most games laws specify...". There are a great many areas that have no size/gender requirements whatsoever. Virtually all of NY State issues "doe tags" along with the standard "one antler 3 inches or longer" tag and any person who has a antlerless/doe tag for the area where they are hunting has a "free for all". If the antler(s) are under 3", it's "antlerless", if over, it's a buck. I know some other states don't even require tags and (essentially) every animal of the species is fair game, at least at certain times during the season.

No excuse for shooting at a person, but actually identifying the animal "exactly" isn't required at all. It's the old cliche "If it's brown, it's down."

 

[hooligan1]

Sweet pic Frankenmauser, I thought youd be taller!

 

[jrothWA]

In Michigan you are require to wear

some type of orange, the exceptions are archery hunters, unless hunting during firearms deer season, waterfowlers, turkey hunters and varmint hunters.

I normally wear for smallgame, just a cap, but when colder weather have a vest on, for deer I have a full coverall (insulated, as I don't like updrafts) .

Use the coverall also when ice fishing. [got to give the divers something to key on!]

 

[Pathfinder45]

That's what I'm talkin' about.....

What always struck me, when hunters mistake a person for game, is that most game laws specify a minimum antler size, or even that you can't shoot antlerless game. Under such game laws, how can you shoot a person with antlers that meet the requirements of legal game?

and this:

While I consider 100% target identification to be non-negotiable

Exactly. If you have a tag or tags that allow you to shoot any deer you see, it still does not allow you to shoot somebody's horse or dog or kid! One of the, "Ten Commandments of Gun Safety", is "Be sure of your target before you pull the trigger.". But we're talking about Blaze-Orange. I concede that it might be a good idea in localities of high hunter density. It's probably even a better idea if you are packing a deer out of the woods on your back. But for me, a successful hunt is getting away from civilization which includes gobs of Nimrods runnin' all over the hills. I don't want to be seen. I want to use vintage equipment, no stinking gps modern technology. I want to forget that it's 2000-whatever. I want a good campfire. No stinking blaze-orange; no plastic guns; no boom-box. If I get a deer it's an anti-climax and not required to feel successful. I think it's fine for the, "Authorities", to recommend Blaze-orange. But when they legislate it they go beyond, "the consent of the governed". If they require it, I end up complying out of regard for their power to enforce it. So wear it if you have to; wear it if you want to; wear it if you think it will make you safer. But if they give you an opportunity to vote on it; vote for freedom.

 

[SGreve32x]

Only when required to and on the way to and from the blind.