doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com How many wear blaze orange

In Texas, no requirement. I only wear a Orange cap when I am hunting around people that I am not familiar with.
Orange Vests and Steel shot are two of my dislikes.

The wearing of "hunter orange" is not only stupid and tasteless (it actually hurts the eye and human soul to look at it) but stands as another government intrusion into personal freedom.

I hunted through the 1950s and "60s when there were no such laws. Oddly, sportsmen could tell the difference between human beings and game back then. Hunting "accidents" were few. Sportsmen were expected to conduct themselves with caution and respect, and generally did. Then hunting became an "industry" and idiots became of age.

To capitalise on this, some fool created hunter orange cloth. Then sold it to governments on the basis that it would "reduce accidents." Kind of like the Center High-Mounted Stop Lamp on cars and trucks was going to "reduce accidents" on the highway. Supported by junk science, both hoaxes were sold to the fools in government.

Result: Only a PORTION of hunters are forced to wear such a ridiculous clown costume afield. As Mr. Brown states, waterfowlers and bow hunters do NOT. Even though their seasons often overlap those of others.

So... I suppose the government fools are not worried about bow hunters being shot out of trees during grouse season... or duck hunters being pelted with steel shot across the marsh?

It's all a SCAM, gentlemen... designed to feed an "industry" !! And the only people who believe it prevents injury are the same sort of dupes who believe pheasants are six feet high... and unions save jobs!

I say burn all the bloody "hunter orange" !!

Then learn gun handling safety.

I have been hunting my entire life, and I still can't to this day imagine how anyone could mistake a human being, regardless of what they are wearing, for a deer or any game animal. Unfortunately there are way too many slob hunters around which have made the wearing of blaze orange mandatory for many of us.

Hunting safety has nothing to do with what color we are wearing. If people would just follow the first rule that gets pounded into youngster's heads when they take many hunter's safety classes across the country..."be sure of your target".

Even if a hunting related shooting is not a matter of mistaken identity and it is related to someone being shot through thick cover or a stray bullet at long range, all of these are the result of carelessness which the wearing of blaze orange should not have any impact to being with. Unfortunately there are so many negligent hunters out there, that horse has been let out of the barn for good.

When the gang from this BBS was out at the home place in December, we talked about this. Decision was to put Amarillo Mike way out in front of the rest of us and if he got shot the rest of us would go home and put orange on.

I'm used to wearing orange because it was required in NYS where I hunted for many years. You have to shoot FAST when hunting grouse and cottontails in the typical heavy cover and orange helps you know where your companions are very quickly. If you don't know, you don't shoot.

I don't even know if it is required out here in CA; I wear it for the same reasons There are still drivers who insist that seat belts are an infringement on their individual rights. Part of the high cost of medical everything is the rest of US paying for THEIR traumatic injuries. I speak as someone who was rear-ended by an 18 wheeler at high speed and told by a VT state police investigator that without a seat belt I would certainly have been dead. "Or worse!" he said.

I've also seen what birdshot does to a human body at close range. If you think blaze orange is ugly, picture that.

I hunt almost exclusively on private land that I or another bird hunter lease or own. When I hunt public land I always wear orange. But I do think it is ugly.

Almost all of the hunting in Texas is on private land.

Best,

Mike

I have to wear blaze in my state. I find it a classless requirement to have it on under virtually all circumstances. I view Blaze as a necessary evil in the name of safety when the hunt dictates it should exist. (e.g. quail hunting with 3-4 hunters, etc.)

What I think is missed in all of this is that the government has deemed all hunters to be imbeciles that need these rules to be safe. In most of the civilized world people shoot safely without blaze or dare I say, even in proper field attire. The difference? Rules of etiquette. I rather enjoy a clear-cut understanding of the rules and field positions to be taken by the hunters whereas it seems that blaze is a proxy for safe planning of how the field is to be hunted.

Again, I don't think blaze is always inappropriate, I do think that States treating us like ignorant hunters that need protecting is offensive.

I have hunted upland birds at least 20 days a year for almost as many years. Some years I hunt twice that much.

There is no requirement to wear hunter orange while hunting birds in Montana. Often I hunt alone, and when I'm likely to be entirely alone I may not wear hunter orange if the big game rifle season is closed.... this occurs during 10 weeks of the upland season. If the big game season is open (about 6 weeks), I always wear at least some orange. Also, if I'm hunting with someone else I always wear at least an orange cap, and prefer that other hunters do the same. I also always put some orange on my dog.

Hunting conditions are diverse here, with rolling terrain, small wetlands, and various amounts of screening vegetation with almost no organized "pushes" of fields. Instead hunters follow their pointing dogs for miles, with relative orientation and spacing constantly shifting. This style of upland hunting requires nearly instantaineous recognition of other hunters while targeting your quarry. I've had the disturbing experience of shooting towards a hunting partner once, not because I was unsure of my target (the crossing grouse died), but because the partner unknown to me had walked into a position about 50 yards beyond the bird, was screened by light vegetation, and was wearing only earth-tones in flat light. I've also been on the receiving end of such shots before wearing orange, but never since.

I strongly recommend wearing orange when upland hunting anywhere you expect to encounter another hunter, and perhaps even where you don't. Eye protection is also essential. Two seasons ago an acquaintance of mine hunting forest grouse was blinded in his right eye by a ricochet pellet that came back about 340 degrees off trees when his partner took a routine "safe" shot at a flushing bird.

Interesting post. Esthetically, I dislike the orange but wear it even when not required because I generally hunt in dense cover and it's good to be able to spot one's companion easily and not worry where he is.

Then, of course are the slob hunters.

Indeed, orange is not worn generally in Europe but then the entire hunting culture is very different and I suspect that those who think that seat-belt laws and hunter orange laws are infringements upon personal freedom would not feel comfortable hunting in Europe.

Like the rest of you, I don't like the color. I avoid it when I shouldn't. I've taken to wearing it more lately than a few years ago. Like the rest in this thread, I can't make a rational argument against wearing it either. I've been in some situations over the last few years that have convinced me it's a good idea, even in small groups of trusted hunters.

I do disagree with sweeping statements alluding that no one was shot in the 50's-60's or whenever. There were likely far fewer people in larger areas. Still, I recall hearing of horrific accidents in the 60's-70's, 80's, etc..

As for blaze orange's appropriateness when standing at the bottom of a hill, shooting birds in a flat hat, coat, tie, short pants, and knee highs...it's probably not necessary. But it would be a sight!