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

I don't care for the look either, but I wear it.

On another board, a fellow asked why people wear orange in Kansas where "you can see them from Nebraska". Since dear season runs smack in the middle of bird season, I asked him if he had any idea how far a .270 could carry in such country.

I absolutely hate orange in any form. And Amarillo Mike and I don't wear it when hunting together. However, Mike wears a bright white shirt when the weather is mild and it shows up as well as orange but isn't so darned offensive. Me? Heck, I'm old enough go ahead 'n shoot me, won't be a big loss.....

I prefer this government intrusion over the intrusion of lead shot in my eyes. We aren't required to wear it during turkey season and I don't. Deer hunting requires it, but I don't deer hunt. After decades of turkey hunting the idea of being visible in the woods runs against my grain. However with upland hunting, I wear it save my eyesight. Don't think you can get shot on private property? Happens with enough frequency around here for me to always consider the fact that someone who isn't supposed be in the woods is. You can talk about safe gun handling until you are blue it the face, but humans aren't perfect and sh*t happens. I am responsible for my own safe gunhandling, but not someone else's. Why take the chance on some idiot shooting something he can't clearly see? When hunting woodcock on public land, I am in blaze in addition to my dog wearing a skidplate vest with blaze side panels and a bell. Most areas I hunt on public land allow hog hunting year round except during turkey season. I try to avoid where I know someone is hunting, but you never know for sure if someone wasn't dropped off in the same area. I don't want me or my dog caught dead in the woods without blaze orange. Gil

I'm thankful my sensibilities are so under developed I don't think twice about having a orange hat on while I'm on the ground during hunting season.

YMMV

I don't have a choice as it is required in PA (even on put and take reserves). I have always had to wear it, and I was never offended by being made to do so. I also put an orange skid plate on my dog so I (and everyone else) can better pick him out of the brush. I was really surprised how much of a difference the little bit of orange on him made.

I feel that my being made to wear the orange is well worth it if it keeps even one person from getting shot anywhere in the state. My grandfather has one pellet of #6 shot in his forehead placed there by another hunter shooting at a rabbit about 50 years ago. He never complains about wearing orange now either.

CHAZ

As much as Kensal's rant appeals to me philosophically, the reality today is sadly different. Even people professionally trained in gun safety can be incapable of being smart hunters. A MA state trooper recently accidently shot a woman because he thought her dog was a deer:

Norton woman shot by state trooper

You can imagine how much of a hit hunting in MA took as a result of this accident.

Some laws are made to make it safer from fools. I remember not that long ago when hunters revealed their latest hunting method: "sound shots"---shooting where deer or moose are obscured by foliage, roughly in their direction. Slob hunters will always be with us, hence mandatory requirements here to dress like jack-o-lanterns and pass hunter safety courses.

Have no problem with wearing it during big game seasons. Too many mistakes happen and when you couple any sex is legal, many times the brown and down kicks in. When deer season is over I don't wear it unless I'm hunting with someone else. Not because I'm afraid of getting shot, but because it really helps in keeping track of each other when plowing through clearcuts and keeping your spacing where it needs to be.

After rethinking this-- I have several # 8 shot in my right cheek from an experienced hunter. Fortunately, I had glasses on which prevented other serious injury. A quail got up and flew about 4-5 feet off the ground in heavy cover and my friend didnt see me. If I had worn an ORange cap, MAYBE it would not have happened.

A friend who was hunting in an elevated deer stand, once saw a hunter wearing buckskins and a coonskin cap silently slipping through the woods during deer season. Darwinian selection at work...