Do You Wear Blaze Orange

[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]

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)]

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]

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]

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.

[BerdanSS]

Just when required.....ya know, like for pretty much anything in Indiana. Deer Squirrel, Rabbit and most Upland birds.

[Keg]

Not required in Texas....I don't know anyone who wears blaze orange here....Reading the different posts..I did not realize that there were so many states that require it....

[shootniron]

yes

[Jo6pak]

For WI gun deer it's required.

And I also wear at least a blaze orange hat when hunting anything. Even while turkey or coyote hunting I wear the orange hat when walking, and take it off when I set up.

[RonR6]

I wear the required vest and hat during the big game seasons, but all my coats and coveralls are always camo.

[drcook]

The usage of blaze orange is not to protect you from the majority of folks that frequent forums, gunshops, sporting shows etc. It is to protect you from the city boy that goes sights his gun in once a year and goes hunting once a year.

They hear something break a stick in the woods and their heart starts pounding, adrenaline floods their system, they get tunnel vision and an accident occurs because their brain didn't register human.

Blaze orange helps to interrupt their thoughts by a visual intrusion and gets them to focus on what they are seeing.

I wear blaze orange during all kinds of hunting. Rabbits, squirrels, deer, etc. It is just not worth my life.

[RonR6]

I forgot to add in post above, a friend of mine sead he saw a Amish kid hunting on the farm next to his and he was wearing the front and back of a tide box tied with strings as his vest.

[Water-Man]

Only when attending a formal occasion.

[Cheapshooter]

Firearms deer hunting in my state requires hunter orange vest or jacket covering all sided, and a hat of hunter orange. Orange camo is not permitted I think there is a minimum sq inches for the vest as well.
I don't rabbit, or bird hunt anymore, but even before the hunter orange, we always wore a bright red cap to be seen by other hunters in our party.
Squirrel hunting, no orange, and usually camo. But that's not usually done with a ton of hunters in the woods.

[thallub]

Yep, i always wear blaze orange when deer and turkey hunting. Its required on Ft. Sill during hog season.

Years ago i knew a guy who was killed by a rifle shot during WV turkey season. He was not wearing blaze orange.