Do you wear orange?


WaCoyote

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Re: Do you dummies wear orange?

So many of these replies emphasize the need for target identification, and absolutely, that is something that should be stressed and always in the forefront of any hunter's mind. But understand that mis-identification of the target is not the only thing that blaze orange laws are aimed at. As I stated before, there is also the problem of being seen when in the line of fire of a hunter shooting at a deer. Those that come up with all these ridiculous excuses for not wearing blaze orange seem to be ignoring that one. And don't be telling me that you always can see everything that is beyond your targeted deer. Unless you hunt exclusively at a target range that is cleared of brush, trees and other debris and only shoot when you have an earthen backstop behind the deer, there is absolutely no way that you can know for sure that there is not some other hunter in camo just beyond the deer. It's not true for you and it's not true for me either. Personally, I take personal offense to some idiot who is so irresponsible as to put me in a position for that kind of an accident. As somebody mentioned above, your false sense of bravado not only affects you in those kinds of incidents, but it also has a lifelong impact on the life of the shooter.

Now, instead of spewing all those nonsensical excuses for not wearing blaze orange, I would like to hear at least one reason that actually makes some real sense. How important is that deer to you? Is it important enough to risk a tragic accident? If so, I would like to see you do us all a favor and permanently exit the woods. When we talk about all the idiots in the woods, lets not forget that there are more than one kind of idiot that causes hunting accidents. One kind is the shooter who isn't as responsible as he should be in target identification and shot selection. The other kind of idiot who is equally responsible for accidents is the one who thinks that taking a deer is worth risking his life by trying to make himself invisible to other hunters. I don't have much use for either one.

If I seem to be a bit strong in my opinion on this issue, it is only because I have been bowhunting for a lot of years and realize exactly how easy it is to get well within gun range of a fully camoflaged hunter without even knowing he's there. Blaze orange is just one of those things that simply makes all kinds of sense, and I have never heard an argument against it that made even a little bit of sense. And I am really struggling to imagine what is going through the head of someone who argues against it.

Doc

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Re: Do you wear orange?

[ QUOTE ]

You have to wear it in Indiana while gun seasons are in. You must wear at least 1 thing that is completely orange.(hat, jacket, facemask, bibs, etc) I usually just wear a blaze facemask thing. It's really one, and keeps me legal.

[/ QUOTE ]

I would wear a lot of orange in Indiana shotgun season. WWIII

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Re: Do you wear orange?

i always wear orange. too many idiots makes it a must. you can still be wearing full orange and get shot, but i kind of like to be really obvious that i'm a man and not a deer. it really doesn't affect my hunting at all for one simple reason, i get up earlier than most of the people that hunt, and by the time the average idiot starts moving around, i've already got my deer wrapped in a bright colored tarp and i'm dragging it off the mountain. so far, i've been very fortunate not to be shot or shot at, i think anybody that reads these forums can post at least 5 stories about people getting shot while hunting, i'll bet at least 2 of them can be people shot while wearing orange, or about a friend that felt the impact of a bullet into the horse they were riding.

accidents happen, idiots cause a lot of them, being careless causes the most.

the most important thing, take care of yourself so that you can return home to your loved ones. do whatever it is that makes you feel safe.

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Re: Do you wear orange?

We are never going to eliminate all potential accidents or hazards to our well being, in the woods or anywhere else. However, I am not going to go out of my way to set up a scenario for getting my face blown off by a shotgun. Not when a major component of safety in that area is so completely simple to do.

Doc

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Re: Do you wear orange?

Adam,

If you smoke, overeat, speed, and dont wear your seatbelt it has no affect on me.You kill yourself ,honestly, its not gonna change anything in my world.

If your sitting out in the woods 200 yrds away from me during gun season with no orange on and I shoot you then its gonna have a real big effect on me.

You all are sitting here talking about other people being the "idiots" when youre contributing about half the problem yourself.if your sitting in full camo behind a bush and theres a deer in between us, Im gonna tell you right now, Im not gonna gaurantee you Im going to see you sitting there and odds are, your gonna wind up with a bullet hitting you, or somewhere close to you.

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Re: Do you wear orange?

Wearing orange is just one more tool that can be used, but it's not a guaranty against an accident.

For example: Orange is not required for the 1 million licensed hunters in Texas and we had 29 hunting related accidents last year with 4 fatalities. The previous year we had 2 fatalities. That's one of the lowest rates in the nation. According to the TPWD web site, the majority of these involve swinging on a moving target, usually a gamebird, and firing outside a safe zone. While wearing orange could possibly prevent some types of accidents, these would likely have occurred even with the presence of hunter orange. It appears that a much more deciding factor is the mandatory hunter safety training (or lack there of). Fatigue was also a contributing factor in several instances.

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Guest lostiniowa

Re: Do you wear orange?

i always wear orange. and I have found especailly with my orange vest that has a realtree pattern that there is no difference from my regular camo

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Re: Do you wear orange?

OK...

Here in NY Orange IS NOT mandatory, and last year we had the safest year EVER !

32 accidents.

Fatal-2

non-fatal-30

self inflicted-9

2nd party-23

20 deer hunting accidents

9 turkey hunting

I have NYS DEC stats, if you want the whole thing

e mail me and I'll send it to ya..

Stats....

1960's-137 accidents

70's-102

80's-85

90's-66

2000's(only 4 years)-48

The latest year for stats is 2003 and before.

Last year there were 2 fatalities in NYS.

One was self inflicted and the other was 2nd party from turkey hunting.

The ages of the shooters on those 32 accidents.

16-17... 2 accidents

18-23...4 with one fatality

24-29...2 accidents

30-39...7 with one fatality

40-49...6 accidents

50-59...2 accidents

60 and over...2 accidents

unknown...7 accidents

I'm sure Orange does make a difference in safety, but how come the accidents are going down when orange isn't mandatory?

Just being the devils advocate here.... grin.gif

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Re: Do you wear orange?

Adam5,

I read this in the NY hunting guide.

4 out of 5 hunters wear hunter orange.Since 1992,none of them have been mistaken for a deer and killed.But 18 hunters who did not wear hunter orange were mistaken for deer and killed.

I wear blaze orange and kill just as many deer as someone wearing camo,so why wear camo and increase your chances of being shot?

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Re: Do you wear orange?

i would suspect the reason the accidents are decreasing, is that most of the new hunters are getting a hunter's education class. it is mandantory in utah, i'm sure other states have the same requirements.

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Re: Do you dummies wear orange?

for one it is the law, so i always where it except when i am up in the tree stand which is allowed. plus i had a friend of mine get shot 10 yrs ago because he was walking in the woods without orange on and the guy shot a deer and the bullet went through and hit him.

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Re: Do you wear orange?

[ QUOTE ]

Adam5,

I read this in the NY hunting guide.

4 out of 5 hunters wear hunter orange.Since 1992,none of them have been mistaken for a deer and killed.But 18 hunters who did not wear hunter orange were mistaken for deer and killed.

[/ QUOTE ]

This quote is misleading because hunters in blaze orage HAVE been shot in NY but not killed...YET! Take for instance the hunter in Romulus who was wearing an orange jacket and had his nose shot off. Another 1/2" and he would have been a fatality. One of his buddies was shooting was shooting at a deer and it ran between them. I guess his jacket wasn't bright enough smirk.gif

I hunt primarily in the southern zone of NY where the effective range of a shotgun is darn close. In the past 24 years of hunting on four occasions I have had slugs fly by me close enough for me to hear them wizzing by. Not one of the shooters could have seen me if I was wearing 100% blaze orange.

I used to never wear blaze orange but having two kids changed my mind and now I wear an orange cap. I know it will make me more visible but it will not stop the stray bullets that come flying through the woods or over the hill.

I am still against manditory blaze orange because of the people I see in the woods who are not hunting. Two years ago I saw jogger running through the hayfield next to my watch.

Ranger

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Re: Do you wear orange?

Its required here and I would wear it anyway during gun and muzzleloader season. Way too many wackos around.

I hunt private land but trespassers and people who have crossed property lines or are just plain LOST are common. Some of these neighboring line crossers have a bad reputation. I take no chances.

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Re: Do you wear orange?

[ QUOTE ]

Adam5,

I read this in the NY hunting guide.

4 out of 5 hunters wear hunter orange.Since 1992,none of them have been mistaken for a deer and killed.But 18 hunters who did not wear hunter orange were mistaken for deer and killed.

I wear blaze orange and kill just as many deer as someone wearing camo,so why wear camo and increase your chances of being shot?

[/ QUOTE ]

This is a touchy subject.

One accident is too many I agree. No where in the 05-06 NYS syllabus is the stats you mentioned.

Where I hunt in region 3 in NY, the most you see is the old stlye red plaid jakets and hats. Unless its the city guys that drive up in the Hummers with

.300 Weatherbys and decked out from head to toe in orange. Thats scary....

I am following the law in NYS.

From the stats I have read from DEC...turkey hunting seems to be more of a risk than deer hunting. One fatality last year was a self inflicted one, and what color he had on did not matter.

I can stay home too and really reduce my chance of getting shot. Hunting happens to be MUCH safer than even riding your bike or swimming in your pool.

I believe that education plays a big role as far as safety in the field.

I don't hunt with people I don't know, and anyone who has given me concern, I have not hunted with them again.

With every dangerous activity, there is risk.

I think hunters are the most safest of sports participants.

Follow the law in your state and do your share to make the woods a safer place.

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