The new NY blaze orange bill


RangerClay

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Re: The new NY blaze orange bill

Check out the December 16 issue of New York Outdoor News. They have a pretty good article on the new bill. It's not as detailed as I would like to see it, but may have some facts that you haven't seen yet.

The article says that the bill would require blaze orange for "anyone carrying a rifle, shotgun, revolver or pistol in pursuit of deer or bear". Absent from that list is the bow. I hope that was an intentional omission and not just an over-sight or typo.

From what I see of it, I am completely 100% behind this bill.

Doc

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Re: The new NY blaze orange bill

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it will never pass. NYB will fight it till it's dead.

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Never say never!

I can't understand...its common sense to wear blaze orange while gun hunting. Why then does the folks in charge of making the seasons and laws constantly overlap different seasons?

In PA, you don't have to wear orange in the early part of the archery season...but during the early youth (rifle) season you must wear so much while moving then you must have a 100 sq. inches within 15' of you visible 360 degrees.

Come on...early/mid Oct. there is so much green on the trees that even if your wearing a full orange coveralls suit...a rifle hunter would have a hard time seeing you from 75-100 yards away in the woods.

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Re: The new NY blaze orange bill

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What about the non hunters that walk in the woods during hunting seasons?

We had a man mistaken for a bear and he was killed while picking berries. He wasn't a hunter........shouldn't these bills cover ANY individual that might enter woods during hunting seasons as a safety tool?

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Good point. The states stance will be that they are not hunting bear or deer. My opinion is that the person wearing the orange is the one being protected, no matter what their reason is for being in the woods. By law the guy doing the hunting would already be wearing it.

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Re: The new NY blaze orange bill

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What about the non hunters that walk in the woods during hunting seasons?

We had a man mistaken for a bear and he was killed while picking berries. He wasn't a hunter........shouldn't these bills cover ANY individual that might enter woods during hunting seasons as a safety tool?

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Good point. The states stance will be that they are not hunting bear or deer. My opinion is that the person wearing the orange is the one being protected, no matter what their reason is for being in the woods. By law the guy doing the hunting would already be wearing it.

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True. That's NYSDEC for ya!

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Re: The new NY blaze orange bill

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What about the non hunters that walk in the woods during hunting seasons?

We had a man mistaken for a bear and he was killed while picking berries. He wasn't a hunter........shouldn't these bills cover ANY individual that might enter woods during hunting seasons as a safety tool?

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Funny you should mention that smirk.gif I had the same idea. So I shared the article about that shooting with J. Michael Kelly one of the big outdoor writers here in central NY. He is a HUGE supporter of blaze orange in NY. He got all sorts of PO'd at me and told the story had nothing to do with our blaze orange debate. Amazing how some people can be very narrow minded.

I believe this bill will pass. They have really watered down the last bill that got vetoed.

Doc, I read the article you mentioned. I was hoping to be able to read the entire bill. I was curious if they still had the "hat only" option in the new bill. Has anyone found a link yet?

Ranger

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Re: The new NY blaze orange bill

Actually, most non-hunters are scared out of their wits to even enter the woods during gun season. The fact is that I have never seen a hiker or anyone else who was not hunting, wandering around the woods. But what I have seen, and on more than a few occasions, is other hunters dressed completely in camo on the most active gun hunting days on a very heavily pressured state hunting area. I cannot imagine the insanity of someone who would do that, but I have actually seen these idiots out there. Perhaps they are trying to pull off "suicide by hunter", I don't know.

Yes, I have fortunately spotted them before some unfortunate incident happened, probably just because of pure luck and the direction I happened to be approaching from. And yes, we are all supposed to scan the back-drop around any deer that we intend to shoot. But we have also seen the very effective Realtree ad on TV that asks "how many hunters do you see in this picture". That ad shows just how easy it is for a camoflaged hunter to completely blend in with his background. So, unless you confine your shots to an area that has all the brush cleared down to the ground and has a gravel backstop right behind the deer, I think you have to agree that even with a very safe shooter, camoflaged hunters could still be completely hidden behind the deer that you are about to shoot.

And don't think that this idiot is only risking his own well-being by this stupid act. I'm sure that the shooter, regardless of how many precautions he takes would still live a life where that incident would visit him every day. And there is also the family and friends of this fool that have to live with the loss. So, it is not just the guy in camoflage who becomes the victim of something that could easily be prevented by blaze orange.

If this new law will get those fools out of the woods or force them to dress in an appropriately safe method, then it has 100% of my support.

Doc

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Re: The new NY blaze orange bill

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Actually, most non-hunters are scared out of their wits to even enter the woods during gun season. The fact is that I have never seen a hiker or anyone else who was not hunting, wandering around the woods. But what I have seen, and on more than a few occasions, is other hunters dressed completely in camo on the most active gun hunting days on a very heavily pressured state hunting area. I cannot imagine the insanity of someone who would do that, but I have actually seen these idiots out there. Perhaps they are trying to pull off "suicide by hunter", I don't know.

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The land that we hunt up north borders an Adirondack hiking trail. I see hikers and leaf peepers all the time. NOT ONE of them has ever worn a piece of blaze orange and rarely they wear anything bright. Since I wear a BO hat they usually spot me before I spot them.

In the southern tier I have seen people walking their dogs up on our hill. They drive me nuts because they are usually spooking our deer before I can tell them to vammoose.

Ranger

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Re: The new NY blaze orange bill

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Correction in missouri you only wear orange during a gun season. You don't have to during bow or muzzleloader season,

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You have to wear orange during Youth, Firearm, Antlerless, and Muzzleloader seasons. All of the deer seasons where there is a firearm involved calls for orange.

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Guest fourtrax_300

Re: The new NY blaze orange bill

i dont know why you guys in NY arnt already wearing blaze orange ! just seems weird to me because in Il you have to wear it for gun season.

i think the bill should include everyone int he woods during gun season. although it should be common sence to wear it !

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Re: The new NY blaze orange bill

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i think the bill should include everyone int he woods during gun season. although it should be common sence to wear it !

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That would be quite a tricky law to write. Exactly how do we define "in the woods"? Would that include someones back yard that happenes to be a treed lot? How about that little chunk of brush around the stonepile in the middle of a farmer's field? Maybe the city park? No, unfortunately there are limits as to what we can actually do with non-hunters. No, we can't dictate to people what they can wear in their backyard, and I don't think we really want to. Imagine the legal mumbo-jumbo that would have to be used to define areas of hunting hazards. I'm sure nobody would even understand such a law. It is a lot easier, realistic and practical to write the law for those actively engaged in hunting. Plus, writing the law in that fashion covers 99.99% of the real potential hazards. I think there is a far cry from a hiker walking through the woods vs. a hunter dressed completely in camo intentionally trying to blend in with his surroundings.

Actually, maybe somebody has, but I have never heard of a non-hunter being accidently shot via a hunting incident. I really don't think we are talking the same magnitude of potential here. However, I would not be entirely against an annual safety campaign that would remind non-hunters of the safety hazards of putting themselves in a position of danger by not wearing blaze orange in a spot where hunting was taking place if that would ease a few minds. I believe that is about as far as the law can realistically go when it comes to non-hunters.

Doc

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Re: The new NY blaze orange bill

My son and I had the unfortunate experience of responding to a call with our Fire Dept. which involved friends of ours who were hunting. This incident took place only about a mile from our home. The father shot his son at a close range. Fortunately the son survived and is recovering well. We could discuss all day about why this happened but the bottom line is ORANGE clothing could have prevented this incident.

After we left the scene my son and I discussed how we had become complacent and maybe a little macho about wearing hunter orange. We got out our Orange clothing and we will never go hunting without it again!

I would never want to go through what this dad did! Nor would I want to put my son through this.

This was a wake up call which I hope nobody ever has to see for themselves.

Like it or not these rules are for our safety,not because someone wants just to make up new rules.

If the bowhunters want to fight it OK! They will never convince me to not wear safety orange!!

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Re: The new NY blaze orange bill

I am an avid bow, muzzle loader, riffle and turkey hunter. I would not have a problem if NY said I had to wear orange while walking to and from my stand or blind. It would be Fair to everyone.I know I don't want to be shot and Iknow nobody wants to shoot me. I HOPE ANYWAY! smirk.gif

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Re: The new NY blaze orange bill

The only time I wear orange during deer season is when we are on a drive. That's it. The rest of the time, I am hunting on private property and we know who is where, hunting what, etc.. Yeah, sure, some uncle genius miles away could take a shot up into the air and yes, it's possible for that bullet to come down and hit me, but would it make a difference what color I was wearing?

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Re: The new NY blaze orange bill

How many times have I read posts complaining about trespassing hunters on this forum alone? Private land is no guarantee. Also, with rifles now being added into the NY equation in some areas, hunters on adjoining proerties can now enter the picture without setting one foot on your property.

Doc

Doc

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Re: The new NY blaze orange bill

I think it is a good thing. It protects us hunters from accidentally shooting a hunter that decides to goafield in camoduring rifle season.

But, if they ad this for bow I will be t'd off. But with the way NY has been doing things lately, why wouldn't they add it for bow?

--Rossman

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