2 Questions for Archery Hunters

[Doc Holliday]

1. During muzzleloader, wear orange hat or no?

2. Nocks up or down on pack?

 

[mtnobsessed]

No,down

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[Jethro]

No and up

 

[nettereo16]

No orange. Carry it.

 

[LongWayAround]

I never have worn an orange hat during muzzleloader. If I had one that I liked, I might.

I've lost arrows out of my quiver with knocks up. Never lost one knocks down.

 

[Gerbdog]

No orange hats and knocks down in quiver

 

[Mighty Mouse]

1) No
2) I've never consciously made a decision on nock direction, but they've always been nock down when strapped to my pack.

 

[540-Virginian]

I wear blaze orange hat every season, including archery. whitetail don’t spot me ever unless i am moving. I have been 15 yards from bedded deer and had them stare but not spook until I made them get up out of bed. I find covering your face completely and closing one eye when super close helps. I still hunt through thick brush and dont want anyone to spray and pray i was a deer or squirrel whatever. My situation may be different.

can not speak to the quiver question.

 

[George Hamrick]

I wore an orange hat, but I also never saw a muzzleloader hunter over a couple hundred yards from the road. Never paid much attention to nock direction.

 

[mighteywhitehunter]

Orange is unit and hunter dependent. If you are in a unit with low visibility like lots of brush or timber and lots of hunters then yes Orange. Open country with low numbers of hunters or you are in super deep in the mtns then no orange unless required by law.

Nocks Up, but make sure they arent up above your head as they may get hit by a low branch. Gravity will help keep them from working loose and falling out on your hike in.

 

[Sled]

muzzleloader hunters typically identify their target before shooting since a followup is slow. i'd feel comfortable without orange if legal. during rifle season you might get shot with or without the orange.

as for carrying the bow on the pack, my quiver is tight and i've never lost an arrow while on the pack. i'm typically nocks down but that is due to strap location and the ability to the bow secure. fwiw, one strap can go over the quiver if that makes you feel less likely to lose an arrow.

 

[Jbehredt]

Orange bandana on my bugle tube during muzzleloader. Quiver on bow so no help there.

 

[Mountain_Life]

No orange, but the nocks up or down question is interesting. I carry my quiver on the side of my pack and have always carried them nock up but fairly low. The bottom of my quiver is on the ground when I'm sitting and that keeps the tops of the arrows low enough to miss branches. If they were the other way, they would have to be high enough to keep dirt out of the nocks, BUT it would eliminate the problem of having them catch a branch and popping off the quiver. Looks like I have a little experimenting to do.

 

[87TT]

No orange and my bow is in my hand unless I'm packing meat.

 

[Sanchez]

I have seen a lot of elk during the Oregon rifle deer season in early October when I am decked out in heavy blaze orange. The elk appear to see me about the same as they do when I am all camo in the September archery elk season. I have had a few elk in close that appeared unable to detect me motionless in the open wearing blaze orange.

I do not wear blaze during archery season because there are not firearm seasons going on. If there were forearm seasons including muzzleloaders I would seriously consider blaze.

Sometimes archers can be very convincing they are an elk. They call in a convincing manner, they show up where you expect elk to be and do not expect another hunter, they rake like a bulls antler, they use cover so they are never in the open and when they must expose they give a horizontal rather than vertical profile. They can fool elk and they can fool other hunters.

With archery techniques the hunters need to be close and in the open for shots which clearly exposes hunters to each other before an arrow is released. With a gun shots can be further out and a muzzleloader can shoot through a bit of brush. There is more room for the hunter to shoot before a really good hunter is exposed. For that reason and the fact I do not think elk can see blaze, I would consider wearing it if there was a concurrent firearm season.

 

[cnelk]

No orange for me

I dont carry arrows on my pack

 

[5MilesBack]

No orange.......and nocks go on my arrows, not my pack.

 

[Next Ridge]

No orange while hunting, some in pack to attach to antlers after harvest.
bow is always in hand not on pack

 

[suda0402]

Depends on the regulations and down, lost a few arrows when they are pointed up.

 

[Still Hunter]

Wear no Orange, but I always have flagging. I am seldom on a actual hiking trail during daylight hours as I am working through the forest. I move pretty slowly when hunting so I generally see everything before it sees me (Still Hunter). I usually carry my bow in my hand but when I do occasionally strap it to my pack I do knocks up and for added security to not lose an arrow I strap the arrows to the bow with an additional small Velcro strap or Paracord to hold them tighter to the bow quiver.