Colorado archery / MZ overlap

[bwlacy]

Do any of you guys wear orange while bow hunting during the muzzle loader season? Or have orange on your pack? Just curious. I have a coyote brown Kifaru AMR pack and that is a big tan spot in the woods

 

[Back Country Hunter 2]

I don't. I've never seen anyone wearing orange while bow hunting either. Where I hunt I don't see much people though. I also don't wear anything that is the same color as game. If it helps your peace of mind, then go for it. I don't think it will effect your hunt. I'd go with a ball cap rather than a vest, because it's more interchangeable in a layering system.

 

[wannakillabigbull]

I’ve never worn orange while bow hunting during that overlap period, but it’s certainly crossed my mind. Maybe it would have saved that 14 year old kid that got shot a couple years ago. Then again maybe not, you can’t teach stupid.

Hunter who killed Colorado boy he mistook for elk gets prison time | Reuters

The way I figure it if someone is stupid enough to mistaken you for an elk while you're wearing camo, they probably will in orange too.

 

[dotman]

I would just wait till muzzleloader is over then go. Just to dangerous with those guys out there.

 

[Jbehredt]

Only change we make for ML is leaving Miss September (Montana decoy) at home.

 

[oldgoat]

I always have a big blaze orange bandana tied onto my lid on my pack, actually been running into ML hunters that are leaving the road the last four seasons or so, plus it really helps me locate my pack.

 

[5MilesBack]

No to orange.

On the other hand, in the last 8 seasons I have had 5 different ML hunters shoot an elk that I was working (not counting my daughter......that one was intended). And in each case I never even knew there was another hunter in the area. So perhaps I should be wearing an orange hat......don't know. I guess I'm willing to take my chances and make my own choices. Rather than have the state mandate what choices I should make. CO already has been exploring a move such as this. Thumb's down.

 

[justinspicher]

I have only seen ML hunters in the parking area where I hunt so I have never thought about wearing orange.

 

[LongWayAround]

Some group of muzzleloader guys from Wisconsin tried to lecture me about how it was required and I couldn't be in the woods since I wasn't wearing any. I told them to show me that rule in the regulations because it's not a requirement.

The weekend before that, I watched a watched a muzzleloader bear hunter bear mace himself. The dude's buddy said it was the second time in an hour. These guys were hunting bears but carried both bear spray and sidearms "just in case."

Those kind of jackwagons make me nervous.

 

[trophyhill]

Never had an issue with our muzzy hunting brothers in arms. I've called a couple in which was pretty funny

 

[COLOelkman]

Based on other "hunters" I've seen and talked to in the field and at the rifle range, I always carry some orange with me. I've seen guys with their vest crammed with beers in the woods hunting so never underestimate the stupidity of some. People on here usually take hunting a bit more serious than many others and it's those other guys you should be worried about! So, I think it's probably a good idea to have something orange on when you are moving. I normally take it off when I'm sitting during bow hunting.

 

[DenverCountryBoy]

I wish more archery guys would wear some orange or orange camo. Not just for safety, but also so I can spot them earlier and not bumble through the area they are hunting.

 

[Stilpr]

I wasn’t planning on wearing any while hunting the overlap, but I was trying to figure out something to use during a successful pack out (hopefully!!!) over antlers.

Any ideas or thoughts about that???

 

[5MilesBack]

Never had an issue with our muzzy hunting brothers in arms. I've called a couple in which was pretty funny

A few years ago my buddy and I were hiking up the bottom of a draw mid afternoon. All of a sudden I smell this stank coming from somewhere. Smelled like there was a dead rotting animal somewhere. So I tell my buddy to start looking around for something dead. I must have looked like a pointer moving around that draw with my nose sniffing around every bush and tree. The whole time I'm saying stuff like "man this stinks" and "I think I'm getting closer to the stank". As I'm covering this area my nose keeps bringing me back to a stand of thick bushes and stuff in the bottom of the draw. So I'm sniffing around the edge of it and poking my head in and out looking for a dead animal when I stick my head into one spot sniffing, and there's this guy decked out in orange sitting right in the middle of this thick brushy area. He's just sitting there still as can be. As soon as I saw him I said "what the heck". And he just sits there, completely still, and doesn't say a word. We're like 5 feet from each other staring at each other, and he never even acknowledged I was there.

I have no idea what he was wearing, but my goodness he stank. Maybe he had a bear tag and he was the bait......don't know. But odd that he never even acknowledged us the entire time we were there looking.

 

[Bails-UK]

In 9yrs I've hunted Co archery season, I have never worn any HI-VIZ, but then i do have Ginger hair

 

[COlineman78]

I wasn’t planning on wearing any while hunting the overlap, but I was trying to figure out something to use during a successful pack out (hopefully!!!) over antlers.

Any ideas or thoughts about that???

orangeaglow.com makes a orange panel for your pack that's pretty slick.

 

[swampokie]

I wear it during the muzz overlap. I don’t understand why anyone wouldn’t. I guess having that bow will shield u from a Thor when carrying a muzz wont. I guess in the day and age of cool kid camo that a Vias beanie is all the rage and not an orange cap!! As many muzz hunters as I saw last bow season I think orange is a good idea. During bear rifle as well which is most of archery elk

 

[COlineman78]

It's funny that folks worry about muzzleloader but not the fact that rifle bear season is almost all of archery, so there are guys out there with high powered rifles at the same time as well.

I hunt both muzzy and archery and I would say that the only concern that I have is if someone happens to be behind the elk I'm shooting at. We hunt mostly private or smaller chunks of BLM that few people hunt, so it isn't as big of an issue, but I would suggest an orange hat or bandana just in case I come into your area and you would like me to see you, you can pull it out of your bag. That probably goes for just plain archery season too if you don't want someone walking right through where you're sitting, just wave a hat at them and they'll most likely go the other way.

The only time I have thought there was a dangerous situation was this past year when we called in these archers, but they came in calling with a heads up decoy sticking out behind a bush. If you have one, it may be worthwhile to put an orange line on it or something so that a person can tell that it's fake. I'm not going to blindly shoot through a bush when I see a head, but I wouldn't bet on everyone being that way.

 

[swampokie]

Regionally thee are varying opinions on the use of orange. The western freemen are staunchly opposed to orange it seems while the east and southern hunters wouldn’t hunt without it. Kinda pisses people off like a seatbelt law I guess!!! Buckle up!!

 

[jray5740]

I have personally worn orange and not. In all archery units where no other forms of hunting are allowed, I don't bother but in high hunter population units I wear an orange beanie. The truth of the matter is your camo is of little use to you if you wash your clothing in any form of laundry detergent that is not specifically for camo clothing so it dosent hurt to add orange to your outfit. The florescent's in the detergent stand out like sore thumbs to animals so orange wont hurt you anyway.