The Hunters Orange Epidemic

[Kevin Dill]

You guys want a perfect example of how silly, fickle, asinine and (frankly) stupid some state's laws on personal safety and protection are?

Think of those states that have seat belt laws....all 49 of them. Only NH doesn't require them. Then think about motorcycle helmets. 19 states require their use. Forget about whether seatbelts or helmets actually work. Just ask yourself if it makes sense to require seatbelt use in your car but not helmets when you ride? I'm against mandatory safety gear laws in general (not talking about work-related things here), even though I recognize they save a lot of lives. I believe in personal freedoms and Darwinism. YES...by my personal choice I always use my seatbelt and I always wear a helmet when I ride the big 2 wheeler.

Hunter orange is probably a very good thing overall at helping prevent shooting injuries caused by negligence or simply tragic accidents. I believe it works but I also know it isn't a perfect thing and shootings are still going to happen. The same is true of seatbelts and helmets, which help mitigate injuries but don't prevent all of them. We should have choices. We shouldn't have The Man making them for us.

As a society. sometimes I think we'd be better off if there was a law requiring the wearing of blaze orange condoms. It just might prevent a good number of accidents which we all end up paying for.

 

[Sccritterkiller]

You can't really use the seat belt law in this aurgurment as the Federal govt tied Hwy funding $$$ to the seat belt law back in 09...No seat belt law no federal hwy funding.

I look at this requirement like I do any other hunting reg. Here in SC orange is not required on private land so I dont use it...went to WY this year I bought and used a orange hat. Comes back to if you dont like the laws in that state nobody is forcing you to hunt it. Go somewhere else. It's really that simple.

 

[Kevin Dill]

You can't really use the seat belt law in this aurgurment as the Federal govt tied Hwy funding $$$ to the seat belt law back in 09...No seat belt law no federal hwy funding.

It's not about the existence of the law(s). It's the reasoning behind them. Seatbelt laws largely came about due to federal pressure through highway funding. That's the main reason. Helmet laws (yay or nay) are theoretically tied to safety and injury reduction. Hunter orange may be looked at in similar fashion. Most of the reasoning for these laws comes down to politics, agendas, lobbying and monies. When the state (for their benefit) decides what makes us safer in our daily lives, we're being subjected to laws which purport to protect us but REALLY have many other reasons behind them. And we already have great examples of states (politicians) thinking we'd be safer with and without many things.

Thanks.

 

[WCB]

By a lot of guys reasoning in hear all game and fish laws should be abolished and it should be a free for all because it is about "personal freedoms". And unfortunately unlike a lot of people in here are saying, it is not a "personal choice" in some states yes in other states it is "the law". If you don't like it because you think it is tied to the state or agency making money off fining people, follow the law and you won't have to contribute to the funds. If hunter orange requirements take up a significant amount of your trip planning and it is an inconvenience to your hunt I hope I never have to share a field with you.

 

[Jimbob]

I hate wearing orange, I feel like I don't belong in the woods. I don't need full camo but wearing something too purposefully make me stand out while I am pursuing animals just seems wrong and out of place, It takes away from the experience for me.

I was so happy when I moved to BC and no longer needed to wear hunter orange.

However, if I was deer/bird hunting land overrun with hunters I would probably wear it.

 

[KHNC]

Not only this but if the only thing keeping some idiot from mistaking a human for a 4-legged critter is bright colors...well that person probably eats crayons and has no business toting a rifle in the woods.

Orange or not, failing to identify your target and shooting a person should equal a very long prison stay.

The Marines i know are much smarter than that. Just because they eat crayons doesnt mean they are dumb.

 

[16Bore]

There are 8-9 states that don't require any hunter orange anytime. Nevada, Arizona, Alaska, Idaho, all come to mind. I'm not aware of those states having hunting "accidents" any more than the states that require hunter orange.

Virginia, where I live, requires hunter orange during deer firearms seasons and I would bet that we lead the nation in hunters shooting each other. Most every hunt club in my area has had a member shoot another member within the last 10 years or so. This is typically with buckshot while shooting at running deer being chased by hounds. Fortunately, the buckshot isn't very effective and so the victims rarely die (only 1-2 per year). Its so bad in Virginia that we had an off duty LEO shoot another off duty LEO as he was driving down the road about 3 years ago.

Hunters shoot each other by being irresponsible. It's cultural. I'm not convinced that hunter orange helps much. If I hunted public land in Virginia during firearms season (I don't) I would wear orange. But, ultimately, if somebody else doesn't then it sure isn't my business.

Dogs for deer is a suck ass way to hunt. Period.

 

[TREE ‘EM]

Orange laws are about making easy targets for LEO to pick out
Nothing more, nothing less.

Compare stats in states where orange is required vs no orange and you'll see the truth.
Numbers don't lie.

 

[MtnOyster]

I don’t like mandatory anything but the fatalities we’ve had in KY over the years during Gun season has been pitiful, I would like to think it has possibly saved my life more than once over the years.

 

[Two Roads]

True story. Stopped in local bar in northern Michigan for lunch during deer season. Two old hunters at bar talking. First guy says to his pal, You get anything? Second guy replies, "Nope, all I got was couple of sound shots off. Me, the dummy, asks what is a sound shot? Old guy looks at me like I am an idiot - You know, where you see the brush move and take a poke. Don't you hunt?

And that is why I wear a vest.

 

[Huckleberry Hound]

True story. Stopped in local bar in northern Michigan for lunch during deer season. Two old hunters at bar talking. First guy says to his pal, You get anything? Second guy replies, "Nope, all I got was couple of sound shots off. Me, the dummy, asks what is a sound shot? Old guy looks at me like I am an idiot - You know, where you see the brush move and take a poke. Don't you hunt?

And that is why I wear a vest.

That is ******* crazy. Id have had some things to say to them.

 

[EastMT]

True story. Stopped in local bar in northern Michigan for lunch during deer season. Two old hunters at bar talking. First guy says to his pal, You get anything? Second guy replies, "Nope, all I got was couple of sound shots off. Me, the dummy, asks what is a sound shot? Old guy looks at me like I am an idiot - You know, where you see the brush move and take a poke. Don't you hunt?

And that is why I wear a vest.

Yup, we heard that one time too at a little restaurant. At first I thought “sound” was referring to a solid shot. But no, it was the old brush is moving coin flip. Scared the crap out of me, made me want to stay in the fields!


I have yet to be begin to procrastinate.

 

[Kevin Dill]

I believe orange works to increase visibility. It doesn't overcome stupidity, but it helps. I don't own a single piece of it. I probably never will.

 

[Nickofthewoods]

At least here in Colorado we can also wear pink......hot pink.........

This discussion came up in Elk camp last fall and pros and cons were weighed. One potential con being that Bubba might see a person in hot pink from a distance and immediately associate it with a female hunter and decide to approach for whatever reason. Nobody had any pros other than to break up the monotony of wearing orange year after year.
[/QUOTE]

Orange laws are about making easy targets for LEO to pick out
Nothing more, nothing less.

It seems like this is a commonly held belief but if true, why not require it from all hunters? For example, Colorado doesn't require archery hunters to wear orange so LE must only want to know who is carrying a firearm then? Most archery hunters I know also carry a sidearm so that really wouldn't make sense from an officer safety standpoint.

 

[5MilesBack]

It's not about the existence of the law(s). It's the reasoning behind them. Seatbelt laws largely came about due to federal pressure through highway funding. That's the main reason. Helmet laws (yay or nay) are theoretically tied to safety and injury reduction. Hunter orange may be looked at in similar fashion. Most of the reasoning for these laws comes down to politics, agendas, lobbying and monies. When the state (for their benefit) decides what makes us safer in our daily lives, we're being subjected to laws which purport to protect us but REALLY have many other reasons behind them. And we already have great examples of states (politicians) thinking we'd be safer with and without many things.

And this is the problem.......first we have government intrusion, but we also have mandated auto insurance. As soon as you bring an insurance company into the equation, then they have a say as well since they are paying the claims. And then people seem to think that "healthcare for all at the government's expense" is a good thing. Really? Well, if taxpayers are paying for someone else's healthcare, then all taxpayers (and the government) now have a say in what those people can eat, what they can do, and how healthy a lifestyle they live........since we're the ones paying for it. See where BIG government goes?

My goodness, liberty and freedom used to be really nice things to have.

 

[5MilesBack]

By a lot of guys reasoning in hear all game and fish laws should be abolished and it should be a free for all because it is about "personal freedoms".

If you abolished some of the game and fish laws that we have, that would affect most everyone eventually. If there's no law mandating wearing orange, then by my "personal freedom" to choose to not wear orange while hunting, that only affects my safety........by MY choice. You really have to get to the root of the law to determine just why they made the law. I will never choose safety at the expense of liberty.

 

[ZValentine]

I moved to Colorado and was surprised at how much hunters orange they required. Growing up and spending my early adult life in Montana it was easy to have an orange vest handy, light weight mesh ones were under $5. I lived in Wyoming for 7 years and you could just wear an orange hat. Had a person in our hunting group level off on another hunter with his rifle because the other guy had a rack strapped to his back and you had to catch him just right to see his hat. I dont want to be overly regulated, I would rather people took the time to be quality hunters, but I wear a hat and vest and have a panel to put on my pack if needed.

 

[ManyBullets]

#NANNYSTATE

 

[Nickofthewoods]

Beyond making one's safety their own prerogative which I support (and orange IMO should be optional) I am also annoyed when other hunters are breaking any law or regulation.

What I like least about wearing orange though is the fact that I can't as easily conceal my location to other hunters. A lot of times I find myself changing the way I hunt because I don't want others to see where I enter/exit a drainage or where I am glassing from. Scouting is hard work and I don't like to "give away" routes or good glassing spots just because I'm easy to spot in Orange. I don't drive around with an orange hat on my dashboard either. I dislike broadcasting even my parking spots so when you see my truck parked there are no Browning or FirstLite stickers plastered to the rear window. I'd just rather folks wonder if I'm fishing, mushroom hunting, or walking the dog.

 

[Grundy53]

True story. Stopped in local bar in northern Michigan for lunch during deer season. Two old hunters at bar talking. First guy says to his pal, You get anything? Second guy replies, "Nope, all I got was couple of sound shots off. Me, the dummy, asks what is a sound shot? Old guy looks at me like I am an idiot - You know, where you see the brush move and take a poke. Don't you hunt?

And that is why I wear a vest.

How would orange help in this situation? If you can't see through the brush you still won't see an orange vest.

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