Hunting Gear Question

Anonymous-0

Well-known Member
Let me start by saying I am not a hunter and know almost zero about it......

Why do some hunters wear blaze orange and others wear camouflage? Clearly there are pros & cons to each. I expect the answer lies in regulations, but what is the practical reason?

Glenn
 
In some area the orange is required so you can be seen and hopefully not shot by other hunter, The camo is to blend in with surondings and game can't see you.
 
Safety orange, hopefully other hunters will not mistake you as a target. On our land I wear mostly wool, camo pattern, but when on the ground and on the move will change flags and wear a safety orange knit hat. I don't hunt state lands anymore, but if and when off the land in during rifle season, its wise to be seen and easily distinguished from deer or other game.

Archery, well the camo does help conceal, deer do see movement, so it helps when hunting from short ranges.

Accidents and fatalities still happen, I'd want to be head to toe in orange on state land, of course, not being seen may have some validity, some people should not be allowed to hunt given what they do, and its those I'd not want to be seen by, but its best to have safety orange if on public lands. Best scenario is to have your own land and be able to control who is on it. We all know where each other is, we can communicate via cell phone, used to use radios, so if one goes on the ground to stalk or push, which is rare, we all know about it. Someone trespasses and is behind the scenes, not visible, takes an awful risk, I've warned many about it here, that I have caught, right behind my shooting lane, with no safety orange on, obviously so because they did not want to be seen, signs are clearly posted and I do not worry about it, I have no obligation to guarantee a trespassers safety for any reason, if they are foolish enough to conceal themselves that is behind where I will shoot at targets, deer when in season etc.
 
It is my understanding that deer cannot see in color and therefore blaze orange in a camo pattern is just as hard for them to see as the traditional camo and your fellow hunters can more easily identify you as a person and not game with orange.
 
In MA you must wear 500 sq inches of blaze
(Hunter) orange during shotgun season but i and most i hunt with wear a combo of both all the time, every year you read about someone wiping there arse in the woods and being shot.
 
Wearing Camo may seem a bit "dangerous"- but compared to wearing a buckskin coat opening day? That leads to the old classic divorce for fault case where soon to be X wife insisted husband wear the new buckskin coat for walk in the woods- she said she didn"t know it was first day of hunting season, just a payback present for the "choker" hubby had put around her neck the day before. The "choker" was a 6 foot python named Louis after a wrestler known as the "Strangler". Divorce granted on grounds of mutual incompatability-and animal cruelty, beastly humor.
 
Here in Missouri during bow season you do not have to wear orange or turkey season. But gun season you have to wear orange so that some idiot does not shoot you because he saw something move
 
I know some of you guys say that the deer can't tell if the clothing is orange or not. I'm not so sure about that. In fact I personally think they can read a calander. For proof, I can see them about any time I go on the hill until Deer Season, then nothing, not anything even closely related to a deer. Gotta be either they can read a calander of they all go on vacation that week. (Course it could be that I'm just a darned poor hunter) LOL. Have a good day, Keith
 
To the best of my knowledge, in Illnoise,
Blaze orange is required during the firearm seasons.
Camo is worn for bow and turkey(both bow/gun).

It"s been many years, so don"t go by my word.
 
Yes, there seems to be a specification on how much, which is a good thing. Thats one color, white or anything similar, you do not want showing, I cut 2 tags of my fold up chair bag, white flags, no good. Most of these accidents I'll not try to understand, some are really odd base on the circumstances, best to own some land or have an in on somewhere safe, I'd quit unless I knew it was safe.
 
Hunting Your own land doesn't always work--I got shot in the back while hunting my own land by a moron who was hunting next door on the neighbors property and shot over the rock wall that was the property line. Ironic in that i had hung up my gun as i had determined it was too dark to safely hunt anymore that day!!
 
Funny, I still wear the familiar red or green plaid. I don;t any camo or blaze orange. I must be a neanderthal.

Best day of duck hunting (birds can see color) I ever had I was wearing a blue and white checked shirt and yellow NAPA cap. Location, location, location!
 
In Iowa, you are required 1 item of blaze orange clothing for upland game. (hat, vest etc.) For deer hunting you are required a minimum of a blaze orange vest or coat. I don't care to be shot at so it is alright with me.
 
Michigan requires a minimum of 10 square inches of blaze orange when using a gun or rifle, except turkey and duck hunters. They can wear camo, as can archers. During deer season I like all the orange I can get, especially on public land.

Larry
 
Takes all types doesn't it. The terrain here provides me cover, but if I go up top, theres a nice 20 acre field abounding the top of that ridge, I will wear orange and scan the perimeter from cover, I trust no one. Someone must have been ticked off, as they stole the stand up there, as that does take off 600 feet or so they should not be shooting towards, much better hunting down in the valley anyway, but the few hundred acres back there, there is always some undesirables, not so posted and patrolled, so I mostly avoid that ridge for now, not worth the hassle or the worry.
 
South Dakota requires at minimal a blaze orange vest be worn for gun deer hunting. Blaze orange is also popular for pheasant hunting but i'm not sure if it's required. Usually our game vests are orange or have orange sewn in and an orange cap. Orange is not required anywhere else.

Casey in SD
 
In Indiana, once gun season for deer starts, you are required to wear blaze orange...even if you hunt rabbits or squirrels. The only LEGAL blaze orange in Indiana is SOLID--no blaze camo. But the amount of blaze you are required to wear is minimal; some guys only wear an orange cap, and they are perfectly legal. Our 16-day regular gun season ends on Sunday; the muzzle loader-only season begins December 7 and runs thru the 22nd; and in counties that allow 4 or more antlerless deer, a special antlerless-only season runs December 26 thru January 5th.
 
Even hunting my own land, I wear lots of orange during the regular season.
During bow season, when I wear only camo, I have a cheap
orange vest I tie to my backpack straps when walking to-from my stand.Flops around.
Orange gloves while walking too. (your hands are always moving which attracts the eye)
Something orange in my pack, handy, while in the stand.
If I see another hunter, I will wave it slowly until it catches their eye, so they know where I am.
(takes a surprisingly long time for some to notice...They is lucky I ain't a 400lb lion :D )
during busy times of bow season, ie holidays,weekends,, I'll tie that vest around the tree above my head when I get in the stand

With camo, I think it's mostly successful advertising,
to look like the 'pros'
Like the other poster, I've had just as many good hunts
when just wearing muck boots, jeans and a green carhart
or a military surplus jacket
 
You could wear a deerskin jacket and put a white handkerchief in your back pocket if you want camoflage.

I wear blaze orange on my land anytime a season is open.
 
Short answer is Regulation.

As for the pratical side it is a safety thing. You can been seen and identified at a geat distance wearing Blaze orange. Camo in a nut shell breaks up the solid color / shape to blend in with the back ground thus much hard to see.

Why one wears one over the other when not required? Many reasons - Fashon, not to be seen, to be seen, take your pick.

From a deer stand point, this is how I understand it. Deer only see gray, so blaze orange to them is just like us looking into the woods and seeing they gray of the trees.

I have a camo blaze orange hoodi that I use during gun seasons as a pull over. Plently of orange to be seen but broken up with a black woodys pattern to not look like a big pumpkin in the middle of the woods.

Deer are all about movement. If you remained still enough they will not be botherd if you stood in the woods buck naked. They would take notice but generally go on about there business as long as you are still.

That said I tend to agree they are a lot smarter than advertised. They may only see gray, but they know their "grays". I have watched deer while bow gunting in regular camo and they never even look my way as they walk by. During gun season wearing my camo orange within seconds of coming into view they are looking my way. They know blaze orange is a not a natural gray to them. The trick is to not move so they are not aware "you" are not there
 

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