Hunter Orange?

[Rookie]

Hunting deer in the midwest, I've come to see hunter orange is a real saftey factor with no real downside. Yet, I have noticed the camo clothing seems to be favored when hog hunting.  Does wearing hunter orange put the hunter at a disadvantage in hogging?  

 

[shaginator]

Hogs have crappy eyesight, and most of their vision will depend on your motion; but if you move enough they will most likely smell you or hear you before seeing you. They can smell things better than dogs can (which is why they are often domesticated to sniff out truffles).

I keep a backup vest and another blaze orange swatch whenever I hunt for anything, and when in public land, I avoid busy times of the year like deer openers if I'm hog hunting since (a) hogs are open all year and (b) deer hunters usually scare away the hogs if not the deer.

If I know someone else is in the area sometimes I put the vest on. Its a judgement call to put it on or stay put and watch the other hunters crash on through.

If/When I get a kill (more often "if" than "when") I plan to wear the vest and put the swatch on the game when dragging it back.

 

[Speckmisser]

I keep an orange vest in my fanny pack.  When I make a kill on public land that I have to pack out, especially if it has antlers, I'll actually put the vest on the kill.  

As to camo for hog hunting... I don't think it makes a lot of difference.  It's camo because I wear the same hunting clothes for everything I hunt...from ducks to deer to hogs.  Anyway, like Shaggy said above, unless they see you moving around, they probably won't pay much attention.  But if they catch a whiff...  

 

[shaginator]

...which is why I won't eat a burrito on hunting day.

:fart 2:

<font size="-1">(You don't know how long I've been waiting for a chance to use that icon.)</font>

 

[One Track]

I think it's a good idea. I just wear an orange full-brim floppy hat. There could be a kook around any corner. Sooner or later you'll run into someone taking pot shots at something moving in the brush. It's not like they have to identify a set of antlers. Know what I mean? That's why I don't like deer hunting when I know that doe tags are available in the same season. It only takes one ding dong.  So, yah, why wouldn't you where a little orange if you're stalking or walking in the thick stuff?

I don't know what it feels like to take a bullet. And, I don't want to.    

 

[Bishop]

I always wear at least a orange hat when hunting.  If I'm bird hunting where there's no stalking involved I wear a orange vest or jacket.  When bow or handgun hunting I'll wear full camo, but still a orange hat.  That much orange shouldn't matter to the animals since they're color blind.  If I'm varmint hunting I've got a reversible floppy hat that I got from bass pro shops.  It's camo on one side for when I'm on the stand, and orange on the other side for when I'm moving around.  It's like defensive driving, I'm really concerned about the other guy.  I've been peppered with bird shot at our local pheasant club and it stings like hell.  And I've seen enough people shot people to know that I never want to get shot with any rifle or pistol.  

 

[Speckmisser]

I am not knocking hunter-orange, although I have a kind of different perspective, and I'm actually kind of ambivalent about it.  (I'm ambivalent about seatbelts too... so I won't get started.)

First of all, I have seen orange hats spook deer.  Especially when new, the blaze orange flashes like a white flag on a sunny day.  When I had to wear an orange hat back east, I'd rub it against a burnt tree to kill the glare.  It was still orange, and pretty visible, but I couldn't see the glare anymore.  I don't know if that'd be considered a useful "tip", but it seemed to work for me.  

Secondly, being real visible to other hunters isn't always all it's cracked up to be.  I have, more than once or twice, seen hunters "scope" an orange shape in the distance.  Why?  I dunno.  Never saw an orange deer before.  But I know it happens... kinda a "Hey, what's that orange thing over there?  Let's take a closer look."  


Anyway, I'm not saying not to wear orange... and definitely not implying that it's safer not to wear it...  just giving a different side of the coin.  

Food for thought?  No, more like bubblegum.

 

[One Track]

I hear ya Speck.  I don't like to wear orange while deer hunting. I would rather be invisible. However, those doe tags out there scare me.  Opening day of deer (rifle) season in San Diego found me and my buddy protecting a nice 3 point. Days before, my  buddy had made a few unsuccessful stalks on the buck.  We wanted him to  survive opening day, (or, take him with a rifle before someone else did.)  He's smart, he bailed out before light. So, the sun came up, and there were orange dots everywhere.  
Three does come flying down a trail behind us, and people start shooting.  These does were no less than 30 yards from us.  Shots were being fired from three different directions, including a guy behind the does and in line with us!  One guy was 400 yards away and shooting at a running doe 30 yards from us, literally.  One of the does comes runnig right at us and puts on the brakes at 5 yards.  She was trembling, eyes like saucers.  The shooting stopped. We shoo'd her off. She starts running and the shooting starts again.  We were fearing for our lives.  We were hunting on Mt. Palomar in San Diego, (for the last time, during rifle season.)  I was digging for my orange hat and yelling.  Scary!  Bad!  I learned my  lesson. That g13 tag is not my friend.

There are a lot of respectable hunters in San Diego, and there are a lot of kooks too.

That's my story about Orange.  I'll stick to bowhunting in my hometown.  

 

[bowhunting fool]

I am the Buddy one track is talking about when he described our close encounters of the leaded kind on the san Diego D-16 and G13 rifle opener, and he was not exaggerating at all with what he said, we came real close to getting shot by complete idiots with guns, We are both avid bowhunters but decided to go after the big 3x that I have chased all throughout the first half of the A-22 archery season, with our rifles, I wanted this deer bad as I was afforded 2 shots a couple of weeks apart but I missed because of deflecting my arrow a few times on the burnt manzanita, I had developed a personal relationship with this deer, because I was able to stalk with 25 and 30 yards on a few occasions, and he won, So if anyone says killing a deer with an arrow even at a close range like 20 yards is easy, Their telling you stories, because with all the factors involved it is TOUGH. Well back to the topic, we got down there on the rifle opener real early still way dark with no sun even close to rising yet and as we sat on my favorite saddle waiting for enough light to glass, we had to shoo off several other hunters who attempted to occupy our spot in the dark but we were already there, just watching all of the flashlight go by was hilarious, or an indicater of what was to come. Well soon we had enough light to at least start glassing and I guess that buck did not get multiple points by being stupid and with all the hunters and smells he bailed for the other side of the county way before first light. As we glassed we were able to make out several hunter orange dots everywhere, and I mean everywhere. Well it was'nt long when a set of does came running down our little patch of the woods and lo and behold the canyons erupted in gunfire, obviously we were not the only ones to see these deer and bullets were heading our way. Several bullets struck the ground some 30 or 35 feet away making a hellacious pop as they struck. Well we started yelling and cussing to hold thier fire and when I got up to see which idiot close by was shooting in our direction I saw this guy plastered in orange pointing his rifle right at us and I screamed a few expletives and he quickly pulled up his muzzle. Right then my buddy One Track pulled out his orange hat and put it on and we decided to get the hell out of the middle of the shooting gallery. In our quest for the big 3x we were thinking like Bowhunters and did not wear our orange and came cammoed just like we were bowhunting, however we learned a lesson real quick, WHEN YOUR RIFLE HUNTING ANYWHERE ALWAYS AT LEAST BRING SOME BLAZE ORANGE, IT AIN'T WORTH YOUR LIFE. I still believe in my cammo for Bowhunting but I will always bring some orange when there are guns around. So at the parking area later on I met the yahoo who was pointing his rifle at me and I mentioned his careless ways, and he appologized and said in his defense that with my cammo on he could not make me out as a hunter all he saw was movement. So that inflamed me even more and I said what the F#%$ are you doing pointing a loaded gun at a movement or even a noise, I told him a good hunter identifies his target before he levels a weapon on it. Well he said " I know I was just excited" So case in point you never know who is out there and who is pointing what at you especially if they cannot discern you as a hunter and not a deer or a pig. So my advice??? always remember your orange.

 

[Speckmisser]

Man, what an episode!

I have to commend you on NOT blowing your top and whipping the heck out of that jerk who was "excited" enough to point his gun at you.  I'm a very patient person, and spend a lot of time giving away benefit of the doubt.  But that's the kind of thing that would've pushed me pretty close to bursting... if not beyond.

I understand why you were there, but lord have mercy you won't catch me dead in a shooting gallery like that.  If I see more than two hunters in my area, I head for high country and try to stay above them.  If I see more, I go home... or at least go scout a new spot.  The benefits of getting way back in theboonies where I like to go...most of the yahoos stay by the road.  

With all this in mind, though, I have a feeling I'll be carrying my orange hat to Tejon in May.  That'll probably be about as crowded as any other place I've ever hunted in CA.  Ya'll got me thinking... and that's a dangerous thing.  

 

[bowhunting fool]

I will be wearing my orange as well on my tejon pig hunt on the 10th thru 12th of may maybe we will see you out there.

 

[Speckmisser]

Bowhunting Fool,

I'm putting in for the South side as my first choice.  You gonna be there with One Track?  

I'm really looking forward to the hunt.  Sure hope it's not a disappointment.

 

[shaman]

I also carry a vest in my pack, never wore it yet. My question though is, the animals are color blind, o.k. well I saw an once(for a flourecent killing detergent I think) showing a before and after picture(the way a deer would see it) of a hunter in cams and a vest. What struck me  was the cams were vareious shades of grey(of course) with this one great big patch of solid grey(the vest). Kinda ruined the blend in effectiveness of the cams I thought

 

[shaginator]

There are hunter-orange vests with black branch-like patterns to help break up the solids.

 

[Wheelchair Bandit]

I read a statistic somewhere that 95% of all hunters that were shot by fellow hunters,were wearing hunter orange.Food for thought.

And Speckmisser is right-hunter orange REALLY glows at sunrise or sunset,even the stuff with the black branches on it.I watched a hunter walk across a prarie opening morning of rifle season last year,right at sunrise.He looked like a florecent orange light bulb.

 

[cameranovice]

I'm in the camp with Speckmisser. Hunter Orange is not always good for safety. I hunt on private land and anyone who I run into is tresspassing and I want to see them long before they see me.
I think hunter orange causes more shootings than camo.  How many times have you
heard this exchange: "I heard someone got shot hunting yesterday" "Was he wearing orange?"
Why is this the first question??  How many deer walk upright on two legs?
There was even an article here in Mobile AL about a veteran hunter who was justifying
what should have been a homocide "accidental shooting" because the victim did not have
a flashlight on. Someone walking through the woods gets his head blown off and it is his fault?
You may not agree but I don't care if he is in a tawny brown suit with antlers on his head and on all fours, at 20 yards if you can't see enough to distinquish this from a deer, it is too dark to shoot.

 

[bowhunting fool]

Yes, we will be going to The Pig O rama on the 10 thru 12 of may and we will be on the south side as well and yes I am going with "one track"  So maybe we will see you there. And remember yor Orange!!!!!!! Also I think it is good to wash all of my hunting clothes in ultra violet killer detergent and it will take away the glow. To test it wash some clothes in the UV killer soap and then look at your clothing under a blacklight, and if your whites are glowing and you can see glowing threads, then you are apt to glow under the right sunlight conditions, and your UV killer soap is not working. I have found that The Scent killer laundry soap by wildlife research, makes the best UV killer. I have tested my hunting clothes after washing them with the soap and I had no glow at all under the blacklight, even on hunter orange.

 

[One Track]

I take no responsibility for anything that Bowhunting Fool might say or do at the POR. I believe he is taking a podium to set up in the middle of camp.  He has a lot to say.  He'll be the one that doesn't glow under a black light.