nope...and you know better.

I've seen this argument before, maybe here. I would wear an orange hat sometimes, but only rarely. The folks I was looking for I didn't want them to see me before I got in the "too late to run" range.

Some GWs wear it a lot more than others, just depends on what they are comfortable with.

The only hunters that NEEDS to see the GW coming is someone who is doing something illegal....

Does the state have any less duty to protect a citizen from assuming a risk who is wearing a badge, hunting crows, birdwatching, hiking, 12ft off the ground .... whatever, than it does to protect a citizen enjoying his right to hunt? Let's say it's on 4000 acres where no one else is allowed to be there just for starters.

Because some idiot sees movement in the woods(during daylight hrs) but no orange, assumes it's a deer, shoots the GW and ruins two families lives forever. Thats WHY.

and that has happened how many times in Alabama?

and should we , by that same line of thinking, require EVERY person who is anywhere near any deer hunting land to wear orange...??

yep

Some would say so. But it's unrealistic and shouldn't be necessary, and thankfully is not.

I don't think anyone should be REQUIRED to wear orange, but if one group is, then all should be. It creates a false sense of security if you see movement but no orange. If no one wore it, then that wouldn't be a problem. I would wear it regardless of the law or rule or whatever it is. I would do it because I choose to, not because someone who doesn't even have the authority to make law (according to 49er) tells me I have to.

Really think so, huh?

So your 88-year old granny walking out to pick a mess of turnips behind her rural home should be required to wear 144 square inches of orange between Nov. 15 and Jan. 31 or get a citation from the game warden?

I don't think anyone should get a ticket for not wearing it but if she decides to go for a walk through the woods it might be a good idea to have some on.

My intentions with the question was not to get yall mad at each other. I know the GW's, by description and law are not hunting, and they don't wear the orange to be more stealthy, but from a safety stand point they aren't any less vulnerable from being mistaken for a deer than any other person. I realize that the hunter vs GW ratio is much lower, and hunter vs hunter is many times more likely to turn into an accident if some safety feature is not required. I was just seeing what everybody's thoughts were. And also, I would wear my orange during gun season required or not.

I'd guess that you are not old enough to have hunted before orange was required. Mistaken game shootings dropped dramatically after that reg was passed.

for me, I'm not mad, just giving an informed opinion, based on my experiences. If I had to be in the woods now during gun deer season I'd wear orange all the time myself.

the only folks worried about GWs wearing orange are those who don't want the GW sneaking up on them. You figger out why.....

C'mon now troy,

You and I know how the rule has gone thru it's metamorphosis thru the years. How do we know how to gauge it's effectiveness?

It started out as a WMA rule. Good thing, well within delegated authority.

Then came the "Open permit - Public Lands" and "Privately Owned and Leased Lands" expansion of the rule into the Reg Book when we started having doe days. [Bet people nowadays wondered how that got in the rule.] Not quite so good, but people accepted it. There weren't that many doe days anyhow.

Then came the further expansion of having to wear it during the entire gun deer season with the expansion of doe days.

Then came the exceptions to the rule after people began to complain. Too late, we've got it now.

THEY BRIBED US WITH DOE DAYS!!!


Add the Hunter Education ammendment to the law, and whatever other variables we had and how do we know how effective the rule was?

I recall that the orange rule came about in 1980-81? and was for full gun season on all properties.

The exceptions for shooting house and walking less than 20' to a shooting house are bullcrap. Who cares if you have orange on IN the shooting house...can't the deer SEE the shooting house??? Jeezemcgee!

I think if you check, and I KNOW you can, the accident rate for "mistaken for game" has gone down dramatically since the orange reg was passed.....

My first experience with the hunters orange was in the late 60s. I picked my oldest son, who was about 10 then, one of those "dog eared" day glo orange fur hats, up on a mule deer hunt in WY. My hunting buddy and I stopped on a hill in south Wilcox county, a few days later, to listen for the dogs and I spotted my sons red hat near a half mile away on the edge of sage brush opening where he was on stand. There is no way we could have seen him with out it and we agreed that it should be a requirement for everyone who deer hunted.

I say Yes ! As long as the firearm that you intend to hunt with has been unloaded and placed in it's storage "area". Then you can remove your orange.
My hunt starts and my orange is on, when my firearm that I intend to hunt with is removed from it's storage case/area "Mine is in a case !". The orange will come off and the hunt will be over when that firearm is unloaded and placed back in that case and that case is stored in a safe place.


My view on this is ! Unless the GW or other LEO has you under surveillance for some reason, I wouldn't think they would ticket you for no orange when you are loading/unloading for a hunting trip. If they do, there is more to the story!


My view on this is ! If you are returning from your stand/hunting area with your firearm then you should have your orange on until it is placed in the area you plan to store it for transport or until your next hunt.
If I have returned from my stand/hunting area and only placed my firearm on the tailgate/or other area to remove my backpack, tree stand, my orange is still displayed until the firearm is stored away. Only then will I take it off.

I think that if I use the common sense that the Good Lord gave me, I can avoid getting ticketed by the GW/LEO. So far it has worked as I have been checked about 6 time's in my life. I try to give the laws we have a buffer zone and not try to push it to the edge and wind up with a legal problem that I don't need in life if I get caught on the wrong side.