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Thread: Hunting season

  1. #1
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    Default Hunting season

    Hi;
    I plan to be on the AT for several days or more at a time during hunting season (both bow and gun). I am going to purchase a blaze orange sweatshirt, and a couple of hats (one for warm, one for cold days). My backpack is dark green, so I figure the hooded sweatshirt or just the sweatshirt with one of the hats will show up pretty well. But what about my tent? It's an Alps Mountaineering Lynx 1, which doesn't have any bright colors in it. Should I carry a blaze orange flag on a stake to place at my tent site (or attach the flag to the rain fly of my tent) to make sure some over zealous hunter doesn't think it's an animal and shoot at me, or am I being a bit paranoid?
    They also talk about making noise, so I have my amateur radio HT I may carry with me. Whether or not I talk to anyone, I can set it to an active freq and just let it play....

    Any thoughts?

    Thanks

    Arden

  2. #2
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    You're being paranoid, especially if you're hiking on the A.T. in the tri-state area. Just wear some orange and you'll be fine.
    Last edited by Sarcasm the elf; 10-16-2015 at 21:54.
    Colorless green ideas sleep furiously.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Sarcasm the elf View Post
    You're being paranoid, especially if you're hiking on the A.T. in the tri-state area. Just wear some orange and you'll be fine.
    Maybe not in tri-state. I may go to Springer.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Arden View Post
    Maybe not in tri-state. I may go to Springer.
    I've hiked through there during hunting season before and had no issues. I personally wouldn't worry about it, but hopefully someone local can jump in and give you some more specific advice.
    Colorless green ideas sleep furiously.

  5. #5

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    Sometimes when I'm seriously paranoid I'll put my dayglo orange rain jacket over the top of my pack and hike. As for the tent, you could buy a cheap bright blue (or orange or red etc) tarp and cover your tent when you camp. Just the opposite of stealth camping techniques.

  6. #6

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    Looks like Tipi beat me to this, I go up and down with concern during hunting season. When I have a high concern level (for whatever reasons that contribute to that) I will put my orange vest over the pack and wrap the two free sides around the shoulder straps for visibility. My tent is low visibility color also, so I will anchor some orange fabric on the tent for some added visual.

    I don't get too worried about hunters on the AT, though on other trails that are not well trod I can get a little nervous when I see hunters hunkered down just off the trail they didn't know was there behind them. Safety beats everything and a little paranoia is not a bad thing during hunting season where color is the best defense. It sure beats the more ridiculous notion there is no one out there that may harm you by accident.

  7. #7
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    Most hunters are looking for a nice buck, but a lot of areas will have days where it's legal to harvest any deer, antlers or not, and those are the days that bring out the yahoos. Bow season is probably the safest time to be out because those guys aren't taking long shots. You should be fine with a blaze orange hat but you can always get more blaze orange if you are worried. As a fellow amateur radio operator I think I like the idea of a noisy HT. As a hunter, I apologize for any hunters who aren't as careful as they should be. As a fellow hiker, I hope you have a nice hike.
    "You're a nearsighted, bitter old fool."

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    My pack cover is orange. My tuque is orange. I sometimes bring an orange vest.
    I always know where I am. I'm right here.

  9. #9
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    Sitting here in a tree stand reading this and wondering.... Has an AT hiker ever been mistakingly taken for game and shot by a hunter? If not that still does not mean it can't happen, but paranoia will destroy ya.

  10. #10

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    Here's what I don't understand: Why do hunters dress up in camo and BDUs and tiger stripes and Realtree ETC and yet WEAR DAY-GLO ORANGE HATS AND VESTS??? Does a deer only see their pants?

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    Quote Originally Posted by Tipi Walter View Post
    Here's what I don't understand: Why do hunters dress up in camo and BDUs and tiger stripes ETC and yet WEAR DAY-GLO ORANGE HATS AND VESTS??? Does a deer only see their pants?
    Supposedly deer cannot distinguish colors in that part of the spectrum of light that blaze orange falls into, it is one reason they picked that color for the required safety clothing over other options.
    Colorless green ideas sleep furiously.

  12. #12

    Default www.appalachiantrail.org/hunting

    Taking safety precautions during hunting season is important. It's easy to get complacent because millions of people have used the A.T. without incident, but there have been two hunting accidents during deer firearm season on the A.T. when hikers were shot. Both accidents caused life-threatening and life-altering injuries. Neither hiker was wearing blaze orange, and in both cases the hunter saw color white on or close to the hiker, mistaking the white for a deer's tail.

    In one case a novice, teenage female A.T. backpacker was accidentally shot off trail on US Forest Service lands in Georgia (at dawn, going to the bathroom). In the other case a former thru-hiker and trail angel of retirement age was accidentally shot on a day-hike on a section of the Trail he hiked daily, on US Forest Service lands in Virginia.

    That was more than 10 years ago, and both hunters and hikers tend to be better educated about each other's presence. Just be mindful that in many areas hunters can legally use a lethal weapon not very far from where you are hiking. Just be well-informed and take sensible precautions.

    There is more in-depth information on our website at www.appalachiantrail.org/hunting. We will be posting an updated hunting chart soon.

    Laurie P.
    ATC

  13. #13

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    Quote Originally Posted by JaketheFake View Post
    Sitting here in a tree stand reading this and wondering.... Has an AT hiker ever been mistakingly taken for game and shot by a hunter? If not that still does not mean it can't happen, but paranoia will destroy ya.
    A little paranoia is not a bad thing, it keeps people in orange with hunters around, and keeps hunters belted into their stands so they don't fall out and kill themselves by accident either. A lot of paranoia is a different issue.

    Yes, there have been hikers shot on the AT by hunters who thought they were deer. One incident in 2002, another in 2003 that I am aware of, there could be more but they are rare as opposed to the number of hikers and hunters in the woods at the same time. In CT there have been instances of people shot while walking or jogging along trails during hunting season, but again, these are rare circumstances that can be mitigated to a high degree using color.

  14. #14

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    Quote Originally Posted by Sarcasm the elf View Post
    Supposedly deer cannot distinguish colors in that part of the spectrum of light that blaze orange falls into, it is one reason they picked that color for the required safety clothing over other options.
    If deer can not see in that spectrum, than why don't they wear nothing but that color...

    Yes, that was a rhetorical question

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    Quote Originally Posted by JaketheFake View Post
    Sitting here in a tree stand reading this and wondering.... Has an AT hiker ever been mistakingly taken for game and shot by a hunter? If not that still does not mean it can't happen, but paranoia will destroy ya.
    I don't worry much about being mistaken for a deer - although it has happened to hikers, on the AT.

    My concern is being downrange of one.
    I always know where I am. I'm right here.

  16. #16

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    Evolution is a wondrous thing; I wouldn't be surprised if some young deer don't start displaying a IO streak down their backs.

    No comment necessary, I'm leaving now

  17. #17
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    Quote Originally Posted by Another Kevin View Post
    I don't worry much about being mistaken for a deer - although it has happened to hikers, on the AT.

    My concern is being downrange of one.
    Wow... I would have guessed it has not. Then maybe a cheap blaze orange hat might be something for someone to consider. Still it sounds like the odds are against being taken for game. Be careful out there. The funny thing is here in Texas hunters do not have to wear blaze orange unless hunting on national forest (the few we have) or other public lands.

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    You wear orange as a courtesy to hunters, and for self preservation

    You dont want someone to "scope" you through a loaded high power rifle just to see what you are. At that point you are literally a twitching finger away from dead.

    A cap, an orange bandana, or $3 orange safety vest is all thats needed. Its foolish to not display some color thinking it to be others problem or responsibility.

    Being in the right, does you no good when you are dead.

  19. #19

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    A good hunter will pass on a shot that is not "clean".I have done this before even though one was a trophy.As a child we had an incident here locally where a young man was "shot mistakenly" on his own property by a poacher.No jail time.Today is the first day of gun season and I am out and about on private property after lunch.Orange hat and a bandana hung off the back plus my wits is all the protection I will have.That is usually enough I would think.

  20. #20
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    Wearing colors is easy, cheap, and effective. Perhaps a set of "bear bells" might be useful as well. Do the bears hibernate in the south? I'm not so sure they do up here in NJ either. I guess that depends on the severity of the winter?
    Do hunters use radios? My HT can listen to everything from aircraft AM at 108Mhz up to nearly 1GHZ, so I can easily program the FRS or GMRS channels into the HT and listen for activity from hunters.

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