Blaze orange in Maine

[mudhead]

Legal hunting season has started.

Blaze orange is prudent.

I live next to a National Park, and after Labor Day always wear blaze in the woods. No legal hunting here in the park. Limited other on the island.

North of I95 and/or Route 2, in Maine, I put on a blaze watchcap when stepping out of the truck. Even to get coffee at a c-store.

I have heard the snick of a safety, and will never forget it. Scary.

Better a funny looking dork, than a dead idiot.

[katagious]

Please do not forget to dress our four footed friends in blaze orange as well. It's always heartbreaking to hear that a pet has been mistaken for game.

[Spirit Walker]

In Pennsylvania it's not just a good idea, it's a legal requirement to wear orange during deer and bear seasons if you are in state gamelands. I can't remember the exact dates, but the orange has to be visible 360 degrees (i.e. a hat) and I think it has to be 200 sq. inches. We just don't hike in PA from mid-November to mid-December.

[Jeff]

I was hiking in PA Oct 18 & 19 last year near Boiling Springs. It was hunting season for some game even that early in the autumn. Guns blasting near the AT is scary!!!!!!

[saimyoji]

I hear guns all the time here in PA. Always wear orange, or at least something obviously not a deer color.

[aaroniguana]

Michigan and Wisconsin are worse. When I lived in the UP thy used to spray paint "COW" on the cows in day-glo orange. And still city boys from Detroit would pull up to a ranger station to get their deer tag with a dead holstein calf in the bed of their rented pickup truck...

The problem is, farmers assume people who don't know a deer from a cow are literate enough to read the word "COW".

[hiker5]

aaroniguana , that is very funny. I never saw the painted cows during my time in the UP but I was always amused by the tally that was kept at the Mac. bridge of all the deer that were carried back across downstate. It is also the only place I've been where the kids got the first day of deer season off of school.

[ozt42]

Should have painted 'chicken' on them, even drunk most city boys know they'll never be able to hit a chicken...

[blake]

Where can I find high quality blaze orange synthetic t shirts? I'm currently a SoBo off the trail for a couple of days visiting my brother and really see a need for the blaze orange as I heard numerous gunshots in Vermont prior to crossing into Mass. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Blake

[aaroniguana]

WalMart carries synth vests for hunters and baseball caps.

[Marta]

Any sporting goods store that caters to hunters (Cabelas', Wal-Mart...) will have lots of blaze orange stuff. Just make sure you have something that will show no matter what the weather. Last year I started hunting season with a blaze orange baseball cap, then switched to a blaze orange knit cap as the weather got colder. I also had a blaze orange pack cover. My hiking partner at that point--who is a hunter himself--wore one of those vests.

The other thing I do in hunting season is avoid walking in dim light, especially for the first hour after dawn.

Marta/Five-Leaf

[mudhead]

This is heavier, and long sleeve. You may want it soon...

Don't know about ss t-shirt, LL may have them. They have some burnt orange stuff. Call.

http://www.llbean.com/webapp/wcs/sto...p&feat=9937-tn

Avoid tan, or white. Hot pink forestry tape tied on can also help.

[boarstone]

We are currently in Bear over bait season. Between now until the end of November will be a hunting season for something. Bear,bird, moose, deer in that order.

[JimM]

I bought a FroggToggs blaze orange vest at Dick's. It is very lightweight and folds up in its own pocket for easy carry.
Jim

[Colter]

Motorists and your fellow hikers are statistically a greater danger than hunters. There are drunks and fools in all three groups but hunting is relatively safe to hunters themselves and to the general public.

Hunting would seem more prone to accidents and fatalities than outdoor activities that don't use firearms. Not so. According to National Safety Council statistics, far more people per 100,000 participants are injured while bicycling or playing baseball than while hunting. And the Council's most recent statistics show that while roughly 100 people die nationwide in hunting accidents each year, more than 1,500 die in swimming-related incidents. There are over 20 million hunters in the U.S.

About 800 bicyclists a year are killed by automobile drivers, hundreds of thousands are injured by autos.

Oftentimes people hear a shot nearby and think they had a near-death experience. It's similar to hearing a car drive nearby. Both are potentially dangerous but perfectly safe if not aimed at you.

With all due respect, I seriously doubt anyone has tried to register a Holstein calf as a deer.

Nevertheless, do wear your blaze orange. It's a very simple and inexpensive precaution.

[aaroniguana]

With all due respect, I'd suggest you speak to anyone who has been around the Michigan Department of Natural Resources for a few years. Then do a google search using the terms cow and hunting season.

I found two dozen RECENT stories of farm animals being shot, horses wearing blaze orange hats and vests and a cow running loose with an arrow sticking out of its flank. And a hoax on Snopes about two MA hunters in ME but let's not insult our friends in MA...

Perhaps you should do a little research of your own.

[mudhead]

Not only calves, but goats, too. If you see a horse with a big orange X painted on it, you know why.

I expect that with the price of fuels, the amount of off the books meat harvesting to increase.

[fehchet]

Actually, labeling of animals has been around for a long time. The bear hunters who have a 24 hour format are the ones to be sure off, blaze orange or not. Once I was living in a cabin in Industry, ME when bear hunters began to unload in the middle of the night. Took me and my 303 to straighten things out.

[Colter]

Perhaps you should do a little research of your own.

In my opinion the thread is really about the risks of hunting season and reasonable precautions to protect yourself. The facts show that a hiker's odds of getting shot by a hunter are extremely low, lower than injury/fatality by falls, lightning, fellow hikers, bee stings, motorists, heart attacks, drowning and so on.

What I said is that I seriously doubt anyone has tried to register a holstein calf as a deer. Shooting farm animals by mistake is rare and unforgivable but it does happen and I do not, and did not, deny it. Someone trying to register a black and white patterned Holstein calf as a white-tailed deer sounds like an urban legend. I'll assume it is unless you can find an example.

To be honest, as a hunter and hiker I object to the stereotype some people have of hunters as drunken, ignorant threats to public safety. The vast majority of hunters are sober, knowledgeable, safety conscious and many times more likely to help someone than hurt someone in the wilderness.

[ChimneySpring]

Misidentification of animals happens all the time, with hunters, homeowners, and hikers alike. To me though, if you go to check in a calf as a deer, your hunting privileges should be revoked... plain and simple. My favorite was when we were at a check station about 10 years ago talking to the game warden and up drives this teenage kid who's all excited about the big turkey he shot. He reaches into the back of his truck and pulls out a turkey... buzzard.