Gris
New member
Nonsense, try and shoot ducks w/o the correct camo - can't be done! BTW, i'm a lifelong hunter and i've never seen anyone wear orange! and i've hunted on three continents!
don't fear orange!
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lumberzac
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Well the big difference between ducks and deer are that ducks see full color (so do geese and turkeys), where as deer can’t see reds. Blaze orange ends up looking about the same color as dead beach leaves.Gris said:
BTW, when I hunt I wear mostly camo, but I do wear at least one article of clothing that is orange, normally a hat.
Tom Rankin
Well-known member
Gris:
If you come over to NY, you will see a lot of orange. Hunters and hikers.
Griffin:
About cows being shot, I really doubt that anyone could be *THAT* stupid to think a cow was a game animal! Any hunter who shoots a cow is just a poacher....
Bill B:
a 'hiker' being shot by a hunter: http://vftt.org/forums/showthread.php?t=8951
If you come over to NY, you will see a lot of orange. Hunters and hikers.
Griffin:
About cows being shot, I really doubt that anyone could be *THAT* stupid to think a cow was a game animal! Any hunter who shoots a cow is just a poacher....
Bill B:
a 'hiker' being shot by a hunter: http://vftt.org/forums/showthread.php?t=8951
Skyclimber
New member
bill bowden said:
The "Sound Hunter."
I always get nervous, off trail during Hunting Season. Wearing Blaze Orange or something Red is alot safer but yet not always effective. Accidents do happen but yet it is the "foolish hunter, who sound hunts and gets trigger happy," who is at fault. "Always identify the target before shooting!"
Skyclimber
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Tom Rankin said:
I have heard of that happening! There are so many hunters that shoot at whatever moves. Do other people look like game animals? No they Do Not but yet there are many who are wounded or killed every hunting season.
Nessmuk
Active member
I have hunted all my life, though not so much recently. I take a very dim view of excusing events as so-called "accidents". In virtually every case such things are either illegal, or simply not following the rules every hunter is supposed to learn in hunter safety class before they are allowed to get a license. An accident is a misfortune that cannot be reasonably forseen if the proper rules are followed. Rare indeed.lattinhill said:
In the above examples:
Discharging a firearm within 500 feet of a road is illegal. Positive target identification is paramount before pulling the trigger. Both rules are there for a reason. Following just one of those rules prevents the first "accident".
Hunter safety course principles teach you to either unload a firearm before crossing a fence, or hand it to a partner on the other side. At the very least take steps to always, without exception, keep the muzzle pointed where it will do no harm (loaded or not). It's impossible to shoot yourself in the foot that way. Such an "accident" will never happen.
It is illegal to possess a loaded rifle in a vehicle, period. No way to "accidententally" shoot up the car if it is unloaded.
It is unfortunate that innocent people, hunters and nonhunters alike, are subject to disregard and stupidity on the part of others. Then they dare to excuse the act by calling it an "accident". Idiots. Such is life.
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jbrown
New member
Must be that time of year again: Berry picker shot by bear hunter in VT (this is a link to an old thread on the subject, not a new news article...)
We go through this debate every year it seems...
I know plenty of hunters who wouldn't think of going out in most seasons without some kind of blaze orange clothing (the exception being just about all fowl hunting.)
It's unusual to me that Gris has never seen anyone wear blaze orange in hunting season, but I'm not a hunter...
I just talked to a guy who I work with just to see what his take is on the subject; he doesn't wear orange and none of the guys he hunts with do either. He said, "You just have to trust the guys you're going out with."
I've been there when my father-in-law and brother-in-law are getting their gear ready for hunting, and both have orange sweatshirts and hats that they wear, and I've seen plenty of pictures of friends with their trophy animals and most if not all are wearing some kind of orange.
Just my experience.
Be safe!
We go through this debate every year it seems...
I know plenty of hunters who wouldn't think of going out in most seasons without some kind of blaze orange clothing (the exception being just about all fowl hunting.)
It's unusual to me that Gris has never seen anyone wear blaze orange in hunting season, but I'm not a hunter...
I just talked to a guy who I work with just to see what his take is on the subject; he doesn't wear orange and none of the guys he hunts with do either. He said, "You just have to trust the guys you're going out with."
I've been there when my father-in-law and brother-in-law are getting their gear ready for hunting, and both have orange sweatshirts and hats that they wear, and I've seen plenty of pictures of friends with their trophy animals and most if not all are wearing some kind of orange.
Just my experience.
Be safe!
Stan
Well-known member
Tom Rankin said:
Believe it. My wife can remember on more than one occasion her grandfather having to bury a cow shot by a hunter. Mistaken identity (well, people have been shot haven't they?), stupidity, or frustration? Your guess is as good as mine but if they were poaching I think at least they'd cut a few steaks.
Ironic that her grandfather was also a Maine hunting guide which must have raised his ire even more.
Gris
New member
There you have it. All the hunting I do - personally - is bird hunting. The deer hunters I know don't wear orange though.
nartreb
Well-known member
Gris said:
This mystifies me. I've never had much trouble getting within a stone's throw of all kinds of ducks and geese, whether in a canoe or on foot. No camo, no blind, not much caution needed. I'm a lousy shot, but I bet I could hit a duck at thirty paces. I never could figure out why anybody thought ducks would be worth hunting if you're not hungry. It seems about as challenging as shooting pigeons.
Example: http://www.davidalbeck.com/photos/misc/hooded_merganser.jpg
Another: http://www.davidalbeck.com/photos/pond3/i4.jpg
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Shot at?
I have been shot at while hiking/fishing. I have no problem with most hunters but I have serious problems with a group that I encountered on the West Branch of the Westfield near Chester. It was partly my fault as I was not wearing blaze orange- It had never dawned on me that as I fished my way up the river that someone would try and put a bullet in me. Thank God they were drunk. The first shot hit a very large tree I was standing next to. I went to ground and the SOB's fired the place up. The tree got whacked and I started screaming and the shooters stopped firing and started cursing me. I peeked out and could see the group on top of the bridge visivly intoxicated. I kept the tree between me and the old arch bridge they were firing from until I could cross the old right of way and get below the grade.
Another day on the Deerfield I was fishing the catch and release are just above the Hoosic Tunnel when a fellow started shooting. He was in a clearing adjacent to and above the river. He was just popping off rounds for fun and did not know I was downrange in the river. My warning was hearing the unmistakable zing and whirr of bullets richocheting off the rocks as he shot. All I could do was run toward the source as I could get defile under the bank. Incidentally he was just careless and was not aiming for me. I spoke to him after I made my way back to the rode and found his vehicle. Not a bad fellow just dumb. The point being, you too can be shot at by mistake while ambling down your favorite abandon road or fishing a favorite hole. Of course, usually when you run into hunters they are not stinking drunk and shooting at movement, but there is a small contingent who do. All reassurances that this never happens maybe well intentioned but are not realistic. All parties using the woods need to be extra careful and take proper precautions during hunting season. Accidents and mistakes happen, we can only try to minimize the chances of there occurance. Just my experience.
I have been shot at while hiking/fishing. I have no problem with most hunters but I have serious problems with a group that I encountered on the West Branch of the Westfield near Chester. It was partly my fault as I was not wearing blaze orange- It had never dawned on me that as I fished my way up the river that someone would try and put a bullet in me. Thank God they were drunk. The first shot hit a very large tree I was standing next to. I went to ground and the SOB's fired the place up. The tree got whacked and I started screaming and the shooters stopped firing and started cursing me. I peeked out and could see the group on top of the bridge visivly intoxicated. I kept the tree between me and the old arch bridge they were firing from until I could cross the old right of way and get below the grade.
Another day on the Deerfield I was fishing the catch and release are just above the Hoosic Tunnel when a fellow started shooting. He was in a clearing adjacent to and above the river. He was just popping off rounds for fun and did not know I was downrange in the river. My warning was hearing the unmistakable zing and whirr of bullets richocheting off the rocks as he shot. All I could do was run toward the source as I could get defile under the bank. Incidentally he was just careless and was not aiming for me. I spoke to him after I made my way back to the rode and found his vehicle. Not a bad fellow just dumb. The point being, you too can be shot at by mistake while ambling down your favorite abandon road or fishing a favorite hole. Of course, usually when you run into hunters they are not stinking drunk and shooting at movement, but there is a small contingent who do. All reassurances that this never happens maybe well intentioned but are not realistic. All parties using the woods need to be extra careful and take proper precautions during hunting season. Accidents and mistakes happen, we can only try to minimize the chances of there occurance. Just my experience.
jbrown
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Gris said:
Makes sense to me now...
Gris
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Well, I've had the exact opposite experience: ducks being very wary.
lumberzac
New member
Gris said:
Maybe the ducks just know when you're hunting them. I've had does walk right up to almost arms reach when I'm sitting on watch, except when I have a doe tag, then I'm lucky if I see them for a split second 100 yards or more away.
Gris
New member
Or it may be because we hunt thm during their migration when they are spooked as everything is new to them...
DougPaul
Well-known member
Don't forget that views of potential targets (legal or not) are often fragmentary in the woods. The hunter has to decide the species and perhaps sex of the potential target based on whatever part he can see. Add anticipation and excitement, and perhaps a mental focus on aiming his weapon rather than identification and it is not hard to see why mistakes can happen.
Obviously training trys to minimize some of the above factors, but they are still there.
Perhaps an argument to wear full-body blaze orange and a blaze orange pack or pack cover. (I have a hat and a vest that can be worn over my regular hiking clothing or hung over my pack. Very cheap at such places as Walmart.)
I have also used a headlamp when it was still light enough to hike without one in the hope that any hunter that spotted us would realize that only humans carry artificial lights. (We could hear an ocasional shot off in the distance.)
Doug
Obviously training trys to minimize some of the above factors, but they are still there.
Perhaps an argument to wear full-body blaze orange and a blaze orange pack or pack cover. (I have a hat and a vest that can be worn over my regular hiking clothing or hung over my pack. Very cheap at such places as Walmart.)
I have also used a headlamp when it was still light enough to hike without one in the hope that any hunter that spotted us would realize that only humans carry artificial lights. (We could hear an ocasional shot off in the distance.)
Doug
DougPaul
Well-known member
We also behave very differently when hunting. Instead of just walking up openly, we sneak up etc. Hunting animals often do the same thing and prey animals are good at recognizing the difference.Gris said:
Doug
McRat
New member
My biggest fear while hiking has always been the drive up and back.
In my experience, idiots with cars outnumber idiots with guns.
Don't get me wrong. I'm not a hunter. I would prefer shooting an animal with a camera, or not at all.
Most hunters I have known have been highly responsible, safety-conscious, and vocal advocates for the outdoors. I would guess that the percentage of accidents per hunting license is very low compared to accidents per drivers license.
... but I still try to have some orange on during hunting-season hikes. It's like wearing a seatbelt.
In my experience, idiots with cars outnumber idiots with guns.
Don't get me wrong. I'm not a hunter. I would prefer shooting an animal with a camera, or not at all.
Most hunters I have known have been highly responsible, safety-conscious, and vocal advocates for the outdoors. I would guess that the percentage of accidents per hunting license is very low compared to accidents per drivers license.
... but I still try to have some orange on during hunting-season hikes. It's like wearing a seatbelt.
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Nessmuk
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DougPaul said:
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Pete_Hickey
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McRat has it. Beat me to it.McRat said:
Go back through this thread. Look at many of the postings about fear and accidents, and sort of translate that posting into something about cars and driving.
"Most drivers are good, but there are some...."
"Know how many people I've seen coming into the emergency ward after having a driving accident?"
"Yeah, I know most drivers are good, but all it takes is one bad one, and I'm dead."
Many of the arguments match. Why are "we" more scared of one than the other? Familiarity, I'd guess. Most people drive.
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