Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Wearing orange

Idaho does not require adults to wear orange. They ‘recommend’ it but not require it, as it should be. I’ve seen fewer and fewer orange clad hunters every year and so far this year I haven’t seen a single orange vest in the field, just some orange hats. So far I haven't heard of a single accidental shooting. Luck? Maybe, maybe not.

I never wear orange, not around here anyways.
I do keep an orange toque in my pack just in case I get nervous and see sign of others in the area. I did have a bullet whizz over my head once, but the shooter didn't know I was nearby lol.

I don't wear any orange these days, but then I only hunt on private property

That's probably OK out there where it's less populated, but it's the law here. Back East however, especially on public land, you have 8 kazillion city dwellers hitting the woods and shooting everything that moves. You'd be suicidal to go on public land without it. Hell, they shoot each other even with blaze orange on.

I'm glad I hunt on private land, but I still wear it. The deer can't see it anyway, so no harm no foul.

It's not required here in California, but when hunting popular public ground I'll wear it.
It's never fun hearing bullets whizzing over your head.

We have areas with lots of hikers and bikers. They're the ones who need it.

I always wear orange. It's the law here and a good idea. I typically hunt on the ground out of a folding lawn chair. I've had many deer including trophy bucks, within 50 yards or less that never saw be. The key is to have enough in front of you to break up any pattern.

What is this 'orange' you speak of?

I try to wear the minimum. Some states like Maine also require a hat. In Connecticut I just wear the vest.

Have had deer walk right up to me wearing orange. It doesn’t seem to matter here in the eastern woods I hunt.

Wardens will haunt you here for no orange

I don't trust some of the people around here enough not to wear orange anywhere there are hunters I don't personally know. Anyway, it's the law as well.

Many of the people you know voted for Biden once....and think he is doing a good enough job to vote for him again.


It's those smooth brain m'fers that you should wear orange for.

I hate having to wear orange.

Michigan requires one piece of clothing that is at least 50% orange. An orange hat or gloves counts as the one piece of clothing. I usually wear either an orange hat or orange/camo vest over my regular camo.

I never wear it. I’m supposed to but I always hunt on my own property, so I don’t. And quite frankly, if the game warden ever makes her way through the gates, I want her to have to work a little before she finds me.

Yes I wear orange.

1) When working, clearing brush, logging, on the back 40 (not hunting) on private land cuz IMO there are dumbasses everywhere anytime. This will be a baseball cap or even an orange vest, or a blaze orange logging helmet. Even when I'm working near the bright red wheeler, and having a loud-azz chainsaw in my hands.
2) During hunting season, blaze orange in Vermont is optional although the DNR recommends it. I have gone from the full size vest to the half size orange cape which covers the shoulders and goes down to about chest level. An example: https://stagrgear.com/products/blaze-cape. I wear the old school woolens (red and black plaid, green and black plaid and straight dark green, depending). A couple evenings ago I watched a family of 4 deer (spike buck - non-shooter - bringing up the rear) walking and munching at a distance of perhaps 100 yards, and even though they looked directly at me a number of times, just sorta ignored me despite the smattering of orange.

Hope this helps.

To take it a step further, in Minnesota, one has to have blaze orange on their pop-up blind if it is on public land. It has to cover the top, or have a 12" square on each of the four sides.

It's required here and in every other state where I've hunted. I'm not convinced it helps, but I've seen enough to be confident it doesn't hurt either.

If you look at the numbers hunters shooting other hunters was much more common 30-40 years ago. And the places where orange was required didn't seem to be much different than areas where it isn't required. Mistaken for game incidents where hunters shoot other hunters are almost unheard of today. At least part of that is hunter safety courses, but I think it has more to do with hunting techniques. People don't hunt the same way their grandparents did.

It's required here in Missouri and has been as long as I've been deer hunting, 49 years. The one close call I did have while wearing it the dude admitted seeing me. He said I wasn't in direct line with the deer. He got kicked off the property that morning.

Orange is less relevant where most people hunt on leased land in blinds or stands and don’t move around. Now, 40 some odd years ago around here when almost everyone used dogs, hunted on the ground, bucked brush following dogs or getting to dogs, and people hunted pretty much wherever they wanted, private property or not it was a much bigger deal and much more needed.

The only times locally I can think of people getting shot with something other than up close personal unsafe gun handling, was a kid who shot another kid on a sound shot. The victim was wearing orange but in a thicket. There have been a few instances where people were pretty much randomly struck at a distance. Orange didn’t or wouldn’t help much there either.

Kentucky requires a minimum of a vest and hat of solid orange. When I first started hunting the Commonwealth I chafed at the idea, but I became a believer.

My epiphany came the first year I hunted our new farm in SW Bracken County, KY. I have to admit to being a hunter orange slacker. I would wear an orange poncho out to the stand and then drape it over the shooting rail. This was not exactly to code, and I could have been cited for it. What I found was that the deer literally looked right past me. Here was a patch of orange the size of half a bed sheet, and they treated it as if it was not there. After that, I started sticking to the rules and I've worn hunter orange faithfully ever since.

What I can tell you is that we can see a vest and hat moving at over a mile. On rare occasions, I can pick out some one far off in the woods that I would have never seen otherwise.

Does it make for a safer hunt? Honestly, we see so few other hunters it probably does not change things dramatically. However, were someone to slip into view, we'd know for sure. In that way, we can be instantly sure. In past years, our end of the county has sounded like WWIII on the Rifle Opener. The deer outnumber the humans by a wide margin. Generally speaking, everyone wears at least some orange for the few weeks that firearm seasons are in effect. It probably has saved a few lives over the years.