Berry picker shot by bear hunter in VT

[RGF1]

Hey every one knows deer wear blue , yellow , red and more and carry back packs . They also drive cars and in my case a yellow skid steer with the big black lettering in it !( yes my skid steer has been shot by Slob hunters .Yeah it sure looks like a deer ! ) and use chainsaws too! Some live in houses My folks house had buck shot in it a few times. did you know they also listen to music ,hang out laundry and some even look like small pets or get out of School buses ! Amazing what them deer can do. ! They are very wily beasts capable of all sorts of disguises in deer season . Just excuses for a slob hunter if there was life in state prison for killing for some one while hunting ther will not be "accidents" No Excuse guys give it up if you take a human life hunting maybe life in state prison will stop you from shooting every thing that moves unless it is wearing blaze ornage
We are talking about some one being murderd because some one takes pleasure in killing a wild anmal for pleasure? Then not serving time in prison something is wrong with this . I am tierd of the I thought he /she was a deer lie/ excues . Be honest you wanted to kill a deer and were so fired up you pulled the trigger at what ever moved period. Do the crime do the time as they say. Big enough to go out into the forest with a fire arm and shoot at what ever moves you are big enough to do life in a state prison no if ands or buts about it. You guys are placeing all repsonsiblity on the victim that is just wrong. You are in control you are bringing the deadly weapon into the forest you pull the trigger no one makes you . YOU do the time . You cannot bring back that life you took for pleasure ! It is sensless, YOU should be locked up for life no question about it. If you want to hunt fine but accept the responsiblity of shooting and killing some one by serving life in a harsh state prison. You can never bring the life you took for your . " enjoyment of hunting " What about there loved ones and family oh I guees they are not as important as bagging a deer. If you cannot identify positivly your target and make a clean kill shot do not shoot. If you are so fired up and anxious to shoot and kill a animal that everything that moves becomes a deer it is very distubing and I do not want you any where near a fire arm . That idea scares alot of people and will eventually get hunting banned for good think about that. This so what they were not wearing orange so it is the victims fault attitude is a poor relfection of hunting and only serves to push those who are ambilvilant into the ban hunting side. As a person who taught fire arm safty I find the idea that if it is not orange it is game both wrong and deeply truobling. I have allways tuaght that 1 if you raise and aim a weapon you a intend to use it . B you have a clear shot and are aware of what is in the background c you know and can identify your target be it game a clay pigeon or in the worse case a person threatning your life . D If your target is moving do not fire at it unless yopu are trained to do so as say a bird hunter, or are in a controlled fring range Firing at a moving target is both dangerousand mostlikely you will miss and you round will hjit some thing only use a weapn were it is not only legal but safe to do so. . never mind the stuff about keeeping the chamber unloaded and the safty on while carrying the weapn you are not a police officer in pursite of a vilonet felon or a solidier in a war . If you cannot do any of the above unless there is some drastic emergeny it is very very simple do not shoot. Doing other wise is dangerous or potnetially deadly . I am botherd that a person cannot distinguish between a deer , bear moose or other game and a human is it that important to blast way ? That is a very disturbing attitude and it makes me really think alot about just who is hunting.
What is any one doing hunting near a hiking trail any ways ? one would think hunters would avoid them so as not to even remotly mistake a person for game and most do just that.
It is the attitude I have seen here that will have more land posted. that is a loss for all of us.
I do have a freind who hunts who found this thread very distrubing also. he said that it is a very ppoor way to promote hunting and keep our privalty owned lands open . Not only that he said that even the idea that if something is not orange it is game is a bad as it leads to poor hunting skills and makes any one not wearing blazre orangfe a target regarless of where they are.

 

[Grumpy]

. . . I do have a freind who hunts who found this thread very distrubing also. he said that it is a very ppoor way to promote hunting and keep our privalty owned lands open . Not only that he said that even the idea that if something is not orange it is game is a bad as it leads to poor hunting skills and makes any one not wearing blazre orangfe a target regarless of where they are.

RGF1, regarding your repeated rants about “slob hunters,” I’ll be bluntly grumpy with you.

Perhaps you should read and contemplate your own signature line, which says: “Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster.”

This discussion began with a disturbing story about a berry picker who was shot by someone who puportedly was out bear hunting. There was universal agreement here that the “hunter” acted badly. The thread then segued into viewing the berry picker incident as a “cautionary tale” for hikers, and what we (as hikers) might do for the sake of our own safety in the woods during hunting seasons. The key point made over and over again was to take steps that would help hunters be aware of our presence (as humans) and location.

Personally, I want every hunter -- whether an accomplished and thoroughly responsible Nimrod or a slob and everything in between -- to have every possible edge in recognizing and perceiving me as a human and not a potential target or inanimate part of the background. It’s good for me, and good for the hunter, as well. And that’s the long and short of it. Virtually everybody else here agrees on that simple point. To argue against it -- as your friend seems to be doing -- is not rational.

A primary suggestion has been to wear bright colors and especially the one known as fluoresecent or “hunter” orange.

If the photos posted above don’t persuade that it’s a good idea to wear blaze orange during hunting season, then nothing will. Do your own thing. Take your own chances, and good luck to you.

But please, no more rants about slob hunters. We get the point. And please spare us the repeated arguments about how taking reasonable precautions to protect our own safety as hikers somehow encourages -- or excuses -- irresponsible hunter behavior. That’s tortured reasoning.

G.

 

[tonycc]

Hunter Orange, or flourscent orange, is significantly different than any other (non-flourescent) color in low light conditions particularly. In low light, UV tends to dominate the spectrum. Flourscent colors will be excited by this UV radiation and actually give off more visible light than they receive.

In murky conditions I've seen red clothing get so dull looking it looks almost brown, while flourescent orange looks like a beacon.

Tony

 

[Double Bow]

There is quite a difference, especially in low light situations. International Orange (hunter orange) is widely regarded as the easiest color to spot in the woods. At dawn and dusk, colors like bright red, yellow, and such are no easier to see than tan or brown. Besides, in the autumn there are plenty of bright colors to blend in with. Haven't you heard of Fall Foliage.

Heard of Fall Foliage? No. What's that? What a ridiculous, inflamitory remark! :angry: Clearly you haven't seen sugar maple leaves change color if you think that leaves never approach a bright orangeish color and have never been out at sunrise or sunset if you think that red and yellow become muted but orange doesn't.

Additionally, you'll notice that utility workers quite often wear flourenscent YELLOW for it's visability. While I realize, they are not in the woods (for the most part) this speaks to the visability of this color, even at dawn and dusk.


This thread has completly degraded from being a cautionary alert to a nitpick fest over semantics. I agree with jbrown!

 

[dr_wu002]

FWIW, in the fall, I wear the costume in the photo that I attached below. It's not bright yellow or orange but it does stand over 100' tall. It is clearly visible over most trees and LNT approved. I have never been shot at by a hunter.

-Dr. Wu

 

[sapblatt]

FWIW, in the fall, I wear the costume in the photo that I attached below. It's not bright yellow or orange but it does stand over 100' tall. It is clearly visible over most trees and LNT approved. I have never been shot at by a hunter.

-Dr. Wu

...and bullet proof!

 

[dr_wu002]

...and bullet proof!

Yes, the metal chest apparatus plate is indeed bulletproof as is the middle of the three heads as you might've noticed. Thanks for pointing that out.

-Dr. Wu

 

[Double Bow]

FWIW, in the fall, I wear the costume in the photo that I attached below. It's not bright yellow or orange but it does stand over 100' tall. It is clearly visible over most trees and LNT approved. I have never been shot at by a hunter.

Oh, that was you I saw coming over Mt Fuji an descending into Tokyo!

 

[dr_wu002]

Oh, that was you I saw coming over Mt Fuji an descending into Tokyo!

Yes, I attacked the place and destroyed it. That was not a LNT activity.

-Dr. Wu

 

[DougPaul]

Additionally, you'll notice that utility workers quite often wear flourenscent YELLOW for it's visability. While I realize, they are not in the woods (for the most part) this speaks to the visability of this color, even at dawn and dusk.

Actually, human low light sensitivity peaks in the blue green (retinal rods, non-color night vision). But this color does not stand out in a typical natural scene. And night vision is insensitve to red.

IIRC peak sensitivity is more toward green or yellow at higher intensities (retinal cones, color vision). Firetrucks used to all be red--very visible during the day, hard to see at night. Some of the more recent firetruck colors are bright yellow or greenish yellow for good visibility both day and night. Similarly for workers in hazardous areas.

The choice of a safety color for hunters should take into account both visibility in both bright and dim conditions as well as contrast against the more common backgrounds. And there is also expectation--hunters will expect the designated color no matter what it is or how good it is.

Hunter's orange is visible and gives contrast against many (most?) natural backgrounds during the day, but there might be better colors (bright yellow?) in dimmer light.

In any case, I think it is prudent for hikers to wear hunter's orange during hunting season. Bike-race leader yellow might not be a bad second choice. Just don't stand in front of any orange or yellow leaves in the fall. I also turn my headlamp on as the light gets dim on the theory that hunters don't expect deer to be using their headlamps.

Doug

 

[Grumpy]

Colors . . .

I was a kid in Vermont during the 1950s, and was introduced then (and there) to hunting by my Dad, who was very safety conscious. The business about high visibility colors was just becoming part of the conversation about the time I first went deer hunting, wearing a bright yellow vest over my regular red and black checked “hunting clothes.” My Dad was similarly attired.

Yep. Bright yellow. That was the preferred and recommended “safety” color at the time, replacing the traditional red.

The orange that now is virtually a "standard" came into vogue a number of years later, amidst considerable discussion and debate.

G.

 

[Stan]

FWIW, in the fall, I wear the costume in the photo that I attached below. It's not bright yellow or orange but it does stand over 100' tall. It is clearly visible over most trees and LNT approved. I have never been shot at by a hunter.

-Dr. Wu

Yeah! but think of the bragging rights associated with bringing down one of them. And hey, that'd look just wonderful mounted over any mantle.

 

[yardsale]

G,

The debate you refer to was, I believe, centered around whether it should have been voluntary or required. Hunter deaths dropped dramatically once hunter orange came into widespread use, at least in Maine.