A buddy of mine and I were talking last night about how we've never seen someone wear very much orange at all while out bird hunting. Guys in our families, guys we work with with, college buddies, people from church. It seems that most guys wear little to no orange. Both of us have orange on the shoulders of our vests, but that's all we wear out. My girl has an orange and leather collar, but it's really pretty much just for looks.

According to TP&WS it looks like you have to have an orange hat, and at least a 12' x 12' area on your front and back to hunt on public lands.

Do people like this guy really hunt?



[This message has been edited by Bob Tailed Pointer (edited 10/15/2005 9:21a).]

What type of bird hunting are you talking about? TPWD only requires you wear orange (144 sq in I think) when hunting deer on public lands. That does not apply to dove, ducks, geese, etc. Nodoby wears orange while hunting those birds. Deer are color blind while birds are not.

There is no restricion while hunting on private property.

[This message has been edited by Ducks4Brkfast (edited 10/17/2005 9:21a).]

Deer hunting - I wear a orange stocking hat.

I wear all i can pheasant and quail hunting. when birds are jumping in every direction, i want to be as visivble as possible. Thats the only time i wear orange.

None, but I don't hunt on public lands.

If I'm small game hunting, usually just a cap.

Deer hunting, I wear an orange vest over my coveralls and an orange hat.

The bare minimum. Public land in Texas requires 144 square inches, which equates to a vest, plus a hat. I hate wearing the stuff, although I see and understand the value. It jsut doesn't seem right to be sneaking around the woods, while at the same time sticking out like a sore thumb.

Deer are color blind, so it makes no difference if you are wearing Real Tree or orange. They can't tell.

I would rather be shot than wear orange

Orange is big with yankees who hunt mostly public land where you have no idea where other yahoos might be. As others mentioned, you have to wear some while hunting public land here, too. Since most of our hunting here is on private land, there really is not much need for it,

Private land, no orange.

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Just for clarification:

Deer are color blind, but they can see patterns. Therefore, wearing a plain orange vest with no pattern will get you spotted more than wearing the blaze that has a pattern that will help break up your large, very unnatural figure.

True.

I think the orange is worn alot more often by people in the midwest and northeast. My roomate took a job in Philly when we graduated. He was a big hunter and couldnt wait to hunt up in Penn State. However, he was amazed at the amount of hunters vs. the amount of private land. There basically isnt any. You have a ton of guys who want to hunt, and none of them own or have access to land, and they all public hunt.

He told me a story of a duck hunt he went on. He said there were litterally guys like every 75 yards, lined up. He watched a guy bag 3 or 4 ducks over the course of about 30 minutes. He walked up the the guy and asked how he had done, and the guy said he hadnt seen or shot anything!

I think states like WI, MN, MI and IL are the same way. Huge public hunting states. Orange is huge up there. Here, most people are hunting private land, and you just dont need it.

R.R. and others who said essentially the same thing are right.

It's a cultural difference, based upon the amount of public versus private land available for hunting.

In many states in the nw and midwest, there is ample public land and most deer hunters spend their entire hunting "careers" hunting on federal or state land.

A friend of mine had recently moved to Pennsylvania, when he went deer hunting with a co-worker. His friend was a native Pennsylvanian and wanted to hunt a particular piece of public land on which he'd had some luck in recent years. They scouted a few weeks before season started, set up their tree stands, and made note of how to find them in the dark.

The particular place they chose was close to a large field with a couple of bog trees (whiteoaks, I think he said) that tended to draw the deer through a couple of ravines on either side of the field.

Anyway, my friend said that on the morning of opening day, as the sun began to rise, he started spotting other guys around him. By the time it was light enough to see well, he counted 13 guys in nearby trees or sitting on the ground within a few hundred yards.

He didn't see any deer that morning (wonder why?) and was glad he didn't. Said he couldn't imagine if one had walked out there while it was still a little dark. Probably would have sounded like a firefight in 'Nam, with bullets buzzing everywhere.

A lot of people in states like Pennsylvania like wearing the orange "camo" coats and coveralls.

I can understand why.

I still wear orange on private land. It's the law, and it's a good idea. I've been up on ridge tops and could see guys in orange five miles away.

i've hunted in Louisiana for a long time and i'll tell you this. Come hunting season. we didnt get off the porch without orange on. All this camo stuff is just for people. Not the animals. I've been squirrel hunting in the Navasota river bottom and had deer walk within 10 feet of me sittin on the ground. Granted the wind was right and i didnt breath, but it still has happened. And, i wasnt wearing any camo. Just a plain old flannel shirt.

Deer are more alerted to movement and smell than anything. All this camo stuff looks and feels good but its not necessary.

The things we have to deal with is other hunters mainly from the city who are inexperienced in the woods. I've heard stories that would make you not want to risk being outside when others are hunting.

Good friend of mine told me a story of himself and two brothers up in Colorado many years ago. He said that all three of them were walking along a ridge when some one shot one of his brothers. That was bad enough but then the guy took a bead on one of the other ones and shot him too. They finally tracked the guy down and his only explanation was that he thought they were a herd of Elk. One of em died and the other didnt have use of one of his arms like he should. Now how ***in stupid is that.

The moral of this story is... wear your orange guys, it just makes sense. And stay away from carpetbaggers and city folks.

The point of camoflauge is to break up a solid pattern. That being said, the color doesnt really matter, since deer are color blind.

But I dont believe that a solid orange shirt or vest, is better than or equal to any piece of camoflauge, for the purpose of hiding from deer.

quote:

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I still wear orange on private land. It's the law, and it's a good idea.

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Is this true in Texas and, if so, when did it become law when hunting on private land?

Nevermind. I went to the TP&WD website and found the following:

quote:

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Hunter Orange: No hunter orange is required while hunting on private property, but it is recommended.

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I've been hunting on private land in Texas for 20 years. Given the earlier statement about wearing orange on private land being the law, I was feeling guilty for not doing it and being in violation of the regs.

AC is now a yankee from West Virginia. No need to listen to what he has to say.

LOL

I have never worn anything orange in my life. I also hunt 485 Acres in the hill country and its either me alone or me and my old man. Only issue we have ever had was we took my grandpa out there and he shot our '70 FJ-40. I still have no clue how you can shoot a hole in a land cruisers door from about 100 yards without aiming at it, but he to the day still says the bullet must have hit a rock or something and bounced back and hit the jeep. (LOAD OF BS IF YOU ASK ME)