How Much Hunter Orange is okay

With regards to hikers, fisherman and others wearing orange, I have seen a number of new signs asking these people to wear orange in the fall because there are deer hunters in the bush.

As for wearing orange in Southern Ontario, you bet it's a good law and our group happily wears it. You lucky guys out West and East can't compare your hunting to S. Ontario's. How often do you guys have hunters just one farm over and many times on adjacent farms in many directions? I hunt private land mostly and still have been in situations where I know there are a number of hunters hunting the backside of the same bush I am hunting.

Not wearing orange would just be dangerous. Add to this that you often hear shots well before and after legal shooting time. So on top of my orange, I have lights hanging off me like a Christmas tree when walking to and from the stand. Who cares if I spook the odd deer or all the deer, we/I still manage to tag out most years and although we have heard of many hunting accidents we play it safe and thank god have avoided any accidents.

Fact is, Ontario has many inexperienced hunters that only have a gun in their hands for a few days a year. What a normal hunter thinks as a safe situation, can turn ugly with a trigger happy inexperienced hunter thrown into the mix. Thus we take every precaution, hunter orange, lights, etc., to insure we have safe hunts and make it back to our families. and yet I never feel 100% safe in Southern Ontario Woods. Unfortunately it's part of hunting out here and you Westerns and Easterns are lucky SOB's to not have to deal with this.
 
scanner said:
I've always felt the hunter oragne laws were passed so the game wardens can spot hunters easy, and then check their licences, etc. The reason I say this is because only hunters are required to wear orange. Anyone else in the bush during hunting season don't have to wear orange, and this includes game wardens, hikers, loggers, fishermen, campers, etc. Just hunters:confused:
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Very good point. If Orange is mandatory during hunting season it would be perfectly reasonable to think ANY person in a hunting area would be required to wear it. If it is about saftey, why are the standards selective? You walk onto a site where hard hats are required everyone has to wear one, no execptions.
 
I know that color doesn't matter as deer aren't really"color blind" they see photo grey like when you have polarized fishing glasses on.Or at least thats my understanding of it,I'm not a deer.
I do however,when forced to wear colors,wear a different color top and bottom.Maybe deer won't see color,but I guarantee they see shape,and breaking it up is just common sense.

the safety aspect isn't a concern to me...I hunt my own land or my neighbors and there's never anyone else around...
 
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BrotherRockeye said:
I know that color doesn't matter as deer aren't really"color blind" they see photo grey like when you have polarized fishing glasses on.Or at least thats my understanding of it,I'm not a deer.
I do however,when forced to wear colors,wear a different color top and bottom.Maybe deer won't see color,but I guarantee they see shape,and breaking it up is just common sense.

the safety aspect isn't a concern to me...I hunt my own land or my neighbors and there's never anyone else around...
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The topic of what deer see is interesting. It seems to me that they process what they see in a completely different way than we do. I think that they are actually just continually scanning for movement as well as listening and smelling. If there is no movement, no smell and no sound, they won't know you are there, IMHO, I am sure others have a different opinion.
 
The only real problem with blaze orange is that when you only have a vest and wear a backpack it is kinda a tight fit.

I personally think it is just a big sign on you that says "HEY LOOK AT ME I AM HUNTING". Easiest way to pick the hunters from the rift raft.
 
scanner said:
I've always felt the hunter oragne laws were passed so the game wardens can spot hunters easy, and then check their licences, etc. The reason I say this is because only hunters are required to wear orange. Anyone else in the bush during hunting season don't have to wear orange, and this includes game wardens, hikers, loggers, fishermen, campers, etc. Just hunters:confused:
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I'm not sure where you're from but around here, EVERYONE including the game warden wears hunter orange in the bush. I have personal experience. The local game warden has visited me at least twice while I was on stand, and he's a personal friend outside of his work as well. He knows that no laws are being broken, he comes out for the great coffee at the camp.;)

-Jason
 
Your taxes pay his salary, and he has the gaul to ask for a free cup of coffee as well? I'd shoot him. What nerve! It's never enough for these civil service types. ;)
 
thebuckhunter said:
I'm not sure where you're from but around here, EVERYONE including the game warden wears hunter orange in the bush. I have personal experience. The local game warden has visited me at least twice while I was on stand, and he's a personal friend outside of his work as well. He knows that no laws are being broken, he comes out for the great coffee at the camp.;)

-Jason
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Jason, are you saying the law now states that game wardens must where hunter orange, too?
 
I don't know if the MNR mandates their CO's to wear orange, but in this neck of the woods, they all do. As far as the free cup of coffee, it's a small price to pay to keep trespassers from your hunting properties. When everyone around knows that the CO's are keeping an eye on your place, they avoid our group like a plague.
Besides, my buddy pays me back after our ball games in the summer with beer at his place.:D

-Jason
 
Deer are color blind but the Orange you wear fit in with the red and orange colored sumack ,even the green mossy bark of trees.

But there is no blue in the wild(blue jeans)would be a no go! Even yellow in a grass field would look natural to them.

And I quess white would look good when there is snow on the ground.

Just blend in.

Bob:)
 
Sask has changed the colour requirements. Now it is from waist up not a full suit of red, yellow. white or orange, with the cap other than white.

I for one do not mind the colour rules as it is nice to easily spot other hunters in the area. Knowing someone else is in the area makes one even more conscious of the need to be sure there is no one else in the general direction of fire.
As for scaring game away i see no real difference in the animals behavior when hunting in camo durring muzzle loader season compared to dressing in colours with a centre fire rifle.

As someone else posted above movement seems the big give away as far as animals are concerned.

Lately I have taken to wearing some red or orange while bird hunting with others. I like to know where my fellow hunters are for a number of reasons , safety being only one.
 
Again Deer are Color blind!! I had 2 bucks this year look right at me and just keep walking by.. They just saw movement .. nothing to do with my color.

Wear your orange!! I ALWAYS do.
 
which would be easier to see while you are putting the bead on a running deer, someone in full camo or someone in full blaze orange? its not too difficult to figure out which one is the best thing to wear when doing drives.

as far as i know any hunting with a gun for deer in ontario south of the french river is classified as a "controlled" hunt meaning there are very short seasons. around here its 5 days in november and 5 in december so its not like we are forced to wear blaze orange all the time.

with the much higher population than other provinces there are a lot more hunters in the bush. i have yet to meet anyone that is not willing to wear orange during the controlled hunt.

why would anyone be against it for hunting deer or moose? they cannot see the bright orange and does not effect the hunt at all so its kinda pointless even bickering about it?

its the law, and a damn good one if you ask me.
 
I personally dislike the mandatory "pumpkin" suits we are required by law to wear in Ontario during firearm season for deer. All of my hunting is done on posted private land, with very limited road frontage. Since I also hunt bear in the same area I hunt whitetails, & the season's overlap, wearing orange limits my ability to hunt both species at the same time. However true it may be that deer are color blind; bears apparently see color quite well & will avoid a hunter in orange. However I do agree somewhat with the other posters, that while hunting on public land it is probably a good idea to wear the orange suits.

I would also like to know the specific reason that orange camouflage is verboten in Ontario. It doesn't seem to make logical sense to me.

George
 
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glang1 said:
I personally dislike the mandatory "pumpkin" suits were are required by law to wear in Ontario during firearm season for deer. All of my hunting is done on posted private land, with very limited road frontage. Since I also hunt bear in the same area I hunt whitetails, & the season's overlap, wearing orange limits my ability to hunt both species at the same time. However true it may be that deer are color blind; bears apparently see color quite well & will avoid a hunter in orange. However I do agree somewhat with the other posters, that while hunting on public land it is probably a good idea to wear the orange suits.

I would also like to know the specific reason that orange camouflage is verboten in Ontario. It doesn't seem to make logical sense to me.

George
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You never know who is also hunting that private land. If somebody is likely to shoot you they are also likely not to care if it is private or otherwise.

As far as I know the camo orange does not provide a large enough unbroken area. If it in any way makes you blend in with the surroundings the whole point of the orange requirement has been lost.
 
pottsy said:
You never know who is also hunting that private land. If somebody is likely to shoot you they are also likely not to care if it is private or otherwise.

As far as I know the camo orange does not provide a large enough unbroken area. If it in any way makes you blend in with the surroundings the whole point of the orange requirement has been lost.
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I think the problem is that there is no clear way for the MNR to define what is acceptable and what is not when it comes to camo.. There are many types of "camo" And different patterns and percentages of orange etc.. since it would be too much work to define what type is acceptable, they just said "NO".
 
ckc123 said:
Based on some of the hunters I've come across in public forests, I now dress in FULL head to TOE orange (Hat, Gloves, Full jacket, Full pants.. everything. Well except the boots..)

Some of those guys out there are scary
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X2. Too many people just pick up a shotgun around here just for that one week of the year. Wouldn't be caught without all of my hunter orange out this way during deer season.
 
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