Hunter orange
- Thread starter asphalt599
- Start date
"Safe" storage laws and "blaze orange" laws is the government trying to legislate common sense. The problem is, one size does not fit all- not even close.
What is "safe" for one person is completley different from the next person. These so called "safe" storage laws are supposed to prevent unauthorized acess to firearms.
Why is it that guns that have been trigger locked have been opened by children?
How is it that rifles and shotguns have stood in the corner, or hung above the doors in farms for years, unsupervised (and continue to do so) and never been "unsafe"
If you have reasonable reason to believe that your fireamrs could be tampered with, because you have children in the house, or you live in an area that has a high crime rate, then by all means, lock them up. If I had children in my home that I thought might get acess to my firearms, I'd go much further in securing them than the so-called "safe" storage laws. I wouldn't trust my childs safety to what some beurocrat thought was "safe."
If, however, you have no children, then the only reason to lock them up is becuase they may get stolen. If you live in an area that has very lttle of this type of crime, then the only thing "safe" storage laws do is inconvenience you.
Still, it seems that one of the major uses of these "safe" storage laws is to bring charges against victims of theft. Who can forget the gun collector in Ontario that had his valuable collection housed in a massive concrete and steel vault? Burglars spent 3 days cutting hacking and chipping away at it, and when the theft was reported, he got slapped wiht "unsafe" storage charges...
They also seem to be used to charge people with "something" when police attend for some reason. If you believe this is tinfoil hat material then you must not ever look at the rest of CGN if you have not seen this discussed before.
If you look at a previous post, you will see that I talked about how proper training is far more important than wearing orange. I don't see orange as the bullet proof vest you seem to think it is.
Let's face it ........... you just don't like to be told what to do.
Correction: I don't like being told to do stupid things that defy common sense. Putitng a $2 trigger lock on a rifle and declaring it safe is both stupid and defies common sense.
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I agree, At some times, it MAKES SENSE to wear it. Most other times, it is simply a legislated burden.
When I was in Ontario hunting with BR and Daryl, it made good sense to wear orange- We were hunting in fairly close cover, and often the hunters were close by to the quarry, while doing a drive/push.
why does carrying a gun make it any different then a birdwatcher..... frankly it is not me wearing the orange going to get shot, its going to be the birdwacher wearing normal clothes that is.
gates point was why are we singled out to have to wear orange, we are the shooters, not the targets
The gun makes our hobby potentially dangerous.
A birdwatcher with a set of bino's isn't.
Agreed we are the shooters not the targets, but there are hunters out there who despite taking Hunter Ed courses are just a plain hazard and a bright color will help you stand out.
Can't think of a situation when a bird wacther would be a hazard with his gear, he can't accidentally shoot anything.
Again, I'm pro-orange / yellow as choice not legislation.
I have three young boys at home and albeit a bit melo-dramatic, wearing blaze gives me peace of mind when I'm out in the bush.
But, the idea of being completely concealed in the bush would take care of many accidental issued out there as well.
Good debate, but I'll stick to my "glow-stick" look for now
art.h said:
The above is a PM I received today from art.h The PM was titled "clue in".
I would like to take this time to publicly thank Mr. art.h for all the time and trouble he spent with this rambling PM trying to help me to "clue in", gain a more than "limited perspective", and to alleviate any "misunderstanding" I may have on the aforementioned subject. I feel like the bright light of enlightenment has shone on me this day.
One thing ....... in the future, if possible, please do me the courtesy, as most others on CGN do, to tell me to "clue in" publicly and not behind the scene. I will gladly discuss, debate, argue, agree in a respectable manner any time.
Many thanks ......... SC
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For gods sake - i think you guys would argue whether or not 'heads' was on the left or right side of a coin.
Can we drop the personal stuff? And while we're at it the 'east west' negative comment stuff? How the hell does that help? C'mon guys, lets keep it in perspective.
Can we drop the personal stuff? And while we're at it the 'east west' negative comment stuff? How the hell does that help? C'mon guys, lets keep it in perspective.
Actually, if you'll recall i contacted the police officer who investigated one of the unfortunate shootings back east about 2 years ago and did an interview. (the news story was short on details).
As i commented then - the officer was a hunter as well, and had investigated several such incidents. He directly chalked this up to a case of someone taking OFF their orange after he'd split up from the other hunter who shot him later.
He said it's quite common for hunters to, without even realizing it, assume that if their buddy went in wearing orange and they don't see a flash of it that it's not him.
So it would seem that you're right. If a hunter expects to see orange and doesn't, it can lead to a false sense that there is no one in the line of fire.
Trying to keep in in perspective..sometimes blaze can be a good thing....most itmes...Not so much.
Historically there is about 2 shootings a year in bc where someone is injured. They are almost always accidental, and almost always a younger hunter (or new hunter) being taught by someone who didn't keep their eye on them for a second or double check that they unloaded their gun. They are rarely fatal.
The last fatality i recall was 3 years ago when a hunter put his rifle down on the other side of a blow down tree and climbed over the tree - gun fell and went off, killed the hunter. That was near murrey lake outside kamloops as i recall. There may have been one other since then - but i can't remember if it was a fatality or not. There were two injuries i recall (two young men, one learning, and the one learning accidently shot the guy following him when he tripped and his gun went off, and a very young kid who shot his dad by accident with a 22 when they were after grouse. )
I think you'd have to go back a long long way to find a case where a hunter was killed in bc by another hunter who shot at him by accident (mistaken identity i mean). It's very very very rare. You sure won't find many in the last 20 years or so. And not many before that either i suspect.
Back east, we seem to see it about once or twice a year where a hunter is shot by another hunter, but that's between ontario AND quebec - both of which have much much larger populations, so it might just be the 'law of averages' catching up. Some years its worse, but that's about what i've noticed following news stories in the last 4 years or so.
I have paid less attention to the prairie provinces, but i don't believe its' a common occurance there. Can't back that up with stats at the moment tho.
I don't know exactly why bc seems to have a much better safety record. I've been told that terrain and hunting methods play a role. You see a little fewer hunters doing pushes or hunting close together out this way i'm told - that'll obviously reduce dangers.
Interestingly - as near as i can tell for those hunters who are shot in 'mistaken identity' by other hunters - it's almost always someone in their hunting party who shot 'em.
- Location
- AB foothills
Just because a hunter does not see orange does not mean he or she should be pulling the trigger. What are they shooting at, movement in the bush? If this is the case how do they even know what it is they are about to try and kill? Every hunter should be 100% positive what he or she is shooting at and what is beyond the target before pulling the trigger.
I have seen people wearing blaze orange at dusk many times, sitting in the bush waiting for an animal or even walking out from where they were and in almost all of these cases it was hard to tell they were even there. In certain light conditions the blaze orange was basically non existent.
- Location
- AB foothills
If this is in fact the case, why is it happening if the hunters in the provinces mentioned are all wearing orange and practicing safe firearms handling? I understand the congestion part, but it sounds like poor practices with firearms more than anything else. Especially if they are all wearing orange like the law states and the orange works as some people are stating here.
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Where I hunt in Ontario, I WOULD NOT go out in the Controlled Hunt without Blaze Orange. To many Yaahoo's out and about with shotguns loaded with an Ounce or more of lead slugs, that I would not relish hitting me. We hunt in close cover, that if you are lucky you can see a hundred yards.
7.62mm
7.62mm
No orange requirement on PEI (no big game either) bu I usually wear orange other than Coyote or Waterfowl hunting. I have many experiences coming across guy in camo in the woods, neve mistake one for game but... had a bird flushed in front of him, I would likely shoot.
I came across a guy a few years back, I saw his dog first and wondered why he was in the woods by himself, the hunter was 40 yds from me before I saw him. He was right in front of me.
Now NB on the other hand, requires Orange even during archery season, that IMO is going too far. They even have to wear orange for a month after deer season which makes Coyote hunting very difficult.
I came across a guy a few years back, I saw his dog first and wondered why he was in the woods by himself, the hunter was 40 yds from me before I saw him. He was right in front of me.
Now NB on the other hand, requires Orange even during archery season, that IMO is going too far. They even have to wear orange for a month after deer season which makes Coyote hunting very difficult.
