blaze orange on blinds

[vipermann7]

Wisconsin just made it a regulation that during the firearm season, in which we are required to wear blaze orange, that all ground blinds now have to have a certain amount of blaze orange on them, visible from all sides. Some guys I have talked to are pretty mad about that, some see the significance and are fine with it.

I personally am fine with it, I think its a great idea. The point of blaze orange is to avoid being shot. so sitting in a blind hiding your orange doesn't help keep you safe in the woods. i also don't think the orange color really matters that much to deer and them seeing you to begin with., so having some orange on your blind shouldn't matter too much.

[JOEL]

Im against goverment intrusion into personal matters,that said i think its a good idea to use orange moving to and from your stand and possibly on stand while the bullets are flying.mandatory NO VOLONTARY YES .They say deer are color blind anyway.Ny is having a big debate on this right now as we dont have any mandaotory orange yet,except they just passed a new law  lowering the age for big game hunting with a gun to 14 but they mmust be accompined by an adult and both have  some orange,that was the trade off to get it passed.sometimes ya got to cut a deal with the devil to get what ya want[:)]

[ranwin33]

Many blinds come with a blaze orange patch that can be covered or left uncovered.  I think its a good idea. 
 
Not only will it help keep me safe while I'm in a blind, if will also help me see where a hunter is so I don't end up shooting in the direction of someone in a blind.  It would be a terrible thing to get shot, but equally terrible to shoot someone.

[vipermann7]

I agree with you on the government intrusion frame of mind, I'm not really down with that myself. And I see what you're saying about this issue with the orange. It makes me mad that Wisconsin now made it a law you have to wear your seat belt. I feel that since I'm the only one being hurt by not wearing it, it should be up to me if i want to wear it. yet, i can get a ticket for not wearing it. so in that respect I can see what you mean with the orange. I personally side with not minding on this issue with the orange, however, because just like someone else said, i want to know where others are as well, not just so they can see me. i dont want to shoot someone else just as much as i dont want to be shot. our area is pretty dense with hunters too. private land plots are often on the smaller side and neighbors are many times well within shooting distance. in areas where people are more spread apart, like especially out west where plots of land can be hundreds of thousands of acres, i dont think the orange is as big an issue. thanks for sharing, i didnt really look at it from a government intrusion point of view, but i see what youre saying.

[DeerCamp]

I think thats a good idea. I have had people walk right by me on stateland while in my ground blind and they didnt even know I was there. What if a deer was standing there? I woulda been toast! I have a flap on my blind that I can pull down to make a like 4"x4" patch. on all 4-sides. On that day I didnt have the patch down.  Now my question is, how are they going to put orange on the blinds that dont have that? Spray paint? A orange glove?  I do like the idea, but it could cost some extra bucks for people who dont have a orange flap on their blind. I just would hate to think that they would have to buy a new blind. I know it's highly doubtful, I just hope that it doesnt resort to that for some hunters.

[msbadger]

I'm in N.Y. and our entire family wear camo blaze orange from head to toe....never kept us from shooting buck or doe....when we move from where we told ppl we'd be.... we use whistles and sound off every few yards and still shot deer...what I've finally taught the guys though is scent control  (none of them bow hunt)....their buck harvest went up...so that is important....I think EVERYONE should wear some orange during gun season and painting a blind camo orange should have no effect on the deer and may save a life.  It's all about breaking up the form not the color....Unless your wearing blue then you'd let them see ya.....PS...If your in a car accident and killed...well it's your entire family and that of the person that you hit or hit you that suffers greatly....if shot by another hunter the same thing applies....no one is an Iland in them selves

[howhill1]

illinois passed this law for blind use on public ground a few years back. i always tied some orange flaggin tape on mine and never had deer seem to care. i have seen blaze camo attachments for blinds that resemble a rainfly from a tent. im as much against big brothers "help" as anyopne but i would recomend this to anyone sittin in a blind during gun season. the deer woods is FULL of maroons .

[shaman]

We had an incident a few years ago where neighbors were all hunting  in one particular corner, along a creek bottom.

Neighbor A set up early in stand in the dark

Neighbor B came by a few minutes later and set up a pop-up  just across the creek bottom and crawled inside, directly in A's line of fire over a feeding station.

Neighbor A approached B as they were leaving and warned him that B was invisible while he was in the blind. B could have been shot.  B took it all wrong and thinks A is mad at him for hunting to close to the line.

The point is that crawling into a pop-up without orange is just as unsafe as not wearing orange. Whether it is the law or not, you should have some sort of orange showing if you're in the blind.  I have been shot at. It is not fun. This rant is meant for no one in particular. I'm just ranting.

Back in the days when  I was 90% a deer hunter, I used to really chafe at putting on Orange for rifle season and did everything I could to duck the rules.  I used to take my vest off and hang in on a limb, etc.-- you know the cheats as well as I do. Then one year, I put my orange poncho over the shooting rail of my stand on Opening Day of rifle season.  A herd of deer came out and camped out under my stand like I was not even there. They really don't see it.  Honest!

There is absolutely no reason not to put on the minimum amount of orange unless you just want to be perverse. I wear a 4'x6' blaze orange poncho at all times as well as a hat.  The woods are filled with hunters who are expecting to see orange on you. if they don't see it, they will assume that direction is safe. If they shoot and hit you, it'll be their fault, but you will still be dead. If I were hunting in any season that required orange, and I was in a blind, I'd go and get a yard of Hunter Orange from the fabric store, cut it diagonally both ways and pin the 3' triangles on all four sides of my blind, or take the whole yard and put it over a nearby tree.

[OHhunter]

ORIGINAL: shaman



The point is that crawling into a pop-up without orange is just as unsafe as not wearing orange. Whether it is the law or not, you should have some sort of orange showing if you're in the blind. 

 
My thoughts exactly.

[hunter480]

Indiana has no law requiring blaze orange to be visible on commercial ground blinds. I think that`s the way it should be.
 
The danger during hunting season is in the traveling back and forth from stand to vehicle, not in the waiting on stand. This isn`t turkey hunting, where we`re close range with shotguns loaded with shot. It`s statistically a remote possibility of being shot while deer hunting, and if a hunter were to be shot, it would far more likely be by a shooter from quite some distance, so the orange would have no effect anyway.
 
If you want your blind stolen, by all means, put orange on it so it`s easier for the thieves to find.