Hunter Orange & Bow Hunting
July 2, 2007
Most hunting, fishing, and trapping rules pass though Wildlife commission and then get presented in public meetings ( district 3 district 5 ) allowing citizens from across the state to voice their opinions and then the Wildlife Commission holds a final vote on whether or not to adopt the new rules. This for the most part works well and the majority of outdoors people across the state at least feel like they get some say in the changes. When this system that seems to work is circumvented and the legislators poke their noses into it one has to scratch their head. Initially the new law would have required a bow hunter hunting deer to wear hunter orange while his fellow hunter who is hunting doves with a shotgun would not have to wear it. I’m glad that someone caught this before it became law. The rewrite has been changed to make bow hunters have to put on orange only during a firearm season for deer.
SECTION 4. G.S. 113 291.8(a) reads as rewritten:
“(a) Any person hunting game animals other than foxes, bobcats, raccoons, and opossum, or hunting upland game birds other than wild turkeys, with the use of firearms, must wear a cap or hat on his head made of hunter orange material or an outer garment of hunter orange visible from all sides. Any person hunting deer during a deer firearms season shall wear hunter orange. Hunter orange material is a material that is a daylight fluorescent orange color.”
I’m not sure that orange makes a safe hunter any safer if you properly identify your target before discharging your weapon you shouldn’t have any problem. I personally believe that on private land the use of orange should be left up to the landowner and the hunter. Wearing orange while bow hunting is regulating a non issue I’m sure the number of people hunting deer with a bow during a firearm season is minuscule. One has to wonder if there are no other pressing issues in this state that the legislators couldn’t tackle rather then micro managing wildlife laws.
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So what does NC consider to be an upland game bird?
I agree that orange doesn’t make anyone safer, but I always wear a cap and vest while rabbit hunting because I want the idiot that shoots me to feel very guilty.
Welcome to the site Grilling Greg I got to check your blog out some more when I got time.Dove, quail, partridge, & turkey is all I can think of off the top of my head. I too wear a fair amount of orange while rabbit hunting but if I was bow hunting deer I’d see no need.
I don’t see the point in wearing Orange while bow hunting in general. However, if I was bowhunting on public land during rifle season, I’d wear orange while walking – whether it is law or not. In fact, whenever I find myself turkey hunting on public land, I always wear a patch of orange until I actually set up. I’d hate to be the biggest turkey some goof ever bagged.
[...] interesting post on Moose Dropping discusses the combination of legislation, hunter orange, and bow hunting. I’d love to hear [...]
Thanks for the welcome Moose, but you’ve known me before as Sauceman. I just changed my moniker to promote my new blog.
I don’t think Dove qualifies as upland — at least I hope not, because wearing an orange cap is going to cut down your shooting opportunities quite a bit.
I see no mention of “Upland Game Bird” in the WRC Regs, but I could just be missing it. But they do list migratory game birds as dove, rails, woodcock, snipe or waterfowl.