View Full Version : Hiking During Hunting Season
GooseMan
08-23-2009, 19:46
Any issues with hiking the AT in GA during November and deer hunting season? I am ready to go in mid November and have recently read a bunch about hiker/hunter safety. I have not found a lot of specific posts on WB about this topic. I see about wearing blaze orange hat and vest. Any thoughts out there about safety during hunting season? Thanks in advance.
Gary
Midway Sam
08-23-2009, 19:52
I have one of these in blaze orange:
http://www.hikersupply.com/etowah-outfitters-ultralight-pack-cover.html
Bought mine at the NOC.
Hunting and the A.T. (http://www.appalachiantrail.org/site/c.mqLTIYOwGlF/b.4805497/k.C545/Hunting_and_the_AT.htm)
sasquatch2014
08-23-2009, 21:52
I fin d it helpful if you sing this song really loud during this time of year while you hike. Best if sung loud and really off key.
Oh I ain't no deer please don't shoot me!
Oh I ain't no deer please don't shoot me!
Don't hang me by my knees from the nearest tree,
Don't gut me like a fish this is my only wish.
Oh I ain't no deer please don't shoot me!
I carry Leki Poles don't shoot me full of holes.
I ain't in no rut so don't shoot me in the gut.
Oh I ain't no deer please don't shoot me!
Oh I ain't no deer please don't shoot me!
Believe it or not this is an original song first created and sung in Harriman State park area in the fall of 2007. It is still in Public domain so feel free to use it as you see fit.
Blaze orange and a headlamp at night are probably the two best ways of being seen during hunting season.
Don't wear anything brown (or white) - looks like deer.
I've often thought about how much like a resting deer my hammock looks in the dusk (minus the head and legs). Putting a fly over it helps, but I don't always use a fly in nice weather. I'll be hiking the Long Trail next month, hammocking as usual.
You can try to stick to national parks during gun season
a high power rifle bullet can kill from a couple of miles so the orange and singing won't help, but you would be much more likely to be killed by lightning and again wearing orange and singing would not help. In either case wearing orange and singing would not hurt unless god was in a bad mood and did not like your off key singing then you could be stuck down by lightning
take-a-knee
08-24-2009, 05:16
a high power rifle bullet can kill from a couple of miles so the orange and singing won't help, but you would be much more likely to be killed by lightning and again wearing orange and singing would not help. In either case wearing orange and singing would not hurt unless god was in a bad mood and did not like your off key singing then you could be stuck down by lightning
You ain't gonna get shot from two miles away knucklehead, Carlos Hathcock is dead. Advising someone not to wear orange during deer season is about the dumbest thing I've ever heard.
sasquatch2014
08-24-2009, 05:38
Frankly for the most part I really don't worry all that much about it. I do worry more now that I live back east than I did when I lived out in the Rocky Mountain West. Most of the time if you got shot out there it was because someone meant to shoot you.:eek:
I do have a cheap orange vest that gets slung over my pack when I am out in areas where there is going to be hunting. I don't worry at all during archery season.
OldStormcrow
08-24-2009, 10:24
Don't go extremely far off of the trail to use the bathroom. In fact, don't go off of the trail at all during hunting season here in the South!
Pedaling Fool
08-24-2009, 10:42
a high power rifle bullet can kill from a couple of miles so the orange and singing won't help, but you would be much more likely to be killed by lightning and again wearing orange and singing would not help. In either case wearing orange and singing would not hurt unless god was in a bad mood and did not like your off key singing then you could be stuck down by lightning
Even a high-powered .50 cal projectile can't go that far (no where near that distance) when confronted with brush. It's amazing how much small twigs can steal the kinetic energy from a projectile by diverting its trajectory. Yes they can go through a bigger piece of wood (like a small tree) but when they hit tiny branches that diverts their trajectory, which steals energy.
GooseMan
08-24-2009, 12:00
So it sounds like as long as I wear some blaze orange (hat, vest, maybe pack cover) and stay to the trail and shelter areas (commonsense), it is not something I should worry about. There's not a hunter around every tree and rock. Thanks everyone.
I wear a lit headlamp thru the dawn & twilight hours in addition to a orange vest & bright florescent hat.
Also, careful with the white TP
Kerosene
08-24-2009, 14:13
Also, careful with the white TPThis made me just visualize Egads walking down the trail with a length of TP trailing from his behind. :banana Ugh!
medicjimr
08-24-2009, 14:23
Just where some fluorescent orange and look for others waring it and if you are near them speak loud enough for them to hear and wave your hat. speak first because some hunters shot at any movement ( the Unsafe ones ) I am a hunter so I speak from experience. You will be fine. I would though recommend staying out of woods during deer season just too many hunters and accident unfortunately happen.
This made me just visualize Egads walking down the trail with a length of TP trailing from his behind. :banana Ugh!
Just visualize a doe's back side; with a white tail. You don't want to replicate it while in the bushes.
Jack Tarlin
08-24-2009, 17:43
GooseMan:
Your last post nailed it: Wear plenty of blaze orange at all times, and don't go far off the Trail.
You'll be fine.
Also, it's good that you're thinking about full coverage with the blaze orange. Most folks think they're fine with just a cap or gloves or something.
You should wear as much orange as you can find, and this includes making your pack visible as well, i.e. get a pack cover if you can find one, or use orange streamers if you can't. Any good outdoor store or Wal-Mart can help you out here as they'll have all sorts of stuff in blaze orange for very reasonable prices. Have a great trip!!
Best to have an orange hat since that is the first thing a hunter sees when you are hiking up a ridge
The Weasel
08-24-2009, 19:00
So it sounds like as long as I wear some blaze orange (hat, vest, maybe pack cover) and stay to the trail and shelter areas (commonsense), it is not something I should worry about. There's not a hunter around every tree and rock. Thanks everyone.
A few years ago, a dayhiker (a Methodist minister, as I recall) was shot and hurt badly by a hunter, despite being in plain sight, in Georgia. Every year similar things happen from careless hunters, including vice-presidents of the US (not picking on him; even the best hunters - and he is a good one - make mistakes that are tragic). I'd wear as much orange as possible, not hike in twilight, and consider wearing a noisemaker such as a small cowbell or the like.
TW
All great advice. I wear a cheap ($1.00) safety orange vest over the back of my pack, and orange hat and some tape in front. I'dworry about the TP also, I took a group of boy scouts hiking in Novemebr one year on Ga AT and a girl, not far from us, from a church group got shot when she went way off trail at dawn to potty and used white TP. The hunter was like a 17 - 18 year old. Other than that never been shot at or near on the trail. Let people know where you are going and when you are due back...just in case.
some hunters shot at any movement ( the Unsafe ones ) I am a hunter so I speak from experience.
Really? You know hunters that shoot at any movement? Leaves? Bugs? Mice? Clouds? Rain? I believe you are exaggerating more than a little. Sounds good to make a point but it simply isn't true and isn't a very helpful thing to say.
As I frequently bring up in these threads, just use a little good judgment. Wear some bright colors, and using a light at dusk and dawn isn't a bad idea. Other than that, don't worry about hunters or going off the trail. Hunters are far more likely to help you than hurt you. Despite the concern, hunting is a relatively safe sport, much safer than swimming for example, and the risk to hikers is very low. To the best of my knowledge, with countless hunters and hikers no one has ever been killed by a hunter along the AT corridor .
sweetpeastu
08-25-2009, 10:00
You most certainly can be shot from over a mile away. I've seen the guns that can do it....
But, you're much more likely to be shot from a stray bullet much closer than a mile away.
That would be the problem with hiking during hunting season--the stray bullets.
But definitly wear orange.....and it helps if you hike on well used AT corridors. I find that hunters tend to shy away from those places....Its really just a crap shoot anyway.
You ain't gonna get shot from two miles away knucklehead, Carlos Hathcock is dead. Advising someone not to wear orange during deer season is about the dumbest thing I've ever heard.
Pedaling Fool
08-25-2009, 10:30
You most certainly can be shot from over a mile away. I've seen the guns that can do it....
But, you're much more likely to be shot from a stray bullet much closer than a mile away.
That would be the problem with hiking during hunting season--the stray bullets.
But definitly wear orange.....and it helps if you hike on well used AT corridors. I find that hunters tend to shy away from those places....Its really just a crap shoot anyway.
He didn't say some guns can't shoot someone from a mile (and then some) and hit them.
However, a rifle will not travel a mile through the woods. Ricochets are not as dangerous as some would believe, yes they are dangerous to people in the very near vicinty because the trajectory is now totally uncertain and a ricocheted bullet can cause more damage to someone nearby, because of the way it hits you. But, ricochets don't travel that far -- I've seen highpowered ricochets (rounds with a tracer) and even the .50 cals don't go that far, but yes they are dangerous to people in close vicinity.
I know this is old news and a little worn out, but nonetheless true; you are far more likely to be injured from a so many other things, especially a car accident, than from a hunter on the trail.
What's the stats on people injured on the trail from criminal element vs. hunters?
Snowleopard
08-25-2009, 11:43
Most of my personal hunting horror stories are from the 60s and 70s in the Catskills -- my mother would wear an orange vest to hang the laundry and all the locals thought that was reasonable. There were dozens of bullet holes in my parents' barn from hunters shooting at it from over a mile away. Hunting safety has improved a lot since then.
In areas where there is a lot of deer hunting it's a good idea to wear lots of blaze orange, especially in the woods, even if it's your own yard. There have been a couple of cases in New England of people killed in their own yard by hunters.
Caution is needed in hunting seasons in New England and upstate NY; I don't know much about hunting in other places.
High powered hunting rifles will kill at over a mile, and at least one non-hunter has been killed at that distance in her own yard (in NH I think). I defer to more knowledgeable people here on the killing distance in woods and brush. Bow and arrow and muzzleloaders are more powerful than they used to be; I used to consider the woods safe in those seasons, but I'm now told that's not so true.
Connecticut: No Sunday hunting. Rifles larger than .22 are allowed in some places; prohibited on state owned lands. The regs on firearms are a bit complex. http://www.ct.gov/dep/cwp/view.asp?a=2700&q=429014&depNav_GID=1633#FARMS
Massachusetts: No Sunday hunting. No rifle deer hunting. Shotguns, muzzle loaders and bow and arrow have seasons. Where I live, there are a lot of hunters on public land. Deer seasons run from Monday after Thanksgiving to Dec. 31. http://www.mass.gov/dfwele/dfw/regulations/plain_language/hunting_deer.htm
NY, VT, NH, ME all allow rifle hunting of deer. Does anybody know if NY allows rifle hunting in counties that the AT passes through?
I wear a cheap ($1.00) safety orange vest over the back of my pack, and orange hat and some tape in front. ... shot when she went way off trail at dawn to potty and used white TP.
Does anyone know where we can get blaze orange TP?
If you hike, ride, hunt or fish alone, let somebody know where you will be.
Familiarize yourself with the area you will be using, and know the activities which occur there.
...
Wear bright clothing (400 square inches of fluorescent orange for hunters) to increase your visibility.
Avoid wearing gray, brown, tan or white when hiking in hunted areas.
Consider using a bell on your bike or horse during the hunting season.
If you see someone hunting, call out to them to identify your location.
Peak hunting occurs in early morning and late afternoon, primarily during the months of October through December. http://www.ct.gov/dep/cwp/view.asp?a=2700&q=323420&depNav_GID=1633
However, a rifle will not travel a mile through the woods.
I thought it maybe possible given a big enough clearing in the woods for the catapult, if and only if the rifle travelled above the canopy, but in trying to visualize it, I couldn't make it work -- too much tumbling.
To the best of my knowledge, with countless hunters and hikers no one has ever been killed by a hunter along the AT corridor.
I'm sure those who were shot didn't find it a pleasant experience.
In late 2002 and early 2003, two A.T. hikers were shot and seriously injured in separate incidents by hunters who mistook them for deer. Neither hiker was wearing blaze orange, and neither hunter properly identified his target.
Source: ATC link in post #3.
Pedaling Fool
08-25-2009, 12:57
I thought it maybe possible given a big enough clearing in the woods for the catapult, if and only if the rifle travelled above the canopy, but in trying to visualize it, I couldn't make it work -- too much tumbling.
Whoops:o
But hey, quantum physicists say its possible for an elephant to pass through the eye of a needle.
Thanks to two very dedicated volunteers who compiled the information, we were just able to post an updated 2009-2010 Hunting season chart on our Hunting page at www.appalachiantrail.org/hunting (http://www.appalachiantrail.org/hunting) today.
Laurie P.
ATC
I'm sure those who were shot didn't find it a pleasant experience.
Source: ATC link in post #3.
Astronomer Alan Harris has calculated that the odds of any one person being killed by an asteroid in their lifetime is 1 out of 700,000. About 2 non-hunters a year are killed by hunters nationwide. There are about 300,000,000 Americans. If a person lives about 75 years, that would make your odds as a non-hunter of being killed by a hunter in your lifetime about one out of 2,000,000. In other words asteroids are about 3 times as dangerous as hunters, to non-hunters.
I'm sure it's not too pleasant being killed or wounded by either asteroids or hunters. Or cars or spiders or fellow hikers. (The latter having killed several AT hikers through the years whilst hunters have killed none.) In my opinion if a hiker takes the simple precaution of wearing blaze orange that it would be paranoid to be overly concerned about the danger of hunters.
sasquatch2014
08-25-2009, 14:15
Well I section hike and take what I can get. A good amount of time that is best for me to hike comes in the fall during the hiking season so I am out there amongst the armed. I guess the way I look at it is if I am shot during my hike I don't have to go back to work right away.:-?
When I was a kid it seems like the only time someone was shot in the woods was out of revenge and not by accident-- these days more folks or shot by stupidty and carelessness. Wear ORANGE THE BRIGHTER THE BETTER
Tennessee Viking
08-25-2009, 14:52
Wear blazed orange hats and vests. Use a blazed orange pack cover, if possible.
I also wear a small cow bell in heaving hunting areas. And I stopped carrying my iPod during hunting season, just in case I hear a hunter shout instructions or a gun-click.
OldStormcrow
08-25-2009, 14:55
If you check out the statistics I think that you will find that the vast majority of accidental shootings here in the South have been at fairly close range (in the brush) with shotguns.
Kerosene
08-25-2009, 15:30
Astronomer Alan Harris has calculated that the odds of any one person being killed by an asteroid in their lifetime is 1 out of 700,000. About 2 non-hunters a year are killed by hunters nationwide. There are about 300,000,000 Americans. If a person lives about 75 years, that would make your odds as a non-hunter of being killed by a hunter in your lifetime about one out of 2,000,000. In other words asteroids are about 3 times as dangerous as hunters, to non-hunters.
I'm sure it's not too pleasant being killed or wounded by either asteroids or hunters. Or cars or spiders or fellow hikers. (The latter having killed several AT hikers through the years whilst hunters have killed none.) In my opinion if a hiker takes the simple precaution of wearing blaze orange that it would be paranoid to be overly concerned about the danger of hunters.You can't use 300M as the population here, as not everyone in America is within range of a gun at any one time, whereas everyone on Earth (maybe a little less likely towards the poles) is a candidate for an asteroid hit at any time.
Kerosene
08-25-2009, 15:33
Reminds me of this Demotivator from Despair.com: Wishes (http://www.despair.com/wishes.html)
GooseMan
08-25-2009, 21:44
Astronomer Alan Harris has calculated that the odds of any one person being killed by an asteroid in their lifetime is 1 out of 700,000. About 2 non-hunters a year are killed by hunters nationwide. There are about 300,000,000 Americans. If a person lives about 75 years, that would make your odds as a non-hunter of being killed by a hunter in your lifetime about one out of 2,000,000. In other words asteroids are about 3 times as dangerous as hunters, to non-hunters.
I'm sure it's not too pleasant being killed or wounded by either asteroids or hunters. Or cars or spiders or fellow hikers. (The latter having killed several AT hikers through the years whilst hunters have killed none.) In my opinion if a hiker takes the simple precaution of wearing blaze orange that it would be paranoid to be overly concerned about the danger of hunters.
If these numbers by Colter are even close to accurate, I should worry about the getting hypothermia a lot more than hunters. With these odds, that lottery ticket seems a like a much better proposition. Thanks all for the great responses.
Gary
Me with orange cap and bandanna (standard gear for me during most late fall and winter hikes). I figure that even if it's not hunting season, if I get hurt it'll be easier to find me.
http://whiteblaze.net/forum/vbg/showimage.php?i=30687&catid=searchresults&searchid=26827
I guess the way I look at it is if I am shot during my hike I don't have to go back to work right away.:-?
AFLAC !!
So if you're hurt and miss work, it won't hurt to miss work. And they give you money which is just as good as cash.
If these numbers by Colter are even close to accurate, I should worry about the getting hypothermia a lot more than hunters. With these odds, that lottery ticket seems a like a much better proposition. ...
Exactly
Table of Accidental Deaths in the US (http://www.ucalgary.ca/~powlesla/personal/hunting/text/safety.txt):
Accident cause Mortality rate per 100,000 people
-------------------------------------------------------------
Automobiles 18.6
Home accidents 8.6
Falls 5.0
Poisoning 2.6
Fires 1.7
Suffocation 1.3
Hunting (among participants) 0.85
Lightning 0.04
Insect stings 0.02
Hunting (among non-participants) 0.001