Montana muzzleloading season, blaze orange, camouflage

[Naphtali]

Montana's first muzzleloading season is several months away. When I hunted during general gun season, I have not paid attention to any special blaze orange configuration beyond complying with regulations. My roommate will be big game (whitetail) hunting for the first time. I want her to hunt from ground stand. Anticipating stillness and silence will mean something different from what I mean, I'm thinking that some configuration of blaze orange camouflage will improve her ability to "become part of the woodwork."

Hunting conditions are heavy forest, significant verticality ±75 feet (is "verticality" a real word??) surrounded by mountains. Were she to be still hunting or other kind of purposive movement, heavy forest is interrupted by clear cut meadows about 200 x 100 yards. Weather is similar to Missouri Ozarks at same time of year, excluding snow, and perhaps similar to upstate New York but I can't confirm New York.

Having furnished background and some context, would blaze orange camouflage as pant-jacket or jump suit be what I get for her? Or would a ghilly suit be preferred? If you have experience with either, please explain your choice and whether it did the job you wanted.

 

[mushka]

The orange stuff is for other shooters to see a person. The deer don't care about it, use what suits your needs best for the weather.

 

[BillyC]

Make sure to wash in sport wash or something that will eliminate UV brighteners. Look at the clothing under a black light before and after and you will be amazed how much the clothes glow with UV brighteners

 

[Stykbow]

Movement will get her spotted by game, not the orange.

 

[oldwood]

At close range , deer can see orange. This was learned through accidental experimentation. What deer always can see , is movement. The kind of hunting I did , in the Pa. flint , post Dec. , m/l deer season , one on one still hunting , snow , rain, sleet , no wind , 50 mi. per hour wind , bright sun with snow. To begin with , I wore a red copote coat. No orange. Deer could see the red , especially when I moved. After a day of chasing a herd of 20+ deer , 3/4 mile in an open woods trying to get a sure shot , though my movements were a half step at a time , tree to tree , I could tell they could see me. Had similar hunts on numerous occasions , even with a deep green coat. The all green capote coat , especially in bad weather , made me fairly invisible to deer , resulting in many kills. Can't hunt like that any more , it's ladder stands or nothing. Just too old to go the miles , to get to the deer on foot. ......oldwood

 

[2 shots]

i have had deer feeding within feet of me in blaze camo [ me not the deer ], some were does with fawns[ very alert] . never gave me a second look. [ as long as wind was right and i didnt move or make eye contact] i would cock a hammer or click off my safety just to watch them jump and rocket off. no problem with orange but like said wash in anti u.v. wash.. i got some new stuff from GAMEHIDE this year seems pretty nice for the money.

 

[waksupi]

Actually, I think we are coming up on the third ML season in Montana. Don't worry about deer or elk seeing the color. They alert to movement, and smell. Along with that, don't get suckered in to cover scents. You won't fool a buck or a bull for a second with them.

 

[64Springer]

Blaze Orange requirements for hunting are B.S. and shouldn't be inflicted on the hunting population.

When people enter the woods to hunt, they need to accept the risk that other people are in the woods with guns too.

Now the nanny state in many areas is requiring hunters to wear these fabric safety cones on private land too.

I refuse.

 

[Stykbow]

Blaze Orange requirements for hunting are B.S. and shouldn't be inflicted on the hunting population.

When people enter the woods to hunt, they need to accept the risk that other people are in the woods with guns too.

Now the nanny state in many areas is requiring hunters to wear these fabric safety cones on private land too.

I refuse.

You can refuse, but it won’t stop you from getting a ticket if caught. Remember that the blaze orange rules aren’t there to protect idiots. It’s there to protect the rest of us from the idiots. I have no issue with wearing orange myself. Doesn’t hurt a thing and maybe it keeps some dingleberry from taking a shot at me because they “thought I was a deer”.

 

[64Springer]

And I don't care.

It's more of the nanny state trying to protect us from ourselves. Like seatbelts and motorcycle helmets and big gulps.

Don't want to get shot by an idiot, don't go in the woods.

If the nanny state told hunters to hop on one foot while rubbing their belly counterclockwise, people would do it.

Anyone actually remember a time when we were free to live our lives the way we want to?

 

[oldwood]

Pa. , has their orange law modified to 250 sq. in. , on the entire exterior. That includes the hat. Most folks wear a Camo orange coat and hat. It's not so bad. You very seldom see a "pumpkin suit " hunter any more. My hunting buddies brother had a brand new pumpkin suit , complete w/ orange attached hood . It was the 1'st day buck season , and we were walking in to where the deer were in the dark . Brother had to emergency poop . He went , and we didn't discover what else happened , until we got to the tavern that evening , after our hunt. Brother failed to pull his hood out of the way completely , and collected a keepsake from the before day light pooping adventure. As we sat at the tavern bar , odors made some want to know where the poop was. ............LOL

 

[Blitz]

And I don't care.

It's more of the nanny state trying to protect us from ourselves. Like seatbelts and motorcycle helmets and big gulps.

Don't want to get shot by an idiot, don't go in the woods.

If the nanny state told hunters to hop on one foot while rubbing their belly counterclockwise, people would do it.

Anyone actually remember a time when we were free to live our lives the way we want to?

Those days are gone bud, but I understand where you are coming from.
I have personally given up many opportunities to shoot over concerns of having heard or seen people in the area. I wish they would have done the same for me. I dont like the sound of bullets whizzing and poping arouind me because some ******* does not know where his shots are going.
I think if it were not for my Dad interveening about 70 or so years I just may have shot a couple of those guys. Three uf us quial hunting walking upslope ahbot 70 yards below a county road with brush in between and .22 rifle shots our direction and plenty of them. When spoken to they did not seem concerned or even offer an apology.

Buzz

 

[Jaeger]

There are a number of good replies here about hunter orange not making you visible to deer, and I agree with them. Usually an orange cap or hat is enough, but a small orange vest or panel on your upper body clothing is good. I have had deer (including bucks) walk to within 6 feet of me while wearing an orange cap. BUT.....I was stock-still and they were upwind from me. As said above, movement....even small movement.... is what blows your cover. What I have been doing for the past several years is carry a hunter orange ball cap or knit cap or two with me and hang it so that other hunters can see it before I sit down to still hunt. Hang it so that the wind doesn't move it. I then put on a forest green knit cap. That way if I move my head a little it may not be quite as noticeable to deer. Wear the orange hat while you're moving, of course! Another thing to watch out for is wearing glasses of any kind. There is more glint off lenses and frames than you realize.

 

[Stykbow]

Like seatbelts and motorcycle helmets and big gulps.

I agree with you here.

Don't want to get shot by an idiot, don't go in the woods.

This is close to biggest load of manure I’ve read on this or any other forum. Yes, I’ve lived a sheltered life as far as internet interactions go.

If the nanny state told hunters to hop on one foot while rubbing their belly counterclockwise, people would do it.

Which foot?

 

[Stykbow]

@Naphtali apologies boss. I have contributed to the derailment of your thread. Wasn’t my intention.

 

[Steven Van Kauwenbergh]

I moved to Alabama 38 years ago coming from Wisconsin. In Wisconsin you must wear a blaze orange coat and hat. In Alabama you must wear a blaze orange hat. If you're up in a stand more than 12 ft., you can take the hat off. There are very few hunting accidents here. Hunters know what they are shooting at. Of course. there are a few idiots and accidents sometimes happen. In Wisconsin typically there were 6 or so hunters shot per year. Once some idiot (not in my group) told me he took a sound shot; I left the woods.
SJVK

 

[Loyalist Dave]

I moved to Alabama 38 years ago coming from Wisconsin. In Wisconsin you must wear a blaze orange coat and hat. In Alabama you must wear a blaze orange hat. If you're up in a stand more than 12 ft., you can take the hat off. There are very few hunting accidents here. Hunters know what they are shooting at. Of course. there are a few idiots and accidents sometimes happen. In Wisconsin typically there were 6 or so hunters shot per year. Once some idiot (not in my group) told me he took a sound shot; I left the woods.
SJVK

The idea is, of course, to give other hunters a visual indication that another hunter is "down range". There are some situations where this isn't going to work...

I wear a hat, blaze orange, because I don't want to be walking over the top of a ridge, and my blond/gray hair be mistaken for a squirrel, and I wear a blaze orange cape on my hunting shirt, to give even more indication of where I am. PLUS I carry a second, cheap, polyester knit hit of blaze orange. I normally hunt from the ground. I like to have a tree behind me, a large one, to break up my outline. That tree masks me from anybody coming up behind me, so I will place that extra hat on the "backside" of the tree, so folks might know I'm there.

Most of the hunting "accidents" that we get where I live are folks shooting themselves, or falling out of a tree stand, or falling in rough terrain.

I too have heard fellows speak of "sound shots", and they really annoy me.

LD

 

[waksupi]

I don't care for the blaze orange either, but it does have it's place. Some of my hunting areas here in NW Montana are thick jungle, with limited visibility to under ten yards in places.
Yet, I have seen hunters wearing the tan Carhartt clothes in the bush instead of orange. Those clothes just happen to be the same color as an elk in the fall, and I am surprised more haven't been shot by trigger happy pilgrims.
Even the orange isn't a fail safe. I have had other hunters walk within ten feet of me while I have been leaning on a tree, and they didn't see me, even with the blaze orange! THAT is scary!

 

[mushka]

Her in Az the orange is not required but hunters are encouraged to wear it. Most of the nanny states require it in order to collect ticket money or to keep their tax payers alive, other than that I don't think those governments give a hoot about the citizenry. Just my negative thought.

 

[Absoroka]

I think wearing some odd color while moving through the woods is a good idea. Several years ago while still hunting for elk in the White Mountains in AZ I got the creeps. Stopped and looked around only to see a "hunter" looking at me through the scope on his muzzleloader. I stepped behind a tree and came around the other side muzzle first. He freaked out. There are a lot of people in the woods. Few of them are knowledgeable hunters.