Hunting Season, How to deal with?

[Sharon G]

Bout twenty some years ago I was backpacking in the Pisgah National Forest sans tent of course. Woke up in the middle of the night with about 20+ critters of all shapes and sizes huddled around my sleeping bag.

Couldn't figure out what was going on till the next morning when I kept passing men in orange vests and loaded with armament. The critters had figured out I was the only good guy in the woods and decided they were gonna bunk with me that night.

Greg, that post made my day. I'll be smiling for a while every time I think about it!

(Not to say I don't like venison!)

[Roger C H]

I recall reading an article on a research project looking into why persons will see game when it is another person.

The set up was: Slides shown hopelessly blurred, then cleared slightly through stages with the participants writing down what they see on the screen at each stage. For example, a Boston fireplug was one of the subjects. They are silver over red. Many persons wrote down that they thought it was a silver tea set on a red tablecloth.

The interesting part is persons were still writing their misperceptions long after it became immediately obvious to anyone walking into the room what the picture was.

The study showed that the brain has a large impact on what we perceive.

[Roger C H]

Here is a link to the article:

http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/conten...t/144/3617/424

[genebland]

For me it is not the hunters, its the drinkers. For some, hunting season is nothing more than an excuse to get drunk. As a hunter, I like to get to bed early so I can be up in the morning fresh and ready to go. Im not pleased when others are up all night drinking and making too much noise. They are not there to hunt, and that is too bad.

IF you want to avoid these types of problems in hunting season, I would recommend looking into state parks. They dont have a lot of hunting opportunities and they are not likely to be too busy in hunting season. You may also find that they have better campgrounds than BLM areas or some other 'hunting camps' in national parks/forests.

[Byron Kinnaman]

One takes precautions in any activity depending on conditions. Hunting season is no different. Here's some tips for making sure you're seen or heard
Camp in designated campgrounds or is highly visible dispersed site.
Walk with a partner and keep a conversation going. The object is to make human noises. This scares the animals away and the hunters will know human sounds. If you're buy yourself whistle or sing even badly.
Wear bright colors, good idea much time anyway.
Read your local hunting regulations so you know what's going on around you.

Very very rarely is somebody other than another hunter shot during hunting seasons.

If we simply stopped camping during hunting season we wouldn't have a lot of camping time.

It's far more dangerous driving to a camping area than camping with hunters.

Byron

[Bill caulway]

As both a hunter and a camper I want to be as far away from people as possible when hunting. It is part of the experience. In MA we have to take a hunters course, 2.5 days and at lease 90% of it is on safety and examples to avoid people getting hurt. We also have wildlife management areas which is pretty much dedicated land for hunters/fisherman.

My advice is to stay off forested trails early in the morning and wear a hunter orange hat if your worried. Everyone is trained to look for that. I would have no fear going camping in a dedicated park during hunting season.


Good luck

[Rick kl]

I camp every year for hunting, we have spots far off the beaten path we call home for 5-10 days, most of our Northern roads are what are called corridor roads hunting is prohibited 300 meters from the road and all the guns have to be encased in this area. We camp along the road then get up early, quad in a few miles to start hunting. Father down South we camp in an area that has hunting out the front door, in the morning we leave in the dark on foot to go to our stands then wait for the game to show up. I think it would hard to mistake a trailer camp for any kind of game and hunters on the whole are a responsible lot, nothing to fear from me I go with 40 shells and I frequently come with back with 40!
Always wear something bright orange when walking or hiking in a hunting area, a hat is best

[Paul Arnold]

I am a hunter, and when I lived in Montana and went fishing during elk or deer hunting season I always wore my bright orange hunting vest (even if I was standing in the middle of a river, wading for trout). So I would advise that if you do camp during a big-game hunting season, it would not be an unreasonable precaution to wear such an orange vest when you are outside your trailer; the vests are lightweight, cheap, and readily available. Bright orange caps are also available.

[Monica M]

Originally Posted by Joy A

If you have the needed to go camping during hunting season then go to a National Park. All the wildlife will be there and the hunters will not.

LOL, I don't even think it's hunting season where I am staying here in MT in a NP, but yesterday there were yahoos out shooting. They left a mess, but at least they left before dark. I kept me and my dog in my trailer. I would have called someone because there is no shooting allowed, posted plainly, but I had no cell coverage. Just kept my head down and waited for them to leave.

I think most hunters are very responsible and have been taught good hunting and safety all of their lives. Accidents do happen, but they can happen with anything, anytime and anywhere. Frankly, I would have rather had legit hunters yesterday than the punks that came out shooting and leaving the mess they left.

[Pat B Ohio]

As a Scout, all of our outdoor activities are restricted during hunting season. Some places close the camps, others restrict access to the wild areas. I hate having restrictions during the season but safety comes first. As for hunting, many families around here rely on game meat to stretch their budgets. My friend taught First grade in a rural area , when questioned about the four seasons, one student came up with Deer, Coon, Turkey, and Fishing.

[Cyndi B.]

It's antelope season in some parts of Montana. The Bureau of Land Management ground is open to hunting and all over. And it's Montana.

[LanceRinFla]

Down here in northern Florida, camping in the National Forest is not allowed during hunting season. A lot of us hunters prefer using private hunting leases - this has been my first year on one. A bit expensive, but similar to one good lengthy camping trip and I can use it all year. No bozos (hunters OR campers) to worry about.
As a camper, I find there are still plenty of places to camp during this time, where hunting is not allowed. Both sides can co-exist, especially by avoiding one another.
If you feel you may be going onto hunting lands, get a copy of the hunting regs for that area - it will show you exactly where the hunting IS allowed.

[Rattlesnake Joe]

For those of you who don't believe in Big Foot just go to the National Parks in hunting season. That's where Big Foot hides out until the season is over. I'm always running into hunters that say "I've been a hunter for 45 years and I ain't never seen a one. That proves thar ain't no such thing as Big Foot". Now you know the truth.

[Andrew GPSMapNut]

I'm not sure about the US but, in Canada, I would not see a reason to limit my camping options during hunting season. Heck, in most of Ontario, there is an open season for at least rabbits almost whole year. Having said that; one should be more cautious during large game gun season and not go into the woods without wearing a blaze orange vest or at least a hat. Going in dressed in dark clothing may be asking for trouble...

[steve dunham]

Living in the north woods of Wisconsin, being a hunter since I was 12 and being one who loves to camp, I can see both sides . In my area hunters set up campsites all over public land during firearm deer season and they do not live in constant fear of being shot. When you drive down the roads or even go into town you see people carrying rifles. If you know it's deer hunting season you wear orange . My dog, wife and grand kids all have orange clothes which they wear when there outdoors .On the other hand the governor of Wisconsin wants to open all state parks to firearm hunting , to this I object , many parks are not suitable for hunting and camping to safely coexist There has to be respect for others on both sides of this issue

[GPJ]

I grew up in rural Ontario, and during hunting season there were virtually no guys in high school - everyone went hunting. Most folks had a hunting shack or a trailer in the woods (public land or not) and camped in groups, sharing any game amongst the group.

Sadly, along with the guys and the guns, a fair bit of alcohol went along and many didn't get a whole lot of hunting in. With all of the close calls there is no way I would ever walk through the woods during deer hunting season, even with orange safety gear on. The worst incidents seemed to be amongst the most inexperienced hunters when "buck fever" would strike. These guys would be so wound up that they would shoot at almost anything that moved and unload a whole clip without thinking. A classmate of mine had this happen - saw something move (just branches as it turned out), emptied his clip, scared all his companions silly, and couldn't even remember shooting after the first shot. I'm not kidding. He couldn't remember emptying a clip and his companions said he just stood there shaking and looking crazed. I should note that Ontario even had a mandatory gun safety training program.

So...for me, hunting season = urban camping.

[Mike Magee]

Originally Posted by James V

I was looking at staying in the public lands and some are closed during hunting season and others are not.

How does one deal and plan around hunting seasons?

Which ones do you avoid? Gun for Dear only?

You should never Gun for your Dear, you can get 20 years to life for that.

For the sake of caution, I would tend to stay out of the woods during deer season, personally. (But that's me.) However, if you're going to be out there, hunter orange is the thing to wear. Under no circumstances should you wear or show any white at all; it can look like a whitetail's back end. My dad used to tell a story (which he adamantly said was true) of a guy who wore white cotton gloves to keep his hands warm during deer season. He saw another hunter and raised a hand in caution... got shot in the hand... waved his other hand, trying frantically to get him to stop shooting... got shot again.

I think a white trailer should be large enough to not be mistaken for a deer's tail, but one never knows....

Since it's been a couple of years, I hope the OP will chime in and let us know how he's made out with this.

[Earl E. November]

One could take up hunting and join the party..
It's a wonderful way to enjoy nature on a one-to-one basis.

[john warren]

depends where your camping,,,common sense goes a long way.
have camped all my life during hunting season and never had a problem.
if your not hunting stay in a regular campground, they have safety zones around them where hunting is not allowed.

if your hunting and camping dry on state land as i do common sense will tell you simply camp where no one is hunting. and make sure anyone else hunting the area knows your there. make sure your unit is visible to any one entering the area, not tucked into a bunch of pines.
and fly a hunters safety orange flag at all times.
and if you see a hunter out there,,,offer them a cup of coffee and a donut.

[steve dunham]

Wisconsin sold over 600,000 firearm deer licenses last year, (One out of every 9 Wisconsinites deer hunts) . This number does not include bow hunters . The schools in my area close for the 9 day deer hunting season as well as the local lumber yard , the auto repair shop,and many other local businesses (large and small) The week of deer hunting is considered as a formal holiday by the locals . There are hunters everywhere and there is no way to avoid them so life just goes on. There are a few in every group that give any activity a bad name . I believe that people who live in large cities or have never hunted do not always understand why hunting is such a big deal in the rural areas just as I have friends who have never camped or owned a fiberglass trailer and they can not understand my enthusiasm for owning a Scamp .