Ground hunting, ghillie, orange req.

[TooManyHobbies]

Here in CT, we have to wear 400" of orange during firearms season, unless ten feet above ground. For those of you that have to do the same, what are you wearing for orange, and does it have to be a solid? Ghillie/ground situations are my main interest. We don't have to have solid orange, so I'm planning to add flo. Orange strips to my home made ghillie. Have any of you done this? Just curious as to how yours came out. Pics if you have them.

[McDave]

Does it have to be fluorescent?  Deer are more sensitive to fluorescent colors, of any shade, than humans, but less sensitive to flat orange than humans are.

[Pat B]

I remember Mickey Lotz years ago talking about hunting on the ground in the snow wearing hunter's orange coveralls and killing a deer at 5 yards. I think movement or lack of it is more critical than what camo you wear. The wind is even more important.

[TooManyHobbies]

During the period September 1 through the last day of February, hunters (including persons hunting with deer damage permits) are required to wear at least 400 square inches of fluorescent orange clothing above the waist and visible from all sides. An orange hat, in addition to a coat or vest, is strongly recommended.

The following hunters are exempt from this requirement:

Archery Deer Hunters hunting from September 15 to November 19 and from January 1 to January 31.

Archery Deer Hunters hunting during the November 20 to December 31 time period may remove their fluorescent orange clothing when hunting from an elevated stand at least 10 feet above the ground.

Firearms and Archery Turkey Hunters

Waterfowl Hunters while hunting from boats, duck blinds, or other stationary positions.

Crow Hunters while hunting from a blind or a stationary position.

Coyote and Fox Hunters when hunting from a blind except during firearms deer seasons and fall firearms turkey seasons.

Raccoon and Opossum Hunters when hunting from 1/2 hour after sunset until 1/2 hour before sunrise.

Landowners while hunting deer only on their own property. Family members are still required to wear fluorescent orange

[OkKeith]

Brian-

I hunt in a Ghillie a fair bit and my experience is that FOR GAME ANIMALS it's the suit's ability to wipe out the human form that is the key. I don't think it has ANYTHING to do with the color. I honestly think you could make a suit from various shades of orange and, if it is full enough and has contrasting colors it would be effective.

Again, just my opinion but... I think too many bow hunters get wrapped up in the idea that their Ghillie Suit has to be on the same level as a military style Ghillie. We are trying to fool deer, not enemy snipers with binocular color vision and optics.

If your idea of adding florescent orange strips meets the letter of your hunting laws I think it will work. Some hunting laws specify (this is Oklahoma's law just for example)...

 "All hunters participating in any antelope, bear, deer or elk season using a firearm (muzzleloader or gun) must wear both a head covering and an outer garment above the waistline, both totaling at least 400 square inches of hunter orange that are clearly visible while in the field. ... Camouflage hunter orange is legal as long as there are at least 400 square inches of hunter orange."

"Antelope, bear, deer or elk hunters using archery equipment during any antelope, bear, deer or elk firearms (muzzleloader or gun) season in any open hunting area (zone, county, or area) must conspicuously wear either a head covering or an outer garment above the waistline consisting of hunter orange. Camouflage hunter orange is legal."

The "outer garment above the waistline" specification leads to the idea of a solid block of color like a vest. Also, even though camouflage hunter orange is legal, the amount of orange in it must be at least 400 sq. inches anyway.

Ghillie Suits are a cool way to hunt! I really enjoy mine but safety is the number one consideration. You might run your idea past a Game Warden or Conservation Officer just to get a take on what their decision in the field would be.

Let us know what they say.

OkKeith

[TooManyHobbies]

OkKeith, thanks for the reply. Yes, I know solid or not won't really matter to the deer, and strips of orange is legal here as long as 400" (per CO). I guess I was more interested if guys wore a traditional hunter orange vest over their ghillie suit, or incorporated it into the ghillie.
I got a chuckle out of the enemy sniper comment though. 

[SlowBowKing]

Here in Kentucky we don’t have the inch requirement, you just have to wear solid hunter orange on the torso and head. I killed my first and only trad deer on the opening morning of gun season. I was on the ground in a ghillie jacket and hat, with an orange vest and toboggan on top. My biggest advantage was that I was parked beside a large tree which hid me from view until the deer was traveling down the trail broadside at ten yards, and even then he never noticed me.

As has already been said, watch the wind and movement and don’t get too worried about the orange. If you want to work it into your ghillie, that should definitely work.

Good luck!
King

[OkKeith]

No worries Brian...

I guess I did stray from your original question. I should have done a better job with it. Here in Oklahoma according to our law I can get away with just wearing an orange hat (I usually wear a stocking hat).

My thought is that if you had to wear a vest over your Ghillie that would pretty much negate its function unfortunately. I would like to see what your rig looks like after you mix in the orange. If you used a strip that was 2X10 inches, you would only need 20 of them. That would be easy enough to attach them all with safety pins from one end of the strip. You could do 15 on your back and 5 across your chest, mixing them in with the ghillie material. You might need to make them 12 or 18 inches long just to make sure 400 sq. inches are showing.

Kinda makes me wonder if we will start hearing reports of a Day-Glo Bigfoot running around Connecticut!

OkKeith