Hunting Season

[Team2hunt]

The hunting season is once again upon us and everyone needs to be prepared for being out in the woods. I am hoping to remind you, how early the season really starts and that there is someone out there in the woods hunting something other than ammo cans and tupperware.

Here are the links for Maine, Vermont and New Hampshire. Maybe we could add an icon to the front page to remind everyone to wear blaze orange this time of year.

Vermont http://www.vtfishandwildlife.com/Cal...terange=future

Maine http://www.maine.gov/ifw/hunting_tra...imits_2008.htm

New Hampshire http://www.wildlife.state.nh.us/Hunt...nd_seasons.htm

[hide_from_the_kids]

i like the idea of the reminder icon.

[fins2right]

I wore a bright orange hunting hat in New Hampster last weekend. I'm not sure what the season is over there, but I do know that it's that much closer to Mass. hunters

[Team2hunt]

I have loaded my orange clothing into the truck today. It is now archery season in Maine and Bear season in Vermont. A little common sense goes a long way this time of year. If you hear shots when you get out of your vehicle, you might want to pick a different area. And if when you pull in to the parking area, there are several trucks parked with empty gun racks in the rear window, they are probably out there where you are headed.

And please remember to place the appropriate icon, no hunting in the area, or a warning message on your cache page, that it is now hunting season and to wear orange when in the area.

I have a Remington vest and it works great for caching, as it is "loaded" with pockets for caching stuff.

Youth hunting day in Maine is on Saturday October 25th, just a week away.


I copied this from the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife website. It is the section on who and how much orange you MUST wear. Not every hunter is required to wear orange, it depends upon the season.

• Waterfowl Hunters: are not affected by the provisions below while hunting from a boat, blind, or in conjunction with waterfowl decoys.
• Firearms Season on Deer: Anyone who hunts any species with a firearm or crossbow during any firearms season on deer (also on Youth Deer Day) must wear two articles of hunter orange clothing. One article must be a solid-colored hunter orange hat; the other must cover a major portion of the torso, such as a jacket, vest, coat or poncho and must be a minimum of 50% hunter orange in color (camouflage).
• Moose Hunting Season: Anyone who hunts any species with a firearm or crossbow in a Wildlife Management District that is open to moose hunting must wear one article of solid-colored hunter orange clothing (hat or clothing) except in the 4 WMD’s (15, 16, 23 & 26) open during deer season. All laws pertaining to deer hunting apply to Moose hunters during that season.
• Muzzle-loading Season on Deer: The hunter orange clothing requirements listed above under the firearms hunting season on deer apply.
• Expanded and Special Archery Seasons on deer: Hunter orange clothing is not required.
• Bear and Bird Hunters: ONLY required when hunting during the firearms hunting season on deer, the muzzleloading season on deer, or within an open moose hunting district during moose hunting season.

Articles of Hunter Orange Clothing must be in good and serviceable condition and visible from all sides. A decal on an article of clothing that is otherwise solid-colored hunter orange does not disqualify that article of clothing from satisfying the requirements of this subsection. HUNTER ORANGE means a daylight fluorescent orange color with a dominant wave length between 595 and 605 nanometers, excitation purity not less than 85% and luminance factor of not less than 40%.

[dubord207]

Informative post by Team2Hunt. While a lot of deer hunting is done in areas that are just as "open" to geocachers as hunters, everybody is well advised to avoid a confrontation. The argument that " we have as much right to be in these woods as you do" won't be well received. The regular rifle season lasts only a month so let's give the deer hunters their space and keep the peace. I'll be one of those guys in orange, hopefully just for the first day, although because of this new found addiction, I haven't done any scouting this year. We'll see.

[WhereRWe?]

I have loaded my orange clothing into the truck today. It is now archery season in Maine and Bear season in Vermont.

Also moose season in this area.

(Until dusk tomorrow, that is...)

[fins2right]

Upland Bird hunting as well, started Oct. 1st. I don't really know much about deer hunting, but have been bird hunting for about 10 years now. Most of the time, it's in a truck heater hunting. I do not see much likelyhood for confrontations with bird hunters.... but I never try to push my luck with someone who outguns me

[firefighterjake]

Informative post by Team2Hunt. While a lot of deer hunting is done in areas that are just as "open" to geocachers as hunters, everybody is well advised to avoid a confrontation. The argument that " we have as much right to be in these woods as you do" won't be well received. . . .

My Uncle learned that the hard way . . . and the rub of it was that the "hunters" (I really don't consider them hunters . . . more like out-of-state thugs armed with guns) were hunting on his property without permission.

[Medawisla]

Great thread topic T2H! It'll most likely be featured in the November Newsletter. Yeah, it would have been good for the October one, but it's still important because some seasons extend into Feb or Mar of 2009!
Thanks for posting!
And others, keep posting hunting season tips for geocachers.

[Team2hunt]

I decided to pull a pocket query this morning, to see how many caches in Maine had the "hunting icon" listed on the cache page. I searched all Maine caches that are active, and the PQ only had 139 caches in the search.

I will have to revisit my own caches to see if there is hunting allowed in the area, and edit my page if necessary. I would ask that if you know the area where you placed your cache, allows hunting to do the same and utilize the icon.

When editing the attributes of your cache page you can only select that hunting is allowed in the area. You would need to write in your page description that,

Hunting is NOT allowed in the area of the cache

This might make your find more appealing to those who know it is hunting season.