Poll: Should DNR Officers Wear Blaze Orange????

[seaweaver]

It is your responsiblility to know your target and their responsiblility to be able to get up on violators unseen. Half of their success comes from their ability to "surprise" a poacher. People need to start taking responsibility for their own actions and quit expecting everyone else to do it for them. JMO.

yep those poachers are real concern about id of their targets.....



“I believe the message that this incident can send to hunters is to always positively identify your target - you cannot take back that bullet once it is fired,” says West. “So far this year, there has been one other incident where a person was shot when they were mistaken for game. While neither of these incidents have been fatal, they were preventable.”

WE START THE ID PROCESS BY: DOES IT WEAR ORANGE?
YES AS A HUNTER IT IT NICE TO ID TARGETS THAT ARE HUMAN....now....what could be helpful in doing that????
Geee how do we keep frome shooting each other?
Must be the cow bells we wear....

The day will come were an officer will be shot carrying a decoy thru the woods and it will have NOTHING to do w/ him not wearing orange.


CW

 

[Throwback]

i'm quite clueless, since i'm not a lawyer, nor an ethicist of any qualification.

maybe all "accidents & crimes" can be tried at the State Court in Fulton County, Atlanta Georgia?? that's the Capitol, and that's where such issues should be resolved, right??

if PETA says its a crime, is it? are you a member of PETA?

Put the pipe down and step away from the keyboard.



T

 

[Ranger]

They should for the safety. There are a lot of hunters that shoot at anything that moves. A good hunter or any shooter should know what they are shooting at and what is beyond their target.

 

[Throwback]

Sanity returns


Thanks ranger


T

 

[Huntin' Dawg]

I did!

Know what they told me?


Rangers are required by policy to wear orange when checking deer hunters.

Your post draws an important distinction-- policy vs. observed procedure (the subject of the poll).

Oddly enough, I started this poll after reflecting on my own experience, and then asking hunting buddies and several neighbors in the rural area where have property. Each of them, like me, regulary sees DNR agents in the field during deer season, and none had ever seen one wearing orange.

Clearly, hunters have the ultimate duty of care in identifying their target, just as one has a duty to the public when he or she gets behind the wheel of a car. In that sense, a hunter who shoots a DNR agent in the field is no different than the driver who runs over a LEO as he stands in an intersection directing traffic.

I never see LEOs standing in intersections directing traffic without some form of Hi-Viz gear on, however. . . .

Perhaps its because traditional law enforcement realizes that standing out in the middle of moving traffic is an inherrently dangerous task (just like trying to "sneak up" on armed hunters in the woods, many times during low light conditions) . . .

Or perhaps its because traditional law enforcement realizes that some drivers are not always as alert as they should be, and some are downright idiots (just as some hunters are). . .

Or perhaps its because traditional law enforcement realizes that being able to point the finger at a driver who struck and killed a traffic cop, and say that they driver should have been more careful, is small (and insufficient) consolation to the family and children of that officer, who will never have him back.

With all due respect, I think that we all (hunter, LEO, and the rest of the hunting community) need to do everything in our power to avoid such a tragic outcome.

In my humble opinion, those efforts can and should include the common sense practice of wearing orange, no matter who you are.

 

[chambers270]

I am with Hunting Dawg

It all boils down to this SAFETY. If 1,000 poachers get away because of the vest but 1 DNR keeps his life. It was WORTH it.

I will not shoot at a target until I am 100% sure, but as stated some people will. That is why hunters wear vest and anyone else in the woods should also.

 

[MIG]

Not to derail the thread, but

While I respect everyone's opinion regarding the matter (and yes, I have my own), I do have a question...this thread is obviously based upon the unfortunate incident which occurred on Thanksgiving; had one of the duck hunters the GW was checking upon been the victim instead of the officer, would you be of the opinion that waterfowl hunters should wear orange?

 

[ToLog]

While I respect everyone's opinion regarding the matter (and yes, I have my own), I do have a question...this thread is obviously based upon the unfortunate incident which occurred on Thanksgiving; had one of the duck hunters the GW was checking upon been the victim instead of the officer, would you be of the opinion that waterfowl hunters should wear orange?

well, uh, yes! now, i'm not a duck hunter at all, but i do realize it is high sport.

they would be at risk if deer hunting and duck hunting was going on at the same time, seems like?

it's a systems problem. the hunters are all trying to be legal, well, most of them/us anyways.

but, when folks get crowded into tight places to hunt and fish, the risk of accidental injury increases. and why wouldn't it??

but, when an accident does happen, then it doesn't mean it's a crime, as unfortunate as the outcome might be.

if we let folks walk into the woods with a gun, then claim any unfortunate event that occurs is a crime is disengenous, imho.

 

[Huntin' Dawg]

While I respect everyone's opinion regarding the matter (and yes, I have my own), I do have a question...this thread is obviously based upon the unfortunate incident which occurred on Thanksgiving; had one of the duck hunters the GW was checking upon been the victim instead of the officer, would you be of the opinion that waterfowl hunters should wear orange?

Good question, and perhaps they should. Like alot of folks, I believe that anyone in the woods during deer season should be wearing orange.

It deserves noting that, unlike DNR officers, duck hunters generally do not walk into the woods with the intention, plan and practice of sneaking up on armed deer hunters. . .

 

[MIG]

duck hunters generally do not walk into the woods with the intention, plan and practice of sneaking up on armed deer hunters. . .

nor do GWs when they're checking duck hunters - not arguing, just making a point

 

[General Lee]

I had a GW tell me that if he was killed in the line of duty performing a function that required him to wear orange,and he was not,then his life insurance would not pay............

 

[Mechanicaldawg]

Dawg, Cpl. Wilkins wasn't trying to sneak up on a deer hunter. He was heading to a duck blind just as the duck hunters had done previously.

Go to the duck forum and ask the question about duck hunters wearing orange. It should make for a very entertaining evening.

 

[ToLog]

Dawg, Cpl. Wilkins wasn't trying to sneak up on a deer hunter. He was heading to a duck blind just as the duck hunters had done previously.

Go to the duck forum and ask the question about duck hunters wearing orange. It should make for a very entertaining evening.

your point is well-made. of course, there was some deer-hunting going on, on his way to the duckpond, don't you think?

 

[Huntin' Dawg]

Dawg, Cpl. Wilkins wasn't trying to sneak up on a deer hunter. He was heading to a duck blind just as the duck hunters had done previously..

I don't care if I am checking game cameras, walking the perimeter of my land, or going to go fish at the pond, I wear orange during deer season, for reasons stated.

Still haven't heard a compelling argument for why DNR agents, as both enforcers and examples of good public safety practice, should not be wearing orange at all times when in the field during deer season.

 

[Mechanicaldawg]

On routine foot and ATV patrol they do wear it.

When investigating game violations they may do without it in order to effectively carryout their duties.

I also wear mine anytime firearms season is in and that includes small game. However, I certainly understand the need for LE's not to wear orange in order to make a case. It is a dangerous, usually thankless job. I'm proud they are willing to do it.

 

[fishbone2149]

Sometimes.
If they are concealed and watching for violators or trying to sneak up on a known violator it would be foolish to wear orange.
If they are walking through the woods for any other purpose, it would be foolish not to wear orange.

I agree, they should if they are just doing license checks, but if they are setting up to catch poachers then no. I personally have not had a problem spotting them in the woods, I just look for the shiny badge.

 

[Huntin' Dawg]

When investigating game violations they may do without it in order to effectively carryout their duties. . . . I certainly understand the need for LE's not to wear orange in order to make a case.

One could argue that many jobs could be done more quickly, zealously and completely, if we just got rid of those pesky "common sense" safety precautions. . . .

We generally don't follow such reasoning, because death or serious injury is not a justifiable exchange for greater productivity in one's job.

 

[Mechanicaldawg]

Obviously most jobs do not require the concealment of the worker in order to be effective.

This one does. Do we all wish that when the poacher sees the game warden moving through the woods that he would simply climb down from the stand and surrender? Sure. However, it is more likely that they would slip down the tree and evade.

Another thought is that when looking for an armed criminal it may be best not to be wearing an orange target that would allow the criminal to get a serious drop on you.

 

[Mossy]

I can't begin to understand how any human being can be so incredibly stupid that they can't tell the difference between a human and a deer

 

[Mechanicaldawg]

I can't begin to understand how any human being can be so incredibly stupid that they can't tell the difference between a human and a deer

Bottom line you'd think?