Survive Hunting Season!

We get a lot of hunters through these woods and walking the trails daily I'm prepared.
My orange rain jacket, red hat, orange Possibles bag, all tell others in the woods I'm not game.

I continue to bring my bear spray (pepper spray) because they are on the move. Some bears have gotten pretty big, and there are also quite a few cubs.

I ties orange and red streamers onto my hiking poles. They are in constant motion so that is another safety feature.
All the hollers and ridges make sighting a little tricky. I want to give every hunter a chance to see me well ahead of time.

Hunters Visit the Cabin

The cabin in its early stages. It now has many insulating layers of leaves.

The survival shelter I built, which I've named "the cabin" to distinguish it from other nearby landmarks, has been visited by a hunter.

I found a jar perched on the framework this morning. Inside the sealed jar was a note reading

"Hunting Bear in God's Country. BoBo 11/24/2010 10:30 a.m. Put note back in Jar"

Inside the cabin was a broken blue cigarette lighter. In the virgin fire ring a wad of unused toilet paper.

Now, I love the fact a hunter could use the shelter. However, no one gets to leave junk.

At the intersection was a piece of paper with similar information. That also goes in the garbage.

If you ever have to pick up someone's trash, an easy effective germ free way to do this is use a walmart plastic bag. Place it over your hand like a glove. Reach for the offending object, pulling it into the bag while keeping the bag on your hand. Once the item is all the way in the bag and your hand is now in the open, tie the bag shut.

I clean trash from the woods periodically because it makes for a much nicer wilderness experience.

Flash of White-Gun Shots

Today I saw a flash of white while hiking. I knew it was a white tail deer cause it was running.

Wait. How do I know it wasn't a person with a white shirt on, running?

I've heard of several accidents happening during hunting season because the eager hunter was just as sure as I was of what I saw.

Turns out a person was hanging laundry up on the clothes line. A flash of white.

A girl was taking a bathroom break, a flash of white panties.

While hiking on the Colorado Trail, suddenly shots were heard nearby, and then a bullet hit a tree. Wearing earth tones and blending in was suddenly dangerous. Not even hunting season, I guess the persons firing were just practicing. We got out our red bandannas, a bright blue sleeping pad to tie outside the pack, and called out loud, "Hello!"

There are many hiking trails which cross hunters' stomping grounds. Its very important to take inventory of your gear colors to be safe.

One morning I was skirting the lake up in Connecticut on the Appalachian Trail. I heard shots. I couldn't figure out if they were coming towards me, or away. Taking inventory, I knew I had no white on, but neither did I have red. Hike quickly, hope for the best, and sing out loud.

I was making breakfast in camp while hunters with high powered rifles watched our clearing. A big buck was roaming near us, but seems he knew the hunters would not shoot into camp. As we packed to leave, the buck eased off into the woods. We provided the screen. No shots were fired.

If you're planning a long distance hike, a weekend foray, or just a day hike, be ready for hunters. Novices are probably our biggest concern, an eager youth wanting to bag his first kill.

Keep that orange cap on, no matter what.