SAFETY FIRST For Hunting

I recently attended the NYS Sportsman's Expo at the NYS Fairgrounds in Syracuse. I wanted to publish some facts that pertain to NY and I assume many other states as well. It involves wearing "Hunter Orange" during gun season and following (4) rules of safe gun handling.

First of all whitetail deer (our most commonly hunted big game animal) are color blind .........to an extent.

Deer have more rods than cones in their eyes and rods help determine and pick up movement and cones differentiate colors and shades of colors. That is why deer can pick up movement very quickly even from a distance. On the other hand if you are wearing a hunter orange hat, coat and gloves and remain still, you will not likely spook a deer. Exceptions could be if the deer picks up your scent because you didn't consider the wind, or you are noisy on your stand.

http://www.portal.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt?open=514&objID=585094&mode=2


Excerpt:

Deer have a much higher density of rods in the retina than cones.  Rods are photoreceptors and therefore are more sensitive to light but are not sensitive to color.  Cones provide color sensitivity and high resolution vision.  Rods are more than one thousand times as sensitive as cones to light.  Rod sensitivity is shifted toward shorter wavelengths (green) of the color spectrum peaking sharply in the blue and respond very little to red.  Rods are also better motion sensors than cones.

Even though deer have less than half the number of cones in the eye as people, deer can still distinguish among different colors.  During low-light conditions, deer are likely more sensitive to the blue to blue-green portion of the spectrum (due to the high rod density).  Studies indicate that deer are less sensitive to light of long wavelengths (orange and red) and rely upon their perception of only 2 colors – yellow and blue.

Statistics from NYS:

108,000 deer hunters did NOT wear hunter orange from 1994-2003 deer seasons, resulting in 15 hunters mistaken for game and killed in the same 10 year period.

On the other hand 534,00 deer hunters DID wear the recommended hunter orange clothing and ZERO were mistaken for game and killed in the same 10 year period.

PLAY THE ODDS AND WEAR THE HUNTER ORANGE CLOTHING.....CHANCES ARE IT WILL SAVE YOUR LIFE.

Firearm safety rules to LIVE by:

• ALL guns are always loaded
• DO not point the muzzle of your firearm at anything you are not willing to destroy
• KEEP your finger OFF the trigger until ready to fire
• KNOW what you are shooting at and what may be in front of and behind your target - if in doubt - DO NOT SHOOT

BE SAFE.

Dan