fishing during hunting season

In the south deer season is in full swing. I have been yelled at because I am fishing while they are trying to hunt. I do try to pay respect to them but I am not staying out of the stream. I do try to stay out of game management land right now. At times I even wear an orange vest to protect myself. The problem is one of my favorite places to fish right now is being hunted. I do not want to spook any deer but I need to fish. Do any of you have this problem as well.



Thanks and may you fish run deep and long
Jason

We have the same problem with our dirt bike riding and hunters. We tend to let them have the land during hunting season..........OR we try to ride in the middle of the day. Hunters seem to want to hunt in the early mornings and afternoons. Plus riding in the middleof the day moves the deer around some and actually helps them out with their afternoon hunts. I've even had some hunters ASK us to ride in the middle of the day to help them out.

We can pretty much fish and ride all year. Let them have their fun while they can.

But. Just remember.


They are the ones with the guns :shock: ;) :D

Orange vest, orange pants, orange hat ... and keep your head down!! :shock:

We stick to the middle of the day too. May not catch as many fish, but you also don't become the target!

Personally, I stay OUT of the woods, but only on the opening days of both, deer and elk seasons, here, in Oregon.
It seems that once the "initial buck fever calms down some", the danger level goes down quite a bit, too.
However, on past "opening days", even while wearing a bright hunter's orange vest, over my fly one, I've had two occasions of bullets smashing into a tree, (thank God, WELL over my head!), and one occasion of an arrow, "thunking", into the ground not ten feet from where I stood. (I cut up the arrow, didn't even know, that they really used WOOD shafts anymore and made several bodkins out of it!).
I don't know, of too many other sports, that are quieter than Fly Fishing, so I don't see why hunters are all uptight over you fishing while they hunt? Deer, (as well as Elk), usually don't visit streams for watering, after about daybreak either so again, I don't see the conflict? Sounds MORE like a few really frustrated hunters, that can't find a deer, are looking for excuses!?
But, as has been so wisely said a few times, here already............ "THEY have the guns :lol:

I figure it's not too prudent to" bring a fly rod to a gun fight ' so to speak. :(
So, in the interest of self - preservation, I give 'em the space during deer season. It's only a couple weeks or so, anyway. Incidentally, geting shot at by a fool is what finally prompted me to give up hunting many years ago. That, and the atv guys kinda spoiling it for me anyway.................Dan

J/L,


One thing you might do to avoid the chance of conflict is to carefully scan the trees in the vicinity of your fishing spot. High up in the tree, look for stands (butterfly boards wedged in the crotch of major branches, or platform stands, lor adder stands, tripod stands, etc.). Down low on the tree, look for the presence of camo netting or natural materials -- anything that makes the base of a tree look unnaturally wide. If you spot any of these things, you've entered the shooting zone of a deer hunter and are fishing very close to a deer blind.

Also, while you're wading the stream or walking along its bank, keep an eye out for deer crossings. Deer love to swim across rivers; they do it whether they're being hunted or not. Some of these crossings are highly obvious trails that lead down over the streambank; they are typically packed with deer tracks, like a cattle feedlot almost. If you spot one of these deer crossing spots, be especially alert for the presence of tree stands or ground blinds in the vicinity. If YOU can find (or casually see) one of these stream crossings while you're fishing, you can bet that an enterprising deer hunter found it weeks earlier while doing pre-season scouting.

For deer hunters, the biggest objection to your presence on the stream is that you are a human "scent generator". Deer have a fabulous array of natural defenses in their three senses of hearing, vision and smell. Were it not deer season, the deer would not be much bothered much by your presence, your scent, or by the sound of your fly rod whooshing through the air during casts. But at this time of year, when they're getting shot at a lot, any of your activities will spook them immediately once they detect your presence.

I don't know how long the gun deer season runs in your state, but if it lasts only a week or two it might be worth sitting it out until all those guns leave the woods. The suggestion of wearing hunter orange is a pretty good idea.


Joe
"Better small than not at all."

We have several deer seasons here in Iowa - bow, shotgun, black power, antlerless. During bow season, I'll only fish in the local nature preserve. No hunting at all is allowed there. During the gun seasons, I stay home and tie flies. Or I'll fish at the ponds on the edges of town. Even at the nature preserve, they can hunt right up to the boundary lines. I'm not sure what the range is on a shotgun slug, but I don't want to find out the hard way. Besides, I've seen too many careless hunters that don't look at anything past the deer. It's just safer to stay home. I have nothing against the good hunters, and the deer population does need to be thinned. I just don't want to be a statistic because someone was careless or overexcited.
CJ

If you are fishing or even just hiking during hunting season, DO NOT wear anything white.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by GreenFish

If you are fishing or even just hiking during hunting season, DO NOT wear anything white.

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That includes things like a fly patch on your vest, handkerchiefs, hats, etc...


Ed

Great post, Joe. It's only for two weeks. I'd tie flies or make a rod and wait for the drooling boys to come down out of their trees. Nothing in the woods is rational during these couple of weeks. Not the deer, nor the hunters. Which is fine. When I'm hot after topwater bass I'm probably just as crazed, and I'm certainly not keen on folks firing off shots in target practice. The sound of a gun going off gives me cause to jump anyway, hunting season or not. JGW

Bow season and the early muzzleloader seasons are going on at preasent..as well as the early small game season I believe the Traditional Rifle season kicks in after Thanksgiving..Not sure as I did not get a hunting license this year....Been a few years now since I've bought em...Hopefully next season...Then their are all the reopenings of each season after Christmas....I do not stop fishing during any of them...

It was a Tradition for the bro in-law and I to hit the Susquehana for Walleyes on the opening day of Rifle season..enjoyed 100+ fish days many times...Miss those trips...

Wear that Orange Hat!!!!

Don't know about other states...But I do know that unless one is in possesion of a Hunting License with a Valid buck tag...One is NOT permitted to enter the woods, During Hunting season!!!! But I never let that stop me from fishing if I get the Jones up,To do so... :lol:

I've also been known to wade and flyfish a stream with the .06 on my shoulder during the Rifle season,As I've always seen more deer while fishing...Weather this was or is a leagal activity, Is beyond me..But I had all the requried gear and License's to do both activities on my person... :D

We duck hunt just a short distance from some really good trout waters and have been known to run the boat up on a gravel bar and get out the fly rods through the late morning and afternoon hours while the ducks were sitting still then just hunt the mornings and late afternoon and evening hours.

As far as deer hunting goes I had a shot hit the water in front of me about 30ft. a couple years ago while taking a break from the stand about noon, so I no longer will fish during deer season. The only thing I had on theat was not orange was the clothes under my orange coveralls, and my boots so that doesn't even help some times.

Steve

I hunt as well as fish. But if I want to fish during hunting season,....well, I've paid for my Fishing License, Trout Stamp and Forest Pass same as everyone else, and I have every right to use it. And I do not 'spook' game. Many times, I walk right up on deer drinking and crossing the streams. I am quiet in the woods and I doubt if I 'spook' anything any more than the hunters do going to and from their stands. I usually just stop and watch the deer, or bears or whatever. When they've finished and moved on, I continue upstream.

I've never had any conflicts with hunters, and in fact, have shared information about deer I have sighted with them. I have traded trout for deer meat on many occasions. I don't worry about the blaze orange or being shot at because most of the people here on the mountain have been hunting since they could walk, and have enough sense not to shoot at something unless they are 100% sure of what it is, and where the bullet is going. So around here, you're pretty safe, unless you're hunting with Dick Cheney!

Semper Fi!

I have talked to many hunters in this area. It is just short of uanimous that they leave the fieldls and forests by 10:00am. They do not go back in until 2:00 pm the earliest. I am not sure if the animals are not mvoing much then or if the hunters are tired needing a nap or just plain hungry. I do any fishing I am going to get done during those hours.

There can be some fabulous days of fishing at this time of year.

Rick

The best show in town, fishwise around here about the time hunting season starts up is whites and wipers. which puts me out there with deer hunters, turkey hunters and duck hunters. My tactic is to go either where they don't because it's the wrong kind of terrain for the game they seek, or where they can't because hunting is prohibited in those areas. I stick to the bigger lakes at this time because I can always find a bridge, dam face or rocky point that lets me fish in safety without intruding on the areas where the hunters are pursuing their quarry. When the whites and wipers start to slow down (usually about the time the hunting is really starting to heat up) that's my signal to stay home where it's warm and start filling the fly boxes for Spring.

I fish out on the big lake during hunting season. My pontoon is bright red.

That is a very good tip about not wearing white.
In future I will seek to cover the fly patch. It looks very much like a whitetail rump. I had not thought about that before this post. Plus it is right over your chest. I believe I will try to dye it a dull color.

Probably it doesn't help that my fishing vest is doe colored to start with.

The seasons don't overlap here, at all :( That being said, for those who enjoy nature and don't enjoy killing things, we have a rule that there is to be no hunting on Sundays. It's a relict rule from when our government was denominational and observed all religious practices (Sabbath day) but has since been embraced by naturalists and bemoaned by hunters. It's been re-pealed(sp?) in the last couple of years for a limited portion of the hunting season.......whoah...I think I just hi-jacked this post....sorry, man. :?

I have heard gossip that Tennessee hsa recently rendered an opinion that if a moron hunter mistakes you for a a deer and takes a shot at you, you are NOT allowed to shoot back (wrong sort of "blaze orange"?). You're supposed to wave your arms and scream.

I figure I would probably get out of jail sooner than a coffin... ...and then I heard about the woman who raised tan goats. She allegedly paints "GOAT", in orange food coloring or RIT dye, on each side of each goat during the deer season.

Now that's sad.


Ed

EdD

"...and then I heard about the woman who raised tan goats. She allegedly paints "GOAT", in orange food coloring or RIT dye, on each side of each goat during the deer season."



I just feel sorry for her neighbor raising "PERUVIAN ALPACAS"...

peregrines

Fellows, I don't know about most states but in NC we have some very good Trout and Small Mouth fishing in several of our state parks. In ther State Parks fishing is allowed and deer hunting is not. So it is quite pleasant to flyfish any day of the week without any fear of being shot at.
Of course my game warden buddy did tell me about getting shot at a few weeks back while trying to apprehend some poachers seining the creek for the recently stocked trout.

tom

Quote:

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Originally Posted by EdD

I have heard gossip that Tennessee hsa recently rendered an opinion that if a moron hunter mistakes you for a a deer and takes a shot at you, you are NOT allowed to shoot back (wrong sort of "blaze orange"?). You're supposed to wave your arms and scream.

I figure I would probably get out of jail sooner than a coffin... ...and then I heard about the woman who raised tan goats. She allegedly paints "GOAT", in orange food coloring or RIT dye, on each side of each goat during the deer season.

Now that's sad.


Ed

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We had an incident last year where some moron accidentally shot a poor old fella's pet horse.....I don't know how familiar you folks are with moose...but they don't come in chestnut and even if they did, I don't see the resemblance to a horse :?