fishing during hunting season

[Justice League]

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

[Big Bad Wulff]

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

[Betty Hiner]

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

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

[flybinder]

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

[modocdan]

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

[Joe Hyde]

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."

[cklenske]

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

[GreenFish]

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

[EdD]

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

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


Ed

[white43]

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