Hunting Season

It is that time of year again, when it is cool enough to cache without working up a sweat, to admire the beautiful fall colors, and to avoid the folks who like to kill their own winter meat. If you are caching in any place except an urban setting this fall, please remember to wear some hunter orange.  There is no law that says you have to wear the hunter orange if you are not hunting, but let common sense prevail. Remember that there are people out there that should not be allowed around matches, or sharp objects, let alone guns… If you are caching in the woods, and wearing hunter orange, there is one drawback.

To a Conservation officer, anyone in the woods during hunting season is worthy of having some questions asked of them ( hunting licence, caliber of firearm, etc.). If you are lucky enough to get stopped by the local CO’s, a word of advice. Don’t lie to them about what you are doing, tell the truth, most of them are very aware of geocaching, I know at least 6 CO’s that are very active in the sport. When a CO sees someone in the woods wearing hunter orange, he will assume that the person is hunting, and has a firearm. When the CO discovers that there is no firearm, he will start asking a lot of questions, thinking that the firearm is hidden, or maybe the person is not supposed to be in possession of guns.

The majority of hunters are law-abiding, and safety conscious, but like anywhere else, there are a few that ruin it for everyone. By now you are thinking that I’ll just go into the woods on Sundays when there are no hunters. In NB the 3 Sundays during deer season are open to hunting, so it is back to the hunter orange, or wait until the seaon is over…

Remember the intention you had when buying your GPS. To use it to find caches, not to give coordinates to an ambulance dispatcher. Please think safety, and wear the orange.