In Oregon there is no law requiring wearing hunter orange or anything else as far as that goes. Every year two or three people get killed, usually by themselves in or around a car. Pulling the rifle or shotgun toward you by the barrel is one type of fatal mistake. Over the past 30 years I can think of three or four people shot for game, but again it was stupidity on the shooters part more than the lack of loud colors. Actually hunting in Oregon is safer than going to church as far as fatalities go. So I'm not sold on hunter orange, in fact I've heard it argued that it might be best to wear cammies, then it's harder for someone to see you and get a clear shot. All that said, I did own enough land at one time that we were able to hunt deer wearing traditional outfits. But we didn't do it all that often, and we were in a place that was realitively safe from unexpected hunters. I don't own that property any more, and I sure don't hunt in buckskins on public land. I use traditional equipment, not clothing. Let me tell you a story of a fella hunting coyotes wearing a coyote skin hat. You are probably getting the drift already, but here goes. Three guys decided to take their muzzle loaders and go out into the desert of eastern Oregon and call coyotes. They got to where they wanted to hunt, and split up, our hero (Hal) going up one side of the canyon, while the other two split up and went up the other side, fixing to set up and cover all approaches. They lost track of each other. Hal took a position in a pile of rocks that offered comfort and cover and started calling. He had his head down kind of calling into his capote to muffle it a bit. First he'd call up the canyon, then across the canyon, then down the canyon, squeeking like a hurt rabbit. Then he'd repeat. Unknown to both of them, one of his partners was seated directly across the canyon from him. As Hal turned his head to call, the guy across the way saw the movement and thought he could see a coyote digging in the rocks for a mouse. Nobody had thought to bring along binoculars, so he didn't know for sure, but the longer he watched the more convince he was that the coyote was digging out a mouse. So he set the trigger, took a rest, guessed at the elevation and touched her off. At that moment Hal was calling across the canyon. He was sitting on the rock just like you would sit in a chair -- knees bent, but leaning forward calling into his coat. The first thing he noticed was just behind his knee all of a sudden there was a .54 caliber hole with steam coming out of it. The windage was right on, but the elevation was off about a foot. He had been aiming at Hal's head. The ball ranged up his leg, lodging in his pelvis in a spot the doctors deemed too dangerous to go after. For ever after Hal's buckskinning name was "Three Balls". You will be pleased to know that this story ended happy. They had a long walk and Three Balls bled a lot, but they got him to a doctor and everything turned out fine. One interesting bit of info though, he was wearing blue jeans, and the ball repatched it's self with dennim, so he actually had a patched ball in his pelvis. This caused the doc some concern, but I guess they have medicine that kept it from getting infected. I used to have a picture of the Xray showing the ball in the pelvis, but I can't find it now. Years ago I wrote a story about it in I think "Buckskin Report" that some of you guys out there might remember. One of the non traditional things I do carry when hunting is a good pair of binoculars, because target indentification is really really important. I use binoculars a lot, even up close and it has paid off for me a number of times by finding deer that I couldn't see before, and at least once identifying another hunter when I saw movement but couldn't make out what it was.
Or, being half asleep and having a slug slap the tree trunk above your head just before you hear the "Boom"! I've had both of these happen to me.
