Proposed legislation would allow hunters to wear blaze orange or pink. (Photo: Andrew Beckett)
If blaze orange is not your color, a proposal at the Wisconsin Capitol would could give you another option. The legislation would add blaze pink to the list of approved colors that must make up half of the outerwear worn by hunters who head out into the woods in Wisconsin throughout the year.
State Representative Nick Milroy (D-South Range), a co-sponsor of the bill, says it comes in response to the number of female hunters in the state, who now make up the fastest growing section of new recruits. He notes that outdoor apparel and gun makers have already been trying to cater to that demographic, with pink-themed camouflage, pistol grips, and other weapons. “I think it’s just important that we provide options that are safe and effective, that give people the choice.”
The blaze orange requirement is intended to prevent accidents by making it easier for hunters to see each other. Milroy says research done by a University of Wisconsin professor found blaze pink is just as safe as blaze orange for that purpose, and may actually be even easier for the human eye to spot. Professor Majid Sarmadi said at a Capitol news conference on Tuesday that it might actually also be less visible to deer than blaze orange.
State Representative Joel Kleefisch (R-Oconomowoc), a co-sponsor of the bill, says they want to “give hunters another option, and our number one concern is that it was as safe, if not more safe, than blaze orange.”
The proposal is currently being circulated for co-sponsors at the Capitol.