Oregon Public Broadcasting

Oregon hunters aren’t required to wear orange while they are in the field.  At least not yet.

The State Department of Fish and Wildlife is hosting meetings into next week to give the public a chance to comment on newly proposed rules. 

OPB’s David Nogueras attended a meeting Tuesday night in Redmond.

The effort to make bright orange clothing mandatory for hunters gained traction this past December after a 15-year-old boy was accidently shot and killed by his uncle in Grand Ronde. 

Oregon’s Fish and Wildlife Commission asked the ODFW to look into accidents like this and here’s what they found. Oregon averages 1 death per year due to what the ODFW calls vision-related causes.

Even so, Oregon has one of the lowest rates of hunting accidents in the West.  That includes states that already require hunters to wear orange. 

So skeptical hunters like Jim Nolan of Redmond weren’t swayed.Jim Nolan: "What I wear or what any of these people in this room wear while they’re hunting right down to going in your birthday suit if they feel good about it, I think it should be up to the individual.  You know, I think it’s another case of Big Brother coming in and trying to protect me from myself."

All comments the meetings will be submitted to the Fish and Wildlife Commission.  That panel will decide the first week of June whether to implement the new rules.