SO- i just ordered an orange helmet cover. This summer was so crappy for riding, that i decided to ride thru the autumn. I ride in a state park, so there are hunters, but they also know there are riders, bikers and hikers with dogs in the park.
Are any of you riding thru the autumn?
Always do. I wear bright colors (have an orange-and-purple striped Smartwool shirt that makes me look like a Dr Seuss character…) and dress the horse in ditto and am maybe a little chattier than I might otherwise be, but this is the best time of year to ride; I would not miss it for the world.
Nezzy- Is the state park you ride in Jacobsburg? I’ve been riding there for the last 17 years and have never had a problem with hunters. I always wear a blaze orange vest, but have never even encountered many hunters there. A helmet cover is probably not enough coverage- you have to have a minimum amount of square inches of orange- I believe 110 square inches.
Don’t Shoot Me has a big assortment if high visibility horse, dog and rider gear. There’s a few things on my want list!
I do ride in hunting season but I am conservative about it. I don’t want to have to go to jail for murdering a hunter because he shot my horse.
I always ride during hunting season, but never on Opening Day! I wear blaze orange, put an orange halter on my horse under his bridle, carry orange saddle bags, put on an orange tail bag…and since I always ride with at least two other friends we make a lot of noise as we go anyway. By the time deer season opens in October most of the leaves are off the trees and we’re much more visible. I really only worry during the rifle hunt.
There are hunters in some places on our private trail systems in the Tryon area but they tell us they’re pretty much out there only in very early morning and again at dusk. So, many of us plan our rides starting after 10 a.m. and ending before 3:00 (and wear blaze orange, too). That might also be the safest time to ride in the state parks.
Oh, sure. I have a bright orange pommel bag, and a bright orange T-Shirt, and I know all the words to “D’ye Ken John Peel”. And I can sing 'em real loud, too. 
Nobody but fools rides during gun deer season here, but that’s only the week around Thanksgiving. Right now it’s bowhunting, bear hunting, and I’m sure some sort of bird and or small game, none of which we get excited about. I don’t even wear orange too often. I have ridden during the youth hunt, which is a gun hunt one weekend sometime in October. The first time I had forgotten about it but had orange in the truck.
A more important question is “how many trail cameras do you think you have been caught on while relieving yourself in the woods?”
Be cautious. Ride on well-known trails, wear bright clothes, and put on a bright saddle pad and wraps if you use them! Make noise, talk to your horse, deer are silent - horses and people are not. LOL :yes: If I were you, I’d be very carful, but I’d go! And also, it depends where you live. Does everyone hunt?! Or is it more of a select few? Hope this helped!
I ride during hunting season. Bush roads near my house. As soon as hunting season opens I start wearing a blaze orange hunting vest. The horses I ride are grays, so that helps – there are some white moose south of hear, but they are such a novelty I don’t think anyone has ever actually shot one with anything more than a camera. I did buy blaze orange polar fleece which I plan on using to make some quarter sheets for fall riding.
[QUOTE=cutter99;7176553]
Nezzy- Is the state park you ride in Jacobsburg? I’ve been riding there for the last 17 years and have never had a problem with hunters. I always wear a blaze orange vest, but have never even encountered many hunters there. A helmet cover is probably not enough coverage- you have to have a minimum amount of square inches of orange- I believe 110 square inches.[/QUOTE]
yes it is Jacobsburg. I don’t wear ONLY an orange helmet, i usually have a big orange vest. But i figured my head would be best in orange.
Thanks everyone. In Jacobsburg state park, the trails are very well groomed, so we are never riding thru brush. We are usually very Visible and we make a lot of noise without trying (a bunch of women riders). i was just curious about who rode, b/c i have boarded next to the park for 5 yrs and i have tried to stay out except for sundays, but like i mentioned, this summer was crappy, and i want to get a lot more riding in.
I live in the south where the opening day of Deer Season is considered a Holy day :). I have no problem riding during hunting season but I do avoid certain areas and I wear high vis clothing.
Same here - wear orange. Even my dog has her own vest. Make noise. I don’t go on opening days, since that seems to be the day for the idiots who aren’t hunters but want to be.
Around here (central PA), many boarding barns don’t even turn the horses out into their regular pastures during the first couple days of the main deer season. better safe than sorry!
Anyway, in my area, I would avoid trail riding for the two weeks after Thanksgiving, as well as for the opening of spring turkey season-- turkey hunters are insane, IMO. Other than that, with basic safety precautions (blaze-orange everything), HECK NO I’m not passing up prime trail-riding season! 
I wear a bright orange reflector vest and I have a purple/white helmet cover. Horse has a bright yellow saddle pad but I want to get an orange one but the yellow was cheaper at the time. He wears his purple woof boots as well.
I have bells attached to his breastplate as well and a whistle that I can use if I spot a hunter to let them know I am there. My dog has an orange vest with reflectors and has clangly tags.
I usually don’t ride on trails during hunting season, but I have to keep him conditioned.
not during the crazy drunken rifle deer shoot anything that moves season, which starts right after thanksgiving and goes for two weeks, but yeah, the rest of hunting season runs from august to January. Wear orange. Their responsibility to know what they are shooting at.
Yep - on private land and found a DAMNED TRESPASSING DEER HUNTER the other day :mad: :mad: :mad:
First time I saw him (keep in mind, I am riding near a city, in eye sight of a subdivision) - I was on the neighbor’s property. He told me that “you and the other riders better be careful around here for the next few weeks”.
Okay, point taken, figured he must have had neighbor’s permission, and next time I went on the “loop trail” (a well established riding trail) I wore a blaze orange safety vest with reflective strips. Hope my 16.2 leopard appy can’t be mistaken for a deer.
Next week head out - Opps! Forgot the vest, oh well, I will just stick to the BO’s property. And there he was AGAIN, full camo, rifle in hand - now trespassing!!! Acted annoyed that I would be scaring off his game :mad::mad: Told him, “sorry, property owner has 15 boarders that ride up here, he didn’t say anything about hunters on his land”. High tailed it back to the barn to “tattle” on the trespasser, BO was NOT PLEASED. I was told I shouldn’t see him again, but wearing my blaze orange every time out now just in case.
I really hate that I have to be looking over my shoulder and worried about stray bullets in a area that shouldn’t have hunting at all.
[QUOTE=FLeventer;7178079]
I have bells attached to his breastplate as well and a whistle that I can use if I spot a hunter to let them know I am there.[/QUOTE] I really like the bells and whistle idea. :yes:
I used to wear orange and have cow bells attached to my breast plate when my horse was alive. I’d also usually try to talk or play a personal radio or sing and stick to more open trails.
If there are idiots out, nothing will keep you safe. When I was twelve or so, a friend and I were in an open field on private property, riding white ponies. We were twelve, so certainly not quiet, and we were shot at. The ground at my horse’s feet puffed and the single tree behind my friend’s pony got hit. Luckily the hunters were bad shots as well as idiotic. My friend’s mom was PISSED we ran the horses back to the barnyard until we told her why. A nearby cow farm lost a cow once. It was a typical black and white cow, and it had cow written in orange letters on it’s side.
I know many great hunters and think it’s smart to take caution in the woods to help good hunters know you’re there, but you should always be aware that there is no stopping the idiots.
Archery hunting opens mid August. The trophy hunts Open Mid September, Muzzler Loader right after that. General season rifle Elk, the 1st ten days of October and General Season rifle deer the last 10 days of October. Anterless hunts, Depredation hunts etc run through November and December.
If I didn’t ride during the hunting season, I would miss 4 months of the year.
I bought horses because I learned how to kill elk and discovered just how much work it was to haul an elk off a mountain. So horses are part of my hunting time. In fact I consider time spent with my horses up hunting as some of the best quality time I spend with the horses. There are few periods during the year when I spend so much time with the horses. You pack into a remote camp. You get up early before light and ride to areas you want to hunt, You are with the horse until after dark, and then you are camped with him next to your tent.
You will have to look at the area you ride and decide just how many hunters are in that area. If like many folks on here describe. Lots of crazy drunks, I’d stay out of the woods for a week. But my personal experience has been that the hunters I know are respectful people. Who carefully identify what they are shooting at before pulling the trigger.
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