lights on for safety?

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do you use a light for hunting safety?

I never use a light, never needed to.
11
7%
I use a light on public, but not on my private land areas.
16
10%
It depends on how much hunting pressure I find in the area.
5
3%
I use a light part of the time, but not always.
72
44%
I always use a light.
61
37%
 
Total votes: 165
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Singing Bridge
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lights on for safety?

Unread postby Singing Bridge » Thu Jul 26, 2012 9:06 am

ompaathao has a very good thread going in the deer hunting area about what head lights and / or flashlights we are all using while hunting... it was mentioned that some hunters don't use a light at all, for fear of spooking game and a number of other reasons. I thought I'd get a poll going to see what percentages are out there as far as how many use lights and what conditions may alter their use.

Spending a lot of time on heavily pressured public land, I can't imagine not using a light for safety. I also would never mentor a new hunter to "not use one" if possible, but that's my opinion. Here was my post from the previously mentioned thread:

Although many of my hunting areas have extreme hunting pressure compared to others, it doesn't matter where you live... IMO you need to use a light of some type after dark and before daylight to be safe.

Look, I have spent a couple of hours doing everything in my power to save a young bowhunter shot through and through the chest after dark by his buddy... it took every bit of my medical knowledge and training, along with every ounce of my strength, to get him a half mile out to the road and still have him breathing- followed by keeping him alive during transport to the nearest trauma center where a chest surgeon was able to close all arteries and veins that had been sliced by the broadhead (less than inch from the aorta).

The fall of 2010 I had a hunter shot and killed by another hunter just a few miles up the road from me...

Don't walk in the dark, its just like using a safety harness- keep yourself alive for your family's sake.


What do you think? Are there circumstances where lights are just a bad idea for hunting?


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Re: lights on for safety?

Unread postby whitetail007 » Thu Jul 26, 2012 9:30 am

ive never really even thought about a light for safety. i wait til it is totally dark before i leave my spot and just figured nobody would even be in there stand anymore. i still dont know how anyone could mistake a hunter for a deer, are they aiming at vitals or just a blob? im my eyes that is attempted murder not mistaken identity. i hope anyone who has ever shot a hunter by mistake is never allowed to hunt again. from what i have read on the other thread about using lights its a good idea and dosent seem to spook deer. i always walked in darkness unless i was crossing water filled ditches or in floating cattails. from now on i will be using a light regardless.
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Re: lights on for safety?

Unread postby headgear » Thu Jul 26, 2012 9:59 am

I've almost alwasy used lights for safety, hunters are shot every year in low light conditions so it is very important to have a working light. The only time I don't use a light is once I get to or extremely close to the stand I want to hunt in the morning, then I usually turn mine off and let night vision take over.

If you want to be safer make sure you are the first one in the woods and the last one out, this is me 99% of the time so I worry about other hunters far less than I use to. That half hour just before and after first light or dark is when accidents happen so I try not to be walking around the woods during that time. When I leave my stand in the evening I sit for a while after shooting light just to listen to the woods and I take my time getting out just so I don't run into other hunters.
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Re: lights on for safety?

Unread postby Zap » Thu Jul 26, 2012 10:37 am

If I need to see better I use a light.
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Re: lights on for safety?

Unread postby Southern Man » Thu Jul 26, 2012 11:04 am

Most of the time I use a headlight, I can't see very well in the dark :mrgreen: I have a flashlite in my pouch but seldom use it. And if I'm hunting around others, I want them to know I'm comin by. A few have been shot around here for not using a light.
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Re: lights on for safety?

Unread postby PLB » Thu Jul 26, 2012 11:07 am

Always have, always will...No reason not to imo :?
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Re: lights on for safety?

Unread postby Singing Bridge » Thu Jul 26, 2012 11:30 am

headgear wrote:
If you want to be safer make sure you are the first one in the woods and the last one out, this is me 99% of the time so I worry about other hunters far less than I use to.


right on the money, headgear. I am nearly always the first one in and the last one out. I take my time setting up or taking down my stand / steps / gear... keeps me quiet and less visible to game and other hunters.

last year I was hunting a deep swamp point where it sticks into a swamp... with shooting time expired I took down all my gear and began walking out. I had my flashlight on and pointed at the ground, and was approaching the opening in the woods where the road is... my truck was in sight, for crying out loud- when I hear in a tree up above me, " Frank, is that you?"

glad I had my light on. :?
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Re: lights on for safety?

Unread postby bonemonger » Thu Jul 26, 2012 11:31 am

i really dont think lights spook deer, i would rather use a light and be quiet getting in and out. most guys that spook deer are being smelled,seen or heard going in and out. i dont shine fields,with my light going in or out, it is pointed down or in front of me.
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Re: lights on for safety?

Unread postby wibowhntr » Thu Jul 26, 2012 11:43 am

I always use a light. Even if I am hunting private land where I know that I am the only person out there I like to be able to see what is making the noise around me. Also it allows me to put up my sticks and stand quietly and safely.
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Re: lights on for safety?

Unread postby Brad » Thu Jul 26, 2012 11:53 am

I used them occasionally as needed in the past, keyword the past. After reading this I will use one from now on whenever it is dark enough o be mistaken for game, or to trip etc. Not worth it, especially since a deer can hear you long before they will see the light. I never realized the danger walking around in low light on public land until it was brought up on here.
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Re: lights on for safety?

Unread postby Singing Bridge » Thu Jul 26, 2012 12:03 pm

Brad Lamont wrote:I used them occasionally as needed in the past, keyword the past. After reading this I will use one from now on whenever it is dark enough o be mistaken for game, or to trip etc. Not worth it, especially since a deer can hear you long before they will see the light. I never realized the danger walking around in low light on public land until it was brought up on here.


If we keep one hunter from getting shot, we have done our job...

I want to add that I didn't create this thread to be critical of those that do not use lights- it is a personal decision and I respect that. I did think it was important to keep everyone informed as to the dangers that exist in some circumstances.
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Re: lights on for safety?

Unread postby Brad » Thu Jul 26, 2012 12:06 pm

I certainly appreciate it, I think I have fallen guilty of thinking everyone else practices the safe things we teach in hunter safety all the time, things like knowing your target and what is beyond, but I think a reminder is a good thing, especially since some people still shoot at movement. I have yet to understand how something that stands 5 or 6 feet tall and walks on two legs could possibly be mistaken for deer, but it happens.

Singing Bridge wrote:
Brad Lamont wrote:I used them occasionally as needed in the past, keyword the past. After reading this I will use one from now on whenever it is dark enough o be mistaken for game, or to trip etc. Not worth it, especially since a deer can hear you long before they will see the light. I never realized the danger walking around in low light on public land until it was brought up on here.


If we keep one hunter from getting shot, we have done our job...

I want to add that I didn't create this thread to be critical of those that do not use lights- it is a personal decision and I respect that. I did think it was important to keep everyone informed as to the dangers that exist in some circumstances.
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Re: lights on for safety?

Unread postby Black Squirrel » Thu Jul 26, 2012 12:09 pm

I usually use one, but keep it pointed down towards the ground. I tend to use them more in the morning, less in the evening at the end of the hunt.
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Re: lights on for safety?

Unread postby kenn1320 » Thu Jul 26, 2012 12:59 pm

I always use a light when I get close to the woods(where a guy could be hiding). In an open field, I dont normally have it on, unless its gun season. An old friend of mine was hunting a cut bean field with another friend one evening. They were sitting on different sides and there was a group of does out in the field. He decided to try to bump them to his friend, but the deer went the other way. So it was about time to quit anyway, so he walked right to his friend who was in a tree. He said when he saw the flash from the 12ga, he knew he had been shot. Luckily there were 3 of them hunting, as the shooter was useless in getting him to the car. When they took him off the gurney and onto the operating table, the slug fell out of his pants. It hit him by his belly button and came out real close to his food exit. He is lucky to be alive.
I use a green light on my head. It reflects tacs amazingly well, I can see ok, its not going to be mistaken for anything but a light, and I dont think it scares deer. Back when I baited, I was wearing a green light and filling a feeder after dark. I had a deer come into the area and almost approach me. It ran back 20yds and after a few seconds aproached me again. I filled the feeder and left. Another time I had just got down and heard a deer. I flipped on my light and that deer walked within 8yds of me, stopped, looked at me, then turned around and went back the way it came. Your life isnt worth any deer, use a light. Even if you think your the last guy out there, some yahoo could be hunting the moonlight.
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Re: lights on for safety?

Unread postby Ack » Thu Jul 26, 2012 6:44 pm

headgear wrote:
If you want to be safer make sure you are the first one in the woods and the last one out, this is me 99% of the time so I worry about other hunters far less than I use to.


x3......I am also first in and last out of the woods on the public land, but even still the red light is always on. My private land spots are a little different....no chance of anyone being in there.


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