“I would not wear it personally,” Heinks said. “As long as it’s safe, if pink outerwear is what floats your boat, then to each her own,” said Jane Heinks of New Brighton, who volunteers to teach deer hunting and other courses as part of the DNR’s “Becoming an Outdoors Woman” series. Several leaders in women’s hunting recruitment and instruction said safety, not fashion, should be the first concern. Rodmen Smith of the DNR’s enforcement division said the agency would have to look closely at the science before agreeing to permit pink. In Minnesota, where blaze orange is similarly required, Lt. Officials from the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources declined to comment on the proposal. Blaze orange, on the other hand, appears as a dull shade of gray or green to a deer but it has more yellow than pink, Sarmadi said. Deer can see yellow well - the Achilles’ heel of chartreuse. In fact, he said, pink might be a better choice for fall deer hunters because shades of orange do appear in autumn foliage, but pink doesn’t.įurthermore, deer, which are color-blind to red, can detect very little pink. “The right pink and the right blaze orange, they could be equally safe,” Sarmadi said in a phone interview. Fluorescent lime, or chartreuse, has become the standard for nighttime construction workers, as well as joggers and cyclists, in many parts of the world for its contrast against the blackness of night.Īnd pink is poised to join the ranks, according to Majid Sarmadi, a professor and expert on the science of color at the University of Wisconsin.Īt the request of the Sportsmen’s Caucus, Sarmadi studied the light qualities of various store-bought items of fluorescent pink and compared them with blaze orange garments. Orange is opposite blue on the color wheel, making it especially visible against a crisp fall sky.īut orange isn’t uniquely bright. Its proliferation, especially during the busy days of fall deer hunting, is credited, in conjunction with hunter safety courses, with reducing the number of times hunters mistakenly shoot other hunters. The color is unnatural and obnoxiously bright to the human eye. states and Canadian provinces for one reason: Hunter safety. Various shades and camouflage patterns of pinks have crept into outdoors fashion with the same ubiquity as they have in other female wares.Įarly goods of the lady-slipper hue, such as shotgun shells and clay targets, often called attention to proceeds benefiting women’s causes - notably breast cancer research.īlaze orange, often called hunter orange, is required for most hunting endeavors in most U.S. Yet women and girls are the fastest-growing groups of new hunters, and he couldn’t help but witness what’s being sold in sporting goods stores. Milroy said he came up with the idea of legalizing pink - believed to be the first attempt anywhere to do so - while mulling national trends of declining numbers of hunters. Nick Milroy, D-South Range, said after the event. “I think real hunters are going to be wearing pink if this becomes legal,” Rep. Wisconsin legislative committee OKs hunter blaze pink billĪrmed with a scientific analysis suggesting bright pink could be just as safe as blaze orange - and perhaps less visible to deer - members of the bipartisan, all-male Wisconsin Sportsmen’s Caucus donned bright pink T-shirts that read “HUNT PINK” to unveil their proposal in Madison.
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