Photography Can Be Dangerous

[Tim]

[font color=\'#000000\']Neat shot. It's hunting season here too and I've learned never to go near the woods this time of year. In our state we have 100,000+ people with rifles waiting in freezing weather for anything that moves. I know too many people who've had their dogs, livestock and selves shot!   :p  :angry:[/font]

[Bill Lawrence]

[font color=\'#000000\']Where I grew up,  I learned to avoid the woods during deer season.  There are many careful hunters, but unfortunately there are enough out there that 1) will shoot at anything that moves (and often enough at things that don't), or 2) like to mix beer and high powered rifles.  My wife, on first coming to the state, was mystified by the "no hunting in the rest area" signs along the interstate, particularly the ones with bullet holes in them.[/font]

[Doug_Dolde]

[font color=\'#000000\']

There were other shooters in the area...but the other kind. I heard a bullet whizz by breaking the air. How close? I don't know. Then I heard the "shot"; obviously the bullet was traveling faster than the speed of sound. I thought about a back up exposure then as I heard the second bullet whizz throught the air said to myself "No way I'm out of here". The light was so perfect. Too bad I didn't have time for a more perfect and studied shot. This is from my Los Padres National Forest fire study. You can see the partly burned tree trunks.

Arca Swiss 4x5, 110mm Super Symmar XL, Provia F, Polarizer[/font]

[KarenB]

[font color=\'#000000\']In the fall, when I go out photographing in places where hunters might be, I wear a bright orange beanie hat if the weather is cold, or a bright orange baseball cap if it's a little warmer. When I'm wearing the beanie cap, I keep the baseball cap clipped to my photo backpack. You can get these at most sporting goods stores for a very reasonable price. If you feel like you need something more, there are also orange vests available. Make yourself visible and hunters will not fire in your direction.

I believe the hunters have as much right to be out there as I do, if they are truly hunters (not poachers) who are following the Fish & Game regulations. Our National Forests and BLM land are for everybody.

Be smart...be safe.
Karen[/font]

[KarenB]

[font color=\'#000000\']Bill,

Where I live, deer season starts in August (with bow hunters) and ends sometime late October or early November. If I avoided the woods during that time, I would be missing some of my most favorite times for photographing in the woods.

If I followed your logic for staying out the the woods, I would also never drive my car again on photographic adventures.

There are many careful drivers, but unfortunately there are enough out there that 1) will drive without regarding the rules of the road, or 2) like to mix beer and getting behind the wheel.

Many people disparage guns and hunters, but the fact is that more drunk drivers kill people than guns do.

I will be in the woods (with my bright orange cap) in the fall as I share the great outdoors with hunters, and I pray, as I drive there, that I get there safely. Even if I painted my car bright orange, it would not deflect a drunken driver from my path.[/font]