I only wear orange when I must legally.
Public land, and deer season.
I believe squirrels see motion and hear well. The bright orange may not be super obvious as a color to a squirrel. I do think that light color in motion is a beacon to be seen from afar. I wear an orange beanie cap without a brim. You can rotate your head subtlety, but a brim is like a flag as you turn your head.
The only time I like orange is when another hunter sees me and doesn't go crushing through my spot. Doesn't work everytime though. Once I had a dude settle in 20 yards from me. I just shook my head and left. He never said a word.
I digress.

 

Honestly, orange to squirrels is like roadkill to buzzards. I think I see more squirrels with the orange than without.

 

I'll wear it when required to. Haven't hunted much on public land during deer season in a good while though.

 

Required in NC for most hunting, including Squirrel, a hat will do.

 

Same here in Minnesota. They don't seem to notice. Movement catches their eye.

 

As I understand it for the most part squirrels are color blind, regardless my range/hunting buddy and I both wear it when squirrel hunting during deer season as that's the law.

 

A friend would comment to that
Yes colored blind but not blind

 

MIght be good to have orange camo then, so it's not one big patch of the same color to them. Break the pattern up.

 

Not legal here in MS.

 

If you hunt in Pennsylvania it has to be worn. Public or private land are regulated the same for hunting.

 

If you hunt in Pennsylvania it has to be worn. Public or private land are regulated the same for hunting.
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I know and I have it!!! Pa needs to lighten up just a little lol

 

Required in Maryland if you're using a firearm; rifle, shotgun, muzzle loader. Not required for archery, but I wear it until I'm up a tree in my climbing stand. Don't need someone shooting me because they see movement while I hike to my spot.

 

Here in MS 500 sq. in. of unbroken fluorescent orange is required during deer season.
MDWFP
Hunter Orange
"When hunting deer during any firearms season for deer, a hunter must wear in full view at least five hundred (500) square inches of solid unbroken fluorescent orange unless hunting in a stand at least twelve feet above ground or in a fully enclosed deer stand or blind. However, hunters must wear hunter orange while traveling to and from their stand. Hunters are also encouraged to carry a light while walking into the woods before daylight or leaving after dark."

 

The key word is "Fluorescent."

It has a glow that squirrels can see.......and some squirrels are educated enough to thus evade hunters.

Choose the softest and most DULL orange that you can find and hopefully in camo.

 

What gets me are the clueless hikers on public land. Just blundering through the woods without a care in the world.

 

As a hiker and a hunter, I see both sides of this. Hunters complain about hikers and hikers complain about hunters. When you get down to it, it's all public land though so both have equal rights to enjoy the land. For hikers, I would say know when hunting seasons (Deer/Rifle especially) are and wear lots of orange. For hunters, know where the trails are and try to stay a few hundred yards away as much as possible.

 

I hunt mostly on private land and wear a blaze cap due to trespassers. My nephew and I we went Friday and both of us wore a blaze cap or stocking hat. We know the squirrels stay away from us but safety is rule one. We saw a number of squirrels and had a couple of longer shots but nothing within 45 yards. After deer muzzle loading closes next week we will probably stop wearing blaze but will have it on when we go with our little ones.

 

Over the years I have amassed a fair variety of blaze orange stuff; hats, coats, vests, trousers, bibs, etc... By law, orange isn't required here during small game season but I'm rather fond of not being shot so I tend to wear something hi-viz just to be safe. Not being constrained by law, my personal choice is for red.

For those occasions that require a more formal effort one can always add a vest.

 

Love the style!

 

The first time I went squirrel hunting many years ago I wore a white T shirt my hunting partner said the squirrels would see me, I shot 4 and he shot 1 go figure

 

They like orange 😁

 

Few folks realize that Sean Connery preferred wearing red whilst squirrel hunting.

 

That's a picture that you can't un-see. lol

 

How did people ever manage to hunt anything without Camo and Orange duds? Takes no special garments to shoot squirrel. I see more Camo worn as everyday casual wear than in the woods. Orange? Got vest that is mandatory for Ohio gun season. There is no color that will protect you in public hunting areas. They are a gathering place for dipsticks, especially the ones near urban areas.
If you hunt these I recommend Orange/ Kevlar. There is no known protection from the dreaded Cabelas Commandos.

 

I’ve never seen a squirrel wearing orange kevlar but if they did they might not get shot …..accidentally.

You know the punchline of Zardoz was The Wi-ZARD of OZ. One of Sean’s most challenging roles, and a Fosbery!

 

I wear some orange garment whether required or not. Had bullets whizzing by me and don't want to give them an alibi that they couldn't see me. When i started hunting camo wasn't even being used by the army let alone hunters, killed all sorts of game including turkeys wearing orange. Camo these days is more of fashion statement than an actual requirement to kill game IMHO.

 

I have been deer hunting most of my life ( and squirrel hunting) and I don’t believe squirrels or deer can see colors like we do, they can see movement much better than us

 

My quarries eye sight is something I’ve always found interesting and useful.

for example deer and coyote have similar eyesight in terms of being able to detect movement.

Both have a high sensitivity to blue, and deer in my experience when shown a green light at night don’t seem to mind it. However, coyotes see the very beginning of the green spectrum which explains why early on in my experience hunting them green light was like cryptonite to them… they immediately took off.

The red light they’ve always been clueless too.

Deer and squirrels have similar eye sight in that they both suffer from dichromatic colorblindness. They can distinguish yellow and red from other colors but cant distinguish yellow and red from each other.

I’ve read those colors and orange appear as shades of brown or grey to them, not sure if fluorescence matters.

 

Hunters have been using "orange" etc for decades. Lots of deer, squirrels etc have been taken. Do not blame the orange if you do not get a deer or squirrel, because they could care less what you have on!

 

Grew up wearing Orange in Maine as it was the law, originally just a hat. Got used to it. No big deal. More important to the Hunter than the game. In today’s culture orange is the least of our worries.

 

I grew up wearing red and green plaid in Maine, but we were so remote that only the Naval base guys were a threat, and some of them were good hunters. We were pissed when the orange order came in and defied it for years. Not a problem still where I would be hunting if I still lived there, we raised several generations of "truck" hunters and no one is more then a few hundred feet from a gravel road. Most likely the orange is not a problem is my assessment after many years also. Don't like the large unbroken patch of whatever color they see with a vest. Not much chance of being seen by a deer in rural Maine anyhow, much less see one.

 

I don’t wear orange when squirrel hunting the early season on private land. I wear an orange cap when hunting on public land. I wear an orange vest and cap when hunting with a dog with a small group of hunters on private or public land.

 

Not required for small game in TN outside of big game season. I wear camouflage clothing but with an orange cap. I haven't seen bad reactions from the squirrels yet and it helps advertise to others where I'm at and to stay clear. When I'm in total camo other hunters don't notice me until they come in and I say something to them ... I like watching their reactions but I also hate that they've ruined my spot for awhile.