November 21, 2024 • 35 mins
Hiking during hunting season requires a little extra preparation to stay safe and ensure an enjoyable outdoor adventure.
In this episode, Shawn and Mike dive into essential hiking safety tips to help you navigate the backcountry during peak hunting times. We discuss how to identify hunting seasons in your area, the importance of wearing blaze orange and other high-visibility clothing, and strategies for sharing the trail respectfully with hunters. You’ll also learn how to make noise to announce your presence, avoid active hunting zones, and plan hikes in areas with minimal hunting activity. Whether you’re a beginner hiker or a seasoned trail enthusiast, this episode will equip you with the knowledge to stay visible, safe, and respectful of nature and fellow outdoor enthusiasts during hunting season.
Don’t miss this timely conversation packed with practical advice and safety tips. Hit play now and learn how to hike confidently through hunting season!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
I'm Shawn and I'm Mike and you're listening to Shawn and Mike take a hike.
(00:17):
Welcome to another episode of Shawn and Mike take a hike.
What are we talking about today, Mike?
I thought we'd go a little topical for the season and talk about trail safety during
hunting season.
Okay.
So we're all able to use the trails during this time of year.
It's not like hiking is a specific season.
(00:38):
You can go whenever you want.
Just also be mindful that there's others that don't normally go into the woods until it's
hunting season.
So and they have guns.
Guns are something at least.
So I am not a hunter.
I mean, I don't really know all the rules and all the seasons and all that sort of stuff.
(01:01):
But I know like right now where we're at, like the big talk about town is deer hunting season.
That's the big talk in Michigan year round is like when's deer hunting?
How many deer did you get this fall?
So that's the big thing.
We've got year round small game, like all that kind of stuff.
And this is the big one where you're going to encounter the most people in the woods.
(01:24):
So well, and I, and I remember this time a year ago, you and I were planning a backpacking
trip and because neither of us hunt, we don't really pay attention to such things, but wound
up we were planning it for like opening weekend of deer hunting season.
And we had a fairly lengthy discussion about, okay, do we go or would it be safer to not
(01:51):
go?
Right.
I mean, realistically it's always safer not to go whether it's hunting season or not.
But but yeah, I mean, so we looked up quite a bit of stuff.
I mean, we went back and forth for quite a while trying to determine whether or not we
could go.
We looked up like, all right, if we do go, what are some things we should do?
(02:14):
Right.
Ultimately, we decided not to go.
Well, mainly because it was opening weekend and the majority of hunters are out then.
I mean, it's deer widows weekend, like stores have sales for that crap, like everything.
Oh, for sure.
Yeah.
Right.
We ultimately decided not to go.
That might be one of the recommendations I'm giving today.
(02:36):
Like, right.
So do do whatever you feel comfortable with.
Right.
I mean, depending on, you know, is is deer hunting season or whatever the hunting season
in your area is, like, is it worth going, especially like opening weekend like we're
talking about, right?
Where where you have a huge amount of people that go out to go hunting opening weekend.
(02:58):
Is it worth it?
Like in the long run?
Is it worth us going out there just to go have a little bit of fun when we can go anytime?
Like, we don't need to go opening weekend.
We kind of decided at that point, like, all right, let the hunters have their fun.
We've had our fun all summer.
You know, like, let let them do their thing.
They wait all year for this.
(03:19):
Yep.
You know, let them have that weekend.
And it was partially a safety thing, too.
I mean, yeah, you got a bunch of people out there with guns.
You can take as many precautions as you want.
But if somebody mistakes you for a deer.
Right.
Possibly not such good outcomes with that.
Right.
So if you do decide that you want to go out during the hunting season, then we just we
(03:44):
kind of researched again.
We researched, I guess, some things to do to help keep you safe out in the woods during
this time and just different things to do to make your presence known so you don't startle
anybody.
For sure.
Right.
I mean, definitely.
We talked quite a bit about like, be respectful of nature and don't be overly loud when you're
(04:07):
out on the trail and all that sort of stuff.
Like, OK, this is the one time where I'm going to say, OK, maybe make a little bit of noise.
Right.
Don't like you can even do things like there's like bells you can get to strap onto your
pack or your person to make a little jingling noise so that you're not mistaken for something
or a song or whistle or something.
(04:30):
A song or whistle or take a pocket whistle or something like, I'm not saying be obnoxious
when you're out there, but you certainly don't want to be sneaking up on people if they're
out there hunting.
Yep.
If you're in bear territory, you typically, hey bear, hey bear, you do something like
that with a whistle or with your mouth, you know, a song or just say, I'm a person, I'm
(04:50):
not a hunter, I'm not a deer.
So like the one article that I was reading, the way that they phrased it was move naturally.
Like don't be sneaking.
I think because, you know, like when you and I were talking about it a year ago, I'm like,
well, you know, I don't want to scare the deer or I don't want to, you know, if these
(05:14):
people are out hunting, I don't want to be the one that scare and they're shot away or
whatever.
Right.
So my like without thinking it through too much, my initial gut reaction was like, I
don't want to be scared and the deer away from these people.
Well, you kind of maybe want to.
Don't be stealthy.
(05:36):
Like move with a purpose if you are going to be out there and you know that you're in
an area where like hunting is a possibility or maybe you're just not sure if hunting is
a possibility.
Right.
Like if it's one of those areas where you don't know if you can hunt that property or
not hunt that property, move like a normal person would move, make a little bit of no
noise, make your presence known.
(05:58):
Yeah.
Don't be sneaky.
Don't be stealthy.
Don't be sneaky.
Make some noise.
Yeah.
Don't be annoying about it, but also don't be don't don't be sneaky.
The other the other thing that I read was you could walk around clapping.
I don't know if that's a good thing or not, but like, you know, something to make some
noise to make your presence known.
(06:19):
Yeah.
Yeah, I did.
I didn't see the clapping thing.
Yeah.
That one made me laugh when I read that one.
Yeah.
It's the the other tried and true thing to do.
Blaze orange, right?
Wear something that is like hunter orange, some high vis colors, high vis colors, nothing.
(06:41):
This is not the time to be wearing your camo.
Right.
You know, this is this is not the time to be wearing your earth tones.
This is the time to be wearing something vibrant, something bright, be flashy, something visually
loud, preferably hunter orange, but really like anything super bright and not a natural
color would probably be sufficient.
(07:02):
Not necessarily just a little bit of it.
Like try to put as much of it as you as you can, whether it's a hat, a vest, a pack cover,
your pants, whatever.
Just try to stand out as much as you can.
You don't know what their line of sight is going to see that if you're just wearing a
hat, their line of sight might not see the hat.
(07:22):
Well, and in conjunction with that, one of the things that I read was like they do not
recommend that you wear white.
So because like a flash of white could be mistaken for like a deer tail.
Right.
So, you know, especially if you're just wearing like let's say you're just wearing a t-shirt
that's white.
Right.
Well, depending on the angle, like if somebody's if you got your pack on and somebody's seeing
(07:44):
you from behind and maybe they're only seeing just the shoulder of your shirt or something.
So it's just literally just a flash of white from whatever perspective they have.
Not such a good thing.
Right.
Right.
Yeah.
So maybe the yellow is better than white, but I would probably stick with the like the
brighter orange just because that's the most looked for color.
(08:11):
I would go out of my way.
Like when we were thinking about going last year, we bought I have high vis orange shirts.
We were going to wear high vis shirts.
We bought high vis orange hats to wear.
And then we were even looking into those backpack covers.
So like, you know, we've talked about like the rainflies for your packs before.
(08:34):
You can get basically the same concept.
Like it's a it's a big wrapper to put around your entire pack.
You can get those in different colors, like get a bright orange one of those to put on
your pack so that your backside is covered, you know.
Yeah, that's the main thing I was going to discuss was like the pack cover, because the
pack is the biggest part of you on the trail.
(08:57):
Like that's that's the biggest part that people are going to see from the front.
Maybe have a shirt or something that's high vis too.
But from the back, it's your pack is what's going to be seen the most.
The other thing that I was reading and tell me your thoughts on this, Mike.
So I was reading that it also is recommended to wear not just the hunter orange, but like
(09:18):
to have bits of like reflective.
Yeah.
What's your thoughts on that?
I think that's a great idea, especially if you are setting out during the peak hunting
hours, which is usually during like the early daybreak type of hours or right when it's
getting to dusk.
People are going to have their flashlights go and things like that.
(09:40):
If that's the case, then definitely have something that's reflective because deer don't reflect.
So they don't have reflective on them.
So if something if there's a glint or a little sheen that comes off of you for that, it alerts
them that that ain't nature, especially if it's a stripe.
Don't just wear like a little bead that could be mistaken for a deer eye.
(10:02):
But if you've got a stripe on your pack or like multiple stripes on your shirt, anything
like that, that's going to go a long way to.
So you kind of touched on something there that I don't know a lot of.
Maybe you know about this, but like what is peak hunting time like first of the day and
(10:23):
last of the day?
Is that really when?
I mean, you think about it, that's when the deer are moving.
That's when you're told to look out, you know, watch for deer is, you know, during the dusk
and dawn hours.
They're usually on the move during those times, that type of thing.
So that's that's from what my understanding is.
People come in for lunch and they go back out right around dinnertime and go back out.
(10:47):
I'm not a hunter either, but that's just from the hunters that I know.
They usually set out early in the morning and and later in the evening.
So maybe if you are going to go out, I guess maybe you could say, you know, try to stick
to the middle of the day for the time that you're moving around like that probably wouldn't
hurt either, I would suppose.
(11:07):
Right.
And the nice thing, I mean, you and me, we have these bright orange tents.
So sure.
So that helps, too.
So when we get to camp and we're setting up and everything, we've got some equipment that
actually helps make us noticeable to a fur.
And hopefully we're not camping right on somebody's deer blind.
But yeah, right.
(11:29):
So yeah.
So OK.
So we've talked before, like we don't go the maximum amount of miles every day either.
Like we only usually go right now several hours, but we could easily adjust where you're
not hiking first thing in the morning or very last thing in the day.
We you and I, the way we do it, we could easily, you know, shift our start time back an hour
(11:50):
or two, make sure that you're not going so far that you're to, you know, wherever you're
ending for the day.
Right.
At a reasonable time.
So you're not interfering with that.
So yeah.
OK.
Because that's what you're like, you said that's when the deer are moving is like dusk
and dawn type things.
So, yep.
So if you got to start around eleven thirty or noon somewhere around there, it's, you
know, peak day daytime.
(12:11):
People aren't going to be hunting as much.
Some people still do.
They'll sit out all day.
But it's not peak.
It's not the majority of people.
So if you start around then and then you hike until two or three, because I mean, we're
in Michigan.
It's getting dark out around three thirty four o'clock these days and starts to say
(12:32):
so.
Right.
It's you want to make sure you're to camp by then so you can start setting up.
So you're beating the dark anyway.
So well, and another thing that I guess I would think about, I mean, just food for thought
and everybody feel free to do whatever you're comfortable with.
But like you and I had that one whole episode about like hiking with your pets.
(12:53):
I don't know if deer season would be the time that I'd want to take my dog out on the trail.
No, not not me personally, especially especially if you're the type of person that does let
your dog off leash, which I have my own very strong feelings about that.
And same, you know, that's a whole different discussion altogether.
But like if you are the type of person that takes your dog and you are the type of person
(13:15):
that feels comfortable letting your dog off leash to do what dogs do.
I think I would be careful about doing that during hunting season.
Yeah.
I mean, what I was researching on that, too, is definitely make sure your dog has some
kind of high vis vest on some kind of high vis or reflective leash or anything like that.
(13:40):
Just make sure they're able to be seen.
I.
Yeah.
So same thing.
I mean, I have a great day.
That's the size of a small deer.
So if if if she were out in the woods and somebody just mistaken her for a weird colored
deer, then there goes the dog.
So but me, me personally, I wouldn't be especially with the size of dog that I have, I wouldn't
(14:06):
be taking her out in the woods this time of year.
Yeah.
And I mean, we're focusing on like deer hunting season, but like especially, you know, if
you're out during, I don't know, small game season or something like that and you got
like a smaller dog.
Yeah.
I just the only safe time for a dog in the woods during hunting season is probably duck
(14:26):
or goose, because I think they're they're used for that.
Aren't there dogs used for that?
They don't.
Yeah, right.
Safer for the dogs then.
I mean, and I guess the other thing that I guess I would just mention, not necessarily
specifically related to dogs, but just in general, you and I often talk about making
sure you stay on the trail.
(14:48):
Yeah, like we primarily hike designated hiking areas or trails, hiking trails like that's
an actual trail.
Yeah.
I don't know as though this would be the time of the year that I would, again, stay on the
trail all times of the year.
But like if you are the type of person that would leave the trail for something, I would
(15:09):
hope any hunters in the area would know where like actual trails are.
And I would think that it would be safer to stay on the trail than to go wandering off
the trail for anything.
Fair.
Yeah.
I mean, sometimes you got to wander off the trail a little bit to find some firewood.
Definitely make sure you're wearing your bright colors when you get to camp and you're doing
(15:29):
that too, because you're going to be wandering a little bit.
So or I mean, inevitably you might have to wander off to use the restroom or something
like that.
I understand there are scenarios where you get off the trail, but by and large, for the
most part, always stay on the trail, but especially during hunting season or if you know that
there are hunters in the area, stay to like the this area is for hiking.
(15:55):
Right.
Because, you know, especially if you're on a more widely used trail where maybe you're
not the only person out there.
Well, if the hunters out there and they know, OK, this this hiking trail is behind me.
Right.
You know, maybe they're not looking in front of them because they know that the trail is
behind them.
They might not be so much looking or paying attention to what's in front of them being
(16:19):
a person because they're not expecting that to be a person out there.
Right.
Yeah.
Well, the hunters are also responsible in that they're not shooting unless they know
what they're shooting at.
We all in a perfect world.
We always hear the horror stories, though.
So that's the thing.
I mean, there's always accidents, you know, like it or not.
These perfect accidents happen.
(16:39):
Yeah.
Well, I mean, and that comes back to the signage.
I mean, we've talked about some trails aren't as nice, nicely marked as other trails, but
true.
But pay attention to the type of trail you're on, how it's signed and what you're looking
for to help you stay on that trail again, especially during hunting season so you don't
wander off.
Sure.
(16:59):
Yeah.
I mean, that's a good point.
Yeah.
So kind of in conjunction with that, not exactly in conjunction with that, but like we know
you and I, I'm sure everybody that's listening, for those of us that do go on designated hiking
trails, a lot of the trails we use are like multi-use or do go through areas where hunting
(17:23):
is allowed.
One thing you might want to check is that trail even open?
Like especially here, we keep talking about Michigan where we're at, but like for deer
season, they very well may close portions of the trail in anticipation of all the hunters
out there as a safety precaution.
So I don't think it would hurt either to double check and make sure that that trail, even
(17:46):
if it is a hiking trail, make sure it's not closed for hunting season or something like
that.
Because that is a real point.
Check with your local DNR, you can check with the ranger station, check with something like
that.
Whoever maintains that area.
Right.
I don't think it would hurt to check that.
Well, and the one thing we did when we were looking at it last year is we went onto, there's
(18:09):
Facebook pages or Instagram pages for trails or trail associations or whatever.
Go on there and just ask the public, say, hey, I'm looking at maybe hiking these dates.
I know it's hunting season.
Does anybody know if this area is heavily hunted?
Is it safe to hunt in there?
(18:30):
Is it a no hunting zone?
Anything like that.
People on those pages are from all over.
Somebody's going to know the answer to it generally.
For sure.
Or at least they'll point you in the directions.
They might not be comfortable giving you the answer because then you could come back to
them, but they might point you to a website or to a phone number where you can call and
(18:54):
get that information.
For my money, along those lines, if you and I had decided to go last year during hunting
season, we had talked about, well, we could always just try to find a trail that doesn't
allow hunting adjacent to the trail.
Right.
That's in an area where hunting isn't allowed.
(19:15):
If your plans are flexible or if you are planning for this time of year and you don't have to
go to trail A or trail B, I would probably go out of my way to try to find an area where
hunting isn't even allowed to.
None of this is even an issue.
It's a hard thing to find in Michigan.
It is a hard thing to find, but it is doable.
(19:38):
It is doable.
There's some areas, especially down in the southern part of the state that are, I'm going
to say closer to civilization.
Not so much some of these national forests or any of that sort of stuff, but there are
some areas down in the southern part of the state where hunting is not allowed.
If we were to go, we're flexible enough, we could have gone to a place like that to do
(20:01):
our hiking trip last year.
We chose to cancel the whole thing altogether, but I feel like that would have been the smart
thing to do is just avoid all these situations altogether.
Go somewhere that hunting is not even allowed.
Well, I guess another thing too that just popped into my mind is when you're driving
to work or whatever, we're in an area where we've got farm fields all over the place.
(20:22):
You generally see the deer congregating in the farm fields, getting something to eat,
grazing, whatever.
During the time of day where we're telling you not to go hiking and everything, that's
generally where the hunters are going to be.
How many deer blinds do you see on the edges of fields and things of that nature?
Just pay attention to where that trail is, and if you know that it's coming up to, or
(20:47):
you've got a field that the trail cuts through or goes alongside of or anything like that,
make sure you know that you're getting into potentially dangerous territory and make sure
you make your noise, you've got your blaze orange on and all that kind of stuff.
Stay safe.
Yeah.
Well, and part of being safe too, we've preached... I can't even recall what episode it was
(21:14):
that we were talking about this, but especially if you're going by yourself out doing this.
Hopefully everybody's hiking with a buddy, but let's face it, some people like to go
hiking on their own.
Let somebody know where you're going to be when you plan on being back.
Heaven forbid something were to happen, but at least let somebody know, hey, if I'm not
(21:37):
back by four o'clock or whatever, or if I haven't checked in by such and such time, I
don't want to scare anybody.
I don't want anybody to be too concerned, but I want you to be an appropriate amount
of concern.
You know what I'm saying?
Well, I think that was our how do we plan for a trip or something like that.
That episode was make sure when you're getting ready to go is... no matter when it is, make
(22:02):
sure you have somebody that knows this is my plan for day one.
I should be in this area.
I'll check in if I can.
This is where I'm supposed to be by day two.
Those types of things.
So if you're not heard of for three or four days, then they know the general area where
they should be looking type of a thing.
Well, in this day and age, depending on where you're going and how far in the back country
(22:25):
you're getting, if you're in an area that's going to have cell signal and you're the type
of person... I think most of us carry smartphones with us these days.
That would assume.
I don't think it would hurt to share your location with somebody either.
Especially if you're in an area that does have cell signal.
That's not even necessarily specifically related to hunting season.
(22:49):
That's maybe an all time thing.
That's an all time thing.
Yeah.
I mean, realistically, a lot of these tips are for an all time thing.
Maybe not the blaze orange or anything like that, the bright colors, but we generally
try to wear bright colors on the trail regardless.
Yeah.
I mean, that's the thing.
Well, I don't want to be sneaking up on other hikers either.
I mean, regardless of it being hunters, we had people scare the bejesus out of me that
(23:10):
one year and it's not a lot of fun when people sneak up on you.
So I like to be... I don't want to be obnoxiously loud in my something, but I want to be loud
enough that I'm not sneaking up on anybody and scaring the shit out of them.
Yeah.
Fair enough.
Fair enough.
But yeah, I mean, so that's another thing with this one.
(23:30):
If you're comfortable sharing... If you have somebody in your life that you're comfortable
sharing your location with, I would probably recommend doing that just in case.
Yeah, for sure.
I like that idea.
We've kind of gone over a lot of what my notes are already.
Oh, I have a few more.
(23:51):
I have a few more things.
Good.
I have a couple more too, but the big one I'll save a guess for a little bit later.
Oh, well now I'm curious.
What's your big one?
We'll get to it.
So the next one on my list... I feel a little bit silly even saying this, but I do think
it's a good idea.
(24:12):
Know what deer calls... Like if you're going to deer hunting season, know what a deer call
sounds like.
Yeah.
And try to avoid making that sound.
Try to avoid making that sound or just to be able to recognize... I don't know if I
would be able to tell me personally if I'm hearing a deer or a deer call, but realistically
(24:39):
if I hear either of those sounds that sound like a deer, I'm going to start making more
noise than I was making.
Right.
You know what I'm saying?
That is a good indication.
Start clapping, start whistling, start laughing, start talking a little bit louder.
Whatever your method of being heard is, I would start doing that if I heard something
(25:00):
that sounded like a deer call or a deer.
For sure.
Because if it's a real deer and there's a hunter nearby, well I want the hunter to know,
like, hey, I know you're probably hearing this deer too, but like, hey, there's a person
here along with that deer, so don't shoot.
Right.
And if it's a deer hunter making that noise, well then I still want the deer hunter to
(25:21):
know, hey, I'm here.
I'm not a deer.
Don't shoot.
Don't be trying to call me in because I'm a person.
I'm not a deer.
Right.
No, that's for sure.
Yeah, know the sounds.
That's a really good one.
I was not in my notes.
That's a really good point.
And then the next one that I had on my list was, I mean, we've been talking about, you
(25:45):
know, be visible, wear bright colored clothing, all that sort of stuff.
Don't hike in the morning at dawn or at dusk.
I probably wouldn't be out there in the fog either.
True.
You know what I mean?
Anything that's hindering visibility, probably not great to be hiking in during that type
of year.
Right.
(26:05):
Or time of the year.
Just nothing that's going to mask where you're at, I guess is what I'm trying to say.
100%.
So if it's foggy or even if it's like misty rainy, that's going to be making visibility
hard.
None of that.
I'm tapping out for any of that sort of situation.
Bright colored clothing is going to help with that.
(26:26):
Right.
A headlamp or a flashlight is going to help with that.
But it's not foolproof.
It's not 100% effective.
Just don't don't be putting yourself in harm's way if you don't need to.
Absolutely.
I'll go with my my thing that I was going to talk about because it kind of goes along
those lines is day glow.
(26:47):
I don't know exactly what day glow is, but my notes indicate I should have looked it
up, but I assumed it was like my Knox gear.
That's not a sponsor, but I love that vest.
I got it for this time of year trying to walk the dogs to get out of work.
It's already dark outside.
You want to be able to be seen.
I have a Knox gear trace too.
We I'd have a link to it that Shawn’s going to be putting on the website for but it's
(27:17):
an LED rechargeable USB-C vest that you wear very lightweight and you can have it flash
all sorts of bright colors.
You can have it set to just blaze orange or just yellow, just blue, just pink or you can
have it in party mode.
So it's just flashing these bright colors all over the place and it's just this little
(27:37):
thing that just wraps around you.
So it's the one you're talking about.
It's like LED and like tubing and stuff.
Right.
Yeah.
So that so while that is a good tip, that is not what Dayglow is.
Okay.
What is the day?
Well, I think I think Dayglow is like Dayglow TM.
(27:59):
Like I'm pretty sure it's trademark.
Okay.
Right.
Yeah.
I wasn't sure if it was brand name or what.
Yeah.
I think Dayglow is an actual brand name, but what Dayglow is and I'm not a scientist, so
I'm not probably going to say this exactly right, but you know how bright Hunter's Orange
is.
Yeah.
Hunter's Orange is not Dayglow.
It is just a bright color.
(28:20):
There is quote unquote Dayglow coloring that you can get like that is and I don't know
how they do it, but it's like a color that actually looks like it is glowing.
Okay.
But it's not glowing.
It's not like glow in the dark stuff.
(28:41):
How you got to hold it up to a light and then it starts glowing when you turn the lights
off.
It's not like that.
It's not charged by anything.
It's not actually glowing, but it is colored in such a way that your eye when you see it
literally looks fluorescent.
Like it looks like it is glowing even though it's not physically glowing.
Okay.
(29:02):
So it's not actually lit up anything like that.
That's what I was...
It's not actually lit up, but to look at it, it looks like...
If you were wearing a shirt that was Dayglow and I were to look at you, you would look
to me like you were glowing.
That's me failing on my research again.
Well, I'm glad you brought it up because I forgot all about Dayglow even being a thing.
(29:23):
I have no idea how they do it.
Right.
Genuinely no freaking clue.
Science at its finest in some fashion.
I don't know how they embedded this stuff, but it is like...
When you see it, if you have ever seen it, it's bright.
It looks like it is glowing.
I mean, the Knox gear would be...
(29:46):
You can see it during the day for sure.
It's a lot more beneficial during the dusk or nighttime hours, things like that.
But it's still...
If it is foggy, it's going to illuminate the fog along with you.
So deer don't do that.
So things like that.
I think for sure that your vest thing that you're talking about, that's a great idea.
(30:08):
I didn't even think about doing something like that.
Especially if...
Okay, let's say you're on a multi-day trip or whatever during this time of year.
You don't necessarily know if it's going to be foggy in the morning.
Or realistically foggy all day.
Do you have to be on the move?
(30:29):
Do you have to move through that and you need to find a way to be more visible than you
are?
That would be a great thing to have in your pack to use in that situation, especially
this time of year.
Maybe not all year.
Right.
Because maybe not during hunting season.
Do you care if it's a little bit foggy and people can't see you?
Maybe you don't care.
But if you're going during hunting season, great tip.
(30:51):
I think that's a super good idea.
If you really, really want to take your dog during this time, they also make dog vests
for them too.
Good to know.
I've got all those links that we can put on our little page, our website.
Our little page, listen to you.
But yeah, I think the big thing, the overarching theme of everything that we've talked about,
(31:19):
for Shawn’s perspective on hiking during hunting season, unless I could find a trail that I
knew was off limits to hunting, I don't think I'm putting myself in risk.
Accidents do happen.
I mean, I'm not even just going to say I think we did decide last year not to go.
(31:41):
We decided this year not to go too.
We were like, yeah, we're getting into hunting season based off of our decision last year.
We'll just go again in the spring.
We'll be fine.
Unless I can talk you into going in the winter.
Okay.
Well, that's a different conversation altogether.
But I think put your safety ahead of...look, we like hiking.
(32:07):
It's fun.
I get it.
It's a good time out in the woods.
I want to go just as much as the next guy.
I'm putting my safety above that.
It's not worth the potential dangers, which realistically probably are never going to
happen.
They're probably not going to get shot at or wounded or any of that.
(32:28):
Probably.
The majority of hunters are the responsible hunters that pay attention to what they're
shooting at before they shoot, before they aim, pull the trigger, all that.
They know what they're looking at.
That's the majority.
There is a minority that are trigger happy and want to shoot their gun.
It might not even be...like my take, I like to have a little bit of faith in people.
(32:51):
My take is that it might not even just be somebody that's trigger happy.
Maybe it's your first time and you're nervous and you're just so amped up about the whole
thing that your brain kind of goes out the window for a minute.
Or maybe you're a younger hunter that's...brains are soft still when you're a younger hunter.
(33:15):
Maybe you just don't think through some of these things in the way that an older adult
would think through.
Not that you have any ill intentions, but accidents happen.
So yeah, I would just...I mean, do your own research.
There it is.
Fit that one in.
Do your own research.
Leave no trace.
Try to find an area that is off limits to hunting.
(33:38):
If you absolutely have to go hiking and it's in an area that hunting is allowed, hopefully
some of these tips will help keep you safer.
Things to think about.
And if you're like Mike and I and you're not a hunter, maybe look up what your local hunting
season is.
Right.
Yeah.
(33:58):
We didn't even think about it.
Yeah, definitely do that.
And also know this, like I kind of said at the beginning, is that these people that hunt,
that's the only time they go out in the woods.
They've been looking forward to this all year and you've been able to do it all summer,
spring, winter, whatever.
(34:19):
Be mindful that they're excited to be out there.
Don't do it to be spiteful that these trails are for us too, which they are.
They are for us too, but they are allowed to be there and try not to make it so somebody
else is having a bad time in the woods.
Yeah.
Good point.
(34:40):
That's all I have.
All right.
Well, if anybody else has any tips or tricks that they would like to share about how you
safely hike during hunting season or anything that you can think of that we haven't mentioned
here that we probably should have mentioned, feel free to reach us on our email, which
is shawnmikehike at gmail.com.
You can reach us on all of the major social medias at shawnmikehike or directly via our
(35:05):
website shawnmikehike.com.
We will put a couple of links up to some of the gear that Mike and I have talked about
throughout this episode on our website, so feel free to check that out.
Like, subscribe, share, do all the things.
And until next time, go take a hike.
Go take a hike after hunting season.
There you go.
(35:26):
We'll see you guys.
Thank you.
See you in a couple of weeks.
I'm Shawn and I'm Mike and you're listening to Shawn and Mike take a hike.
(00:17):
Welcome to another episode of Shawn and Mike take a hike.
What are we talking about today, Mike?
I thought we'd go a little topical for the season and talk about trail safety during
hunting season.
Okay.
So we're all able to use the trails during this time of year.
It's not like hiking is a specific season.
(00:38):
You can go whenever you want.
Just also be mindful that there's others that don't normally go into the woods until it's
hunting season.
So and they have guns.
Guns are something at least.
So I am not a hunter.
I mean, I don't really know all the rules and all the seasons and all that sort of stuff.
(01:01):
But I know like right now where we're at, like the big talk about town is deer hunting season.
That's the big talk in Michigan year round is like when's deer hunting?
How many deer did you get this fall?
So that's the big thing.
We've got year round small game, like all that kind of stuff.
And this is the big one where you're going to encounter the most people in the woods.
(01:24):
So well, and I, and I remember this time a year ago, you and I were planning a backpacking
trip and because neither of us hunt, we don't really pay attention to such things, but wound
up we were planning it for like opening weekend of deer hunting season.
And we had a fairly lengthy discussion about, okay, do we go or would it be safer to not
(01:51):
go?
Right.
I mean, realistically it's always safer not to go whether it's hunting season or not.
But but yeah, I mean, so we looked up quite a bit of stuff.
I mean, we went back and forth for quite a while trying to determine whether or not we
could go.
We looked up like, all right, if we do go, what are some things we should do?
(02:14):
Right.
Ultimately, we decided not to go.
Well, mainly because it was opening weekend and the majority of hunters are out then.
I mean, it's deer widows weekend, like stores have sales for that crap, like everything.
Oh, for sure.
Yeah.
Right.
We ultimately decided not to go.
That might be one of the recommendations I'm giving today.
(02:36):
Like, right.
So do do whatever you feel comfortable with.
Right.
I mean, depending on, you know, is is deer hunting season or whatever the hunting season
in your area is, like, is it worth going, especially like opening weekend like we're
talking about, right?
Where where you have a huge amount of people that go out to go hunting opening weekend.
(02:58):
Is it worth it?
Like in the long run?
Is it worth us going out there just to go have a little bit of fun when we can go anytime?
Like, we don't need to go opening weekend.
We kind of decided at that point, like, all right, let the hunters have their fun.
We've had our fun all summer.
You know, like, let let them do their thing.
They wait all year for this.
(03:19):
Yep.
You know, let them have that weekend.
And it was partially a safety thing, too.
I mean, yeah, you got a bunch of people out there with guns.
You can take as many precautions as you want.
But if somebody mistakes you for a deer.
Right.
Possibly not such good outcomes with that.
Right.
So if you do decide that you want to go out during the hunting season, then we just we
(03:44):
kind of researched again.
We researched, I guess, some things to do to help keep you safe out in the woods during
this time and just different things to do to make your presence known so you don't startle
anybody.
For sure.
Right.
I mean, definitely.
We talked quite a bit about like, be respectful of nature and don't be overly loud when you're
(04:07):
out on the trail and all that sort of stuff.
Like, OK, this is the one time where I'm going to say, OK, maybe make a little bit of noise.
Right.
Don't like you can even do things like there's like bells you can get to strap onto your
pack or your person to make a little jingling noise so that you're not mistaken for something
or a song or whistle or something.
(04:30):
A song or whistle or take a pocket whistle or something like, I'm not saying be obnoxious
when you're out there, but you certainly don't want to be sneaking up on people if they're
out there hunting.
Yep.
If you're in bear territory, you typically, hey bear, hey bear, you do something like
that with a whistle or with your mouth, you know, a song or just say, I'm a person, I'm
(04:50):
not a hunter, I'm not a deer.
So like the one article that I was reading, the way that they phrased it was move naturally.
Like don't be sneaking.
I think because, you know, like when you and I were talking about it a year ago, I'm like,
well, you know, I don't want to scare the deer or I don't want to, you know, if these
(05:14):
people are out hunting, I don't want to be the one that scare and they're shot away or
whatever.
Right.
So my like without thinking it through too much, my initial gut reaction was like, I
don't want to be scared and the deer away from these people.
Well, you kind of maybe want to.
Don't be stealthy.
(05:36):
Like move with a purpose if you are going to be out there and you know that you're in
an area where like hunting is a possibility or maybe you're just not sure if hunting is
a possibility.
Right.
Like if it's one of those areas where you don't know if you can hunt that property or
not hunt that property, move like a normal person would move, make a little bit of no
noise, make your presence known.
(05:58):
Yeah.
Don't be sneaky.
Don't be stealthy.
Don't be sneaky.
Make some noise.
Yeah.
Don't be annoying about it, but also don't be don't don't be sneaky.
The other the other thing that I read was you could walk around clapping.
I don't know if that's a good thing or not, but like, you know, something to make some
noise to make your presence known.
(06:19):
Yeah.
Yeah, I did.
I didn't see the clapping thing.
Yeah.
That one made me laugh when I read that one.
Yeah.
It's the the other tried and true thing to do.
Blaze orange, right?
Wear something that is like hunter orange, some high vis colors, high vis colors, nothing.
(06:41):
This is not the time to be wearing your camo.
Right.
You know, this is this is not the time to be wearing your earth tones.
This is the time to be wearing something vibrant, something bright, be flashy, something visually
loud, preferably hunter orange, but really like anything super bright and not a natural
color would probably be sufficient.
(07:02):
Not necessarily just a little bit of it.
Like try to put as much of it as you as you can, whether it's a hat, a vest, a pack cover,
your pants, whatever.
Just try to stand out as much as you can.
You don't know what their line of sight is going to see that if you're just wearing a
hat, their line of sight might not see the hat.
(07:22):
Well, and in conjunction with that, one of the things that I read was like they do not
recommend that you wear white.
So because like a flash of white could be mistaken for like a deer tail.
Right.
So, you know, especially if you're just wearing like let's say you're just wearing a t-shirt
that's white.
Right.
Well, depending on the angle, like if somebody's if you got your pack on and somebody's seeing
(07:44):
you from behind and maybe they're only seeing just the shoulder of your shirt or something.
So it's just literally just a flash of white from whatever perspective they have.
Not such a good thing.
Right.
Right.
Yeah.
So maybe the yellow is better than white, but I would probably stick with the like the
brighter orange just because that's the most looked for color.
(08:11):
I would go out of my way.
Like when we were thinking about going last year, we bought I have high vis orange shirts.
We were going to wear high vis shirts.
We bought high vis orange hats to wear.
And then we were even looking into those backpack covers.
So like, you know, we've talked about like the rainflies for your packs before.
(08:34):
You can get basically the same concept.
Like it's a it's a big wrapper to put around your entire pack.
You can get those in different colors, like get a bright orange one of those to put on
your pack so that your backside is covered, you know.
Yeah, that's the main thing I was going to discuss was like the pack cover, because the
pack is the biggest part of you on the trail.
(08:57):
Like that's that's the biggest part that people are going to see from the front.
Maybe have a shirt or something that's high vis too.
But from the back, it's your pack is what's going to be seen the most.
The other thing that I was reading and tell me your thoughts on this, Mike.
So I was reading that it also is recommended to wear not just the hunter orange, but like
(09:18):
to have bits of like reflective.
Yeah.
What's your thoughts on that?
I think that's a great idea, especially if you are setting out during the peak hunting
hours, which is usually during like the early daybreak type of hours or right when it's
getting to dusk.
People are going to have their flashlights go and things like that.
(09:40):
If that's the case, then definitely have something that's reflective because deer don't reflect.
So they don't have reflective on them.
So if something if there's a glint or a little sheen that comes off of you for that, it alerts
them that that ain't nature, especially if it's a stripe.
Don't just wear like a little bead that could be mistaken for a deer eye.
(10:02):
But if you've got a stripe on your pack or like multiple stripes on your shirt, anything
like that, that's going to go a long way to.
So you kind of touched on something there that I don't know a lot of.
Maybe you know about this, but like what is peak hunting time like first of the day and
(10:23):
last of the day?
Is that really when?
I mean, you think about it, that's when the deer are moving.
That's when you're told to look out, you know, watch for deer is, you know, during the dusk
and dawn hours.
They're usually on the move during those times, that type of thing.
So that's that's from what my understanding is.
People come in for lunch and they go back out right around dinnertime and go back out.
(10:47):
I'm not a hunter either, but that's just from the hunters that I know.
They usually set out early in the morning and and later in the evening.
So maybe if you are going to go out, I guess maybe you could say, you know, try to stick
to the middle of the day for the time that you're moving around like that probably wouldn't
hurt either, I would suppose.
(11:07):
Right.
And the nice thing, I mean, you and me, we have these bright orange tents.
So sure.
So that helps, too.
So when we get to camp and we're setting up and everything, we've got some equipment that
actually helps make us noticeable to a fur.
And hopefully we're not camping right on somebody's deer blind.
But yeah, right.
(11:29):
So yeah.
So OK.
So we've talked before, like we don't go the maximum amount of miles every day either.
Like we only usually go right now several hours, but we could easily adjust where you're
not hiking first thing in the morning or very last thing in the day.
We you and I, the way we do it, we could easily, you know, shift our start time back an hour
(11:50):
or two, make sure that you're not going so far that you're to, you know, wherever you're
ending for the day.
Right.
At a reasonable time.
So you're not interfering with that.
So yeah.
OK.
Because that's what you're like, you said that's when the deer are moving is like dusk
and dawn type things.
So, yep.
So if you got to start around eleven thirty or noon somewhere around there, it's, you
know, peak day daytime.
(12:11):
People aren't going to be hunting as much.
Some people still do.
They'll sit out all day.
But it's not peak.
It's not the majority of people.
So if you start around then and then you hike until two or three, because I mean, we're
in Michigan.
It's getting dark out around three thirty four o'clock these days and starts to say
(12:32):
so.
Right.
It's you want to make sure you're to camp by then so you can start setting up.
So you're beating the dark anyway.
So well, and another thing that I guess I would think about, I mean, just food for thought
and everybody feel free to do whatever you're comfortable with.
But like you and I had that one whole episode about like hiking with your pets.
(12:53):
I don't know if deer season would be the time that I'd want to take my dog out on the trail.
No, not not me personally, especially especially if you're the type of person that does let
your dog off leash, which I have my own very strong feelings about that.
And same, you know, that's a whole different discussion altogether.
But like if you are the type of person that takes your dog and you are the type of person
(13:15):
that feels comfortable letting your dog off leash to do what dogs do.
I think I would be careful about doing that during hunting season.
Yeah.
I mean, what I was researching on that, too, is definitely make sure your dog has some
kind of high vis vest on some kind of high vis or reflective leash or anything like that.
(13:40):
Just make sure they're able to be seen.
I.
Yeah.
So same thing.
I mean, I have a great day.
That's the size of a small deer.
So if if if she were out in the woods and somebody just mistaken her for a weird colored
deer, then there goes the dog.
So but me, me personally, I wouldn't be especially with the size of dog that I have, I wouldn't
(14:06):
be taking her out in the woods this time of year.
Yeah.
And I mean, we're focusing on like deer hunting season, but like especially, you know, if
you're out during, I don't know, small game season or something like that and you got
like a smaller dog.
Yeah.
I just the only safe time for a dog in the woods during hunting season is probably duck
(14:26):
or goose, because I think they're they're used for that.
Aren't there dogs used for that?
They don't.
Yeah, right.
Safer for the dogs then.
I mean, and I guess the other thing that I guess I would just mention, not necessarily
specifically related to dogs, but just in general, you and I often talk about making
sure you stay on the trail.
(14:48):
Yeah, like we primarily hike designated hiking areas or trails, hiking trails like that's
an actual trail.
Yeah.
I don't know as though this would be the time of the year that I would, again, stay on the
trail all times of the year.
But like if you are the type of person that would leave the trail for something, I would
(15:09):
hope any hunters in the area would know where like actual trails are.
And I would think that it would be safer to stay on the trail than to go wandering off
the trail for anything.
Fair.
Yeah.
I mean, sometimes you got to wander off the trail a little bit to find some firewood.
Definitely make sure you're wearing your bright colors when you get to camp and you're doing
(15:29):
that too, because you're going to be wandering a little bit.
So or I mean, inevitably you might have to wander off to use the restroom or something
like that.
I understand there are scenarios where you get off the trail, but by and large, for the
most part, always stay on the trail, but especially during hunting season or if you know that
there are hunters in the area, stay to like the this area is for hiking.
(15:55):
Right.
Because, you know, especially if you're on a more widely used trail where maybe you're
not the only person out there.
Well, if the hunters out there and they know, OK, this this hiking trail is behind me.
Right.
You know, maybe they're not looking in front of them because they know that the trail is
behind them.
They might not be so much looking or paying attention to what's in front of them being
(16:19):
a person because they're not expecting that to be a person out there.
Right.
Yeah.
Well, the hunters are also responsible in that they're not shooting unless they know
what they're shooting at.
We all in a perfect world.
We always hear the horror stories, though.
So that's the thing.
I mean, there's always accidents, you know, like it or not.
These perfect accidents happen.
(16:39):
Yeah.
Well, I mean, and that comes back to the signage.
I mean, we've talked about some trails aren't as nice, nicely marked as other trails, but
true.
But pay attention to the type of trail you're on, how it's signed and what you're looking
for to help you stay on that trail again, especially during hunting season so you don't
wander off.
Sure.
(16:59):
Yeah.
I mean, that's a good point.
Yeah.
So kind of in conjunction with that, not exactly in conjunction with that, but like we know
you and I, I'm sure everybody that's listening, for those of us that do go on designated hiking
trails, a lot of the trails we use are like multi-use or do go through areas where hunting
(17:23):
is allowed.
One thing you might want to check is that trail even open?
Like especially here, we keep talking about Michigan where we're at, but like for deer
season, they very well may close portions of the trail in anticipation of all the hunters
out there as a safety precaution.
So I don't think it would hurt either to double check and make sure that that trail, even
(17:46):
if it is a hiking trail, make sure it's not closed for hunting season or something like
that.
Because that is a real point.
Check with your local DNR, you can check with the ranger station, check with something like
that.
Whoever maintains that area.
Right.
I don't think it would hurt to check that.
Well, and the one thing we did when we were looking at it last year is we went onto, there's
(18:09):
Facebook pages or Instagram pages for trails or trail associations or whatever.
Go on there and just ask the public, say, hey, I'm looking at maybe hiking these dates.
I know it's hunting season.
Does anybody know if this area is heavily hunted?
Is it safe to hunt in there?
(18:30):
Is it a no hunting zone?
Anything like that.
People on those pages are from all over.
Somebody's going to know the answer to it generally.
For sure.
Or at least they'll point you in the directions.
They might not be comfortable giving you the answer because then you could come back to
them, but they might point you to a website or to a phone number where you can call and
(18:54):
get that information.
For my money, along those lines, if you and I had decided to go last year during hunting
season, we had talked about, well, we could always just try to find a trail that doesn't
allow hunting adjacent to the trail.
Right.
That's in an area where hunting isn't allowed.
(19:15):
If your plans are flexible or if you are planning for this time of year and you don't have to
go to trail A or trail B, I would probably go out of my way to try to find an area where
hunting isn't even allowed to.
None of this is even an issue.
It's a hard thing to find in Michigan.
It is a hard thing to find, but it is doable.
(19:38):
It is doable.
There's some areas, especially down in the southern part of the state that are, I'm going
to say closer to civilization.
Not so much some of these national forests or any of that sort of stuff, but there are
some areas down in the southern part of the state where hunting is not allowed.
If we were to go, we're flexible enough, we could have gone to a place like that to do
(20:01):
our hiking trip last year.
We chose to cancel the whole thing altogether, but I feel like that would have been the smart
thing to do is just avoid all these situations altogether.
Go somewhere that hunting is not even allowed.
Well, I guess another thing too that just popped into my mind is when you're driving
to work or whatever, we're in an area where we've got farm fields all over the place.
(20:22):
You generally see the deer congregating in the farm fields, getting something to eat,
grazing, whatever.
During the time of day where we're telling you not to go hiking and everything, that's
generally where the hunters are going to be.
How many deer blinds do you see on the edges of fields and things of that nature?
Just pay attention to where that trail is, and if you know that it's coming up to, or
(20:47):
you've got a field that the trail cuts through or goes alongside of or anything like that,
make sure you know that you're getting into potentially dangerous territory and make sure
you make your noise, you've got your blaze orange on and all that kind of stuff.
Stay safe.
Yeah.
Well, and part of being safe too, we've preached... I can't even recall what episode it was
(21:14):
that we were talking about this, but especially if you're going by yourself out doing this.
Hopefully everybody's hiking with a buddy, but let's face it, some people like to go
hiking on their own.
Let somebody know where you're going to be when you plan on being back.
Heaven forbid something were to happen, but at least let somebody know, hey, if I'm not
(21:37):
back by four o'clock or whatever, or if I haven't checked in by such and such time, I
don't want to scare anybody.
I don't want anybody to be too concerned, but I want you to be an appropriate amount
of concern.
You know what I'm saying?
Well, I think that was our how do we plan for a trip or something like that.
That episode was make sure when you're getting ready to go is... no matter when it is, make
(22:02):
sure you have somebody that knows this is my plan for day one.
I should be in this area.
I'll check in if I can.
This is where I'm supposed to be by day two.
Those types of things.
So if you're not heard of for three or four days, then they know the general area where
they should be looking type of a thing.
Well, in this day and age, depending on where you're going and how far in the back country
(22:25):
you're getting, if you're in an area that's going to have cell signal and you're the type
of person... I think most of us carry smartphones with us these days.
That would assume.
I don't think it would hurt to share your location with somebody either.
Especially if you're in an area that does have cell signal.
That's not even necessarily specifically related to hunting season.
(22:49):
That's maybe an all time thing.
That's an all time thing.
Yeah.
I mean, realistically, a lot of these tips are for an all time thing.
Maybe not the blaze orange or anything like that, the bright colors, but we generally
try to wear bright colors on the trail regardless.
Yeah.
I mean, that's the thing.
Well, I don't want to be sneaking up on other hikers either.
I mean, regardless of it being hunters, we had people scare the bejesus out of me that
(23:10):
one year and it's not a lot of fun when people sneak up on you.
So I like to be... I don't want to be obnoxiously loud in my something, but I want to be loud
enough that I'm not sneaking up on anybody and scaring the shit out of them.
Yeah.
Fair enough.
Fair enough.
But yeah, I mean, so that's another thing with this one.
(23:30):
If you're comfortable sharing... If you have somebody in your life that you're comfortable
sharing your location with, I would probably recommend doing that just in case.
Yeah, for sure.
I like that idea.
We've kind of gone over a lot of what my notes are already.
Oh, I have a few more.
(23:51):
I have a few more things.
Good.
I have a couple more too, but the big one I'll save a guess for a little bit later.
Oh, well now I'm curious.
What's your big one?
We'll get to it.
So the next one on my list... I feel a little bit silly even saying this, but I do think
it's a good idea.
(24:12):
Know what deer calls... Like if you're going to deer hunting season, know what a deer call
sounds like.
Yeah.
And try to avoid making that sound.
Try to avoid making that sound or just to be able to recognize... I don't know if I
would be able to tell me personally if I'm hearing a deer or a deer call, but realistically
(24:39):
if I hear either of those sounds that sound like a deer, I'm going to start making more
noise than I was making.
Right.
You know what I'm saying?
That is a good indication.
Start clapping, start whistling, start laughing, start talking a little bit louder.
Whatever your method of being heard is, I would start doing that if I heard something
(25:00):
that sounded like a deer call or a deer.
For sure.
Because if it's a real deer and there's a hunter nearby, well I want the hunter to know,
like, hey, I know you're probably hearing this deer too, but like, hey, there's a person
here along with that deer, so don't shoot.
Right.
And if it's a deer hunter making that noise, well then I still want the deer hunter to
(25:21):
know, hey, I'm here.
I'm not a deer.
Don't shoot.
Don't be trying to call me in because I'm a person.
I'm not a deer.
Right.
No, that's for sure.
Yeah, know the sounds.
That's a really good one.
I was not in my notes.
That's a really good point.
And then the next one that I had on my list was, I mean, we've been talking about, you
(25:45):
know, be visible, wear bright colored clothing, all that sort of stuff.
Don't hike in the morning at dawn or at dusk.
I probably wouldn't be out there in the fog either.
True.
You know what I mean?
Anything that's hindering visibility, probably not great to be hiking in during that type
of year.
Right.
(26:05):
Or time of the year.
Just nothing that's going to mask where you're at, I guess is what I'm trying to say.
100%.
So if it's foggy or even if it's like misty rainy, that's going to be making visibility
hard.
None of that.
I'm tapping out for any of that sort of situation.
Bright colored clothing is going to help with that.
(26:26):
Right.
A headlamp or a flashlight is going to help with that.
But it's not foolproof.
It's not 100% effective.
Just don't don't be putting yourself in harm's way if you don't need to.
Absolutely.
I'll go with my my thing that I was going to talk about because it kind of goes along
those lines is day glow.
(26:47):
I don't know exactly what day glow is, but my notes indicate I should have looked it
up, but I assumed it was like my Knox gear.
That's not a sponsor, but I love that vest.
I got it for this time of year trying to walk the dogs to get out of work.
It's already dark outside.
You want to be able to be seen.
I have a Knox gear trace too.
We I'd have a link to it that Shawn’s going to be putting on the website for but it's
(27:17):
an LED rechargeable USB-C vest that you wear very lightweight and you can have it flash
all sorts of bright colors.
You can have it set to just blaze orange or just yellow, just blue, just pink or you can
have it in party mode.
So it's just flashing these bright colors all over the place and it's just this little
(27:37):
thing that just wraps around you.
So it's the one you're talking about.
It's like LED and like tubing and stuff.
Right.
Yeah.
So that so while that is a good tip, that is not what Dayglow is.
Okay.
What is the day?
Well, I think I think Dayglow is like Dayglow TM.
(27:59):
Like I'm pretty sure it's trademark.
Okay.
Right.
Yeah.
I wasn't sure if it was brand name or what.
Yeah.
I think Dayglow is an actual brand name, but what Dayglow is and I'm not a scientist, so
I'm not probably going to say this exactly right, but you know how bright Hunter's Orange
is.
Yeah.
Hunter's Orange is not Dayglow.
It is just a bright color.
(28:20):
There is quote unquote Dayglow coloring that you can get like that is and I don't know
how they do it, but it's like a color that actually looks like it is glowing.
Okay.
But it's not glowing.
It's not like glow in the dark stuff.
(28:41):
How you got to hold it up to a light and then it starts glowing when you turn the lights
off.
It's not like that.
It's not charged by anything.
It's not actually glowing, but it is colored in such a way that your eye when you see it
literally looks fluorescent.
Like it looks like it is glowing even though it's not physically glowing.
Okay.
(29:02):
So it's not actually lit up anything like that.
That's what I was...
It's not actually lit up, but to look at it, it looks like...
If you were wearing a shirt that was Dayglow and I were to look at you, you would look
to me like you were glowing.
That's me failing on my research again.
Well, I'm glad you brought it up because I forgot all about Dayglow even being a thing.
(29:23):
I have no idea how they do it.
Right.
Genuinely no freaking clue.
Science at its finest in some fashion.
I don't know how they embedded this stuff, but it is like...
When you see it, if you have ever seen it, it's bright.
It looks like it is glowing.
I mean, the Knox gear would be...
(29:46):
You can see it during the day for sure.
It's a lot more beneficial during the dusk or nighttime hours, things like that.
But it's still...
If it is foggy, it's going to illuminate the fog along with you.
So deer don't do that.
So things like that.
I think for sure that your vest thing that you're talking about, that's a great idea.
(30:08):
I didn't even think about doing something like that.
Especially if...
Okay, let's say you're on a multi-day trip or whatever during this time of year.
You don't necessarily know if it's going to be foggy in the morning.
Or realistically foggy all day.
Do you have to be on the move?
(30:29):
Do you have to move through that and you need to find a way to be more visible than you
are?
That would be a great thing to have in your pack to use in that situation, especially
this time of year.
Maybe not all year.
Right.
Because maybe not during hunting season.
Do you care if it's a little bit foggy and people can't see you?
Maybe you don't care.
But if you're going during hunting season, great tip.
(30:51):
I think that's a super good idea.
If you really, really want to take your dog during this time, they also make dog vests
for them too.
Good to know.
I've got all those links that we can put on our little page, our website.
Our little page, listen to you.
But yeah, I think the big thing, the overarching theme of everything that we've talked about,
(31:19):
for Shawn’s perspective on hiking during hunting season, unless I could find a trail that I
knew was off limits to hunting, I don't think I'm putting myself in risk.
Accidents do happen.
I mean, I'm not even just going to say I think we did decide last year not to go.
(31:41):
We decided this year not to go too.
We were like, yeah, we're getting into hunting season based off of our decision last year.
We'll just go again in the spring.
We'll be fine.
Unless I can talk you into going in the winter.
Okay.
Well, that's a different conversation altogether.
But I think put your safety ahead of...look, we like hiking.
(32:07):
It's fun.
I get it.
It's a good time out in the woods.
I want to go just as much as the next guy.
I'm putting my safety above that.
It's not worth the potential dangers, which realistically probably are never going to
happen.
They're probably not going to get shot at or wounded or any of that.
(32:28):
Probably.
The majority of hunters are the responsible hunters that pay attention to what they're
shooting at before they shoot, before they aim, pull the trigger, all that.
They know what they're looking at.
That's the majority.
There is a minority that are trigger happy and want to shoot their gun.
It might not even be...like my take, I like to have a little bit of faith in people.
(32:51):
My take is that it might not even just be somebody that's trigger happy.
Maybe it's your first time and you're nervous and you're just so amped up about the whole
thing that your brain kind of goes out the window for a minute.
Or maybe you're a younger hunter that's...brains are soft still when you're a younger hunter.
(33:15):
Maybe you just don't think through some of these things in the way that an older adult
would think through.
Not that you have any ill intentions, but accidents happen.
So yeah, I would just...I mean, do your own research.
There it is.
Fit that one in.
Do your own research.
Leave no trace.
Try to find an area that is off limits to hunting.
(33:38):
If you absolutely have to go hiking and it's in an area that hunting is allowed, hopefully
some of these tips will help keep you safer.
Things to think about.
And if you're like Mike and I and you're not a hunter, maybe look up what your local hunting
season is.
Right.
Yeah.
(33:58):
We didn't even think about it.
Yeah, definitely do that.
And also know this, like I kind of said at the beginning, is that these people that hunt,
that's the only time they go out in the woods.
They've been looking forward to this all year and you've been able to do it all summer,
spring, winter, whatever.
(34:19):
Be mindful that they're excited to be out there.
Don't do it to be spiteful that these trails are for us too, which they are.
They are for us too, but they are allowed to be there and try not to make it so somebody
else is having a bad time in the woods.
Yeah.
Good point.
(34:40):
That's all I have.
All right.
Well, if anybody else has any tips or tricks that they would like to share about how you
safely hike during hunting season or anything that you can think of that we haven't mentioned
here that we probably should have mentioned, feel free to reach us on our email, which
is shawnmikehike at gmail.com.
You can reach us on all of the major social medias at shawnmikehike or directly via our
(35:05):
website shawnmikehike.com.
We will put a couple of links up to some of the gear that Mike and I have talked about
throughout this episode on our website, so feel free to check that out.
Like, subscribe, share, do all the things.
And until next time, go take a hike.
Go take a hike after hunting season.
There you go.
(35:26):
We'll see you guys.
Thank you.
See you in a couple of weeks.
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