Safety Tips for Non-Hunters

If you feel uneasy about outdoor recreation during hunting season, follow these common sense rules and (with a few fashionable swaths of hunter blaze orange fabric) you can continue to enjoy the outdoors during hunting season.

Identify hunting seasons and lands open to hunting.

• Learn about where and when hunting is taking place and plan your recreation activities accordingly.
• Wear bright clothing (like hunter blaze orange). Make yourself more visible. Choose colors that stand out, like bright, fluorescent red, orange or green. Avoid earth-toned and animal-colored clothing.
• Don’t forget to protect your dog, too. Tie a swath of brightly-colored fabric or bandana around your dog’s neck or purchase a hunter blaze orange dog vest, available from many sporting goods outfitters.
• Make noise. Whistle, sing or carry on a conversation as you walk to alert hunters to your presence.
• Be courteous. Once a hunter is aware of your presence, don’t make unnecessary noise that disturbs wildlife. Avoid confrontations.
• Make yourself known. If you do hear shooting, raise your voice and let hunters know that you are in the vicinity.
• Choose an alternative place or date. If you don’t feel comfortable out in the woods this time of year, choose an area where hunting is not allowed, like most (but not all) provincial parks (check ahead to be sure).

The most heavily hunted seasons last only a few weeks—find out when they occur and schedule your activities around them.

Updated: Nov 2, 2015