“Blaze Pink” – coming to a woods near you. Yup, you read it correctly, blaze pink may be the newest color to join blaze orange on hunters in one of the nation’s most popular deer hunting states. The recent proposal was brought about by a group of bipartisan Wisconsin legislators called the Sportsman’s Caucus, who are dedicated to protecting Wisconsin’s outdoor heritage.
Here at Legendary Whitetails, the growing number of women interested in hunting has been no secret, and thus has been the fastest growing clothing line in recent years. Now, blaze pink may have the chance to not only be a fashion statement, but also a viable option for hunters to wear in the woods. The purpose of the proposal: To encourage more women to try hunting.
While this may be a bright idea (pun intended), the issue at hand is still how effective the color is at keeping hunters safe. Enter Dr. Majid Sarmadi, a leading color scientist from the University of Wisconsin. He conducted a series of experiments to determine if blaze pink was as safe as blaze orange. After a variety of tests comparing the two colors on the human eye, Dr. Sarmadi concluded blaze pink is equally, if not, more visible than blaze orange. Additionally, pink is even harder for a deer to see because it’s further from the color yellow (a color deer can see) on the color spectrum.
I’m a guy, so I’ll stick to my blaze orange, but I have no problem with this being passed. However, some folks, including women are taking this as an insult. From reading other articles on the subject I’ve seen comments like this:
“This is so ridiculous! Apparently blaze orange is what’s holding women back from hunting…”
“Here’s a tip, if you want to appeal to a female base, maybe start respecting them.”
“If they want to encourage more women to try hunting, insulting women by such meaningless legislation is not going to do it.”
Whoa, whoa, whoa, what’s all the fuss about?
Those are just a few of the brazen comments I saw, now I’ll give you mine. Good for the Sportsman’s Caucus! Why people are getting their undies in a bundle over this, I have no idea. The science and my own eyes say it’s plenty visible, so why not cater to the women of the outdoors? The way I see it, is that the color alone may not get more females to hunt like the proposal states, but rather it caters to women who by the way are the fastest growing hunting demographic!
According to a FOX 6 report, females accounted for 35 percent of adults and 36 percent of juniors who bought deer hunting licenses for the first time ever or the first time in 10 years in 2014.
I’d have to say, if it passes in Wisconsin, my guess is other states won’t be far behind, but only time will tell if blaze pink will be the new hot color you’ll be seeing in the woods and buying for your wife, daughter or yourself. After all, they say real men wear pink.
As far as I see it, anything that gets more people involved with hunting when recent participation levels have been dropping, is a good thing. One things for sure, it sure as heck isn’t going to scare people away.
So, are you in favor of permitting blaze pink as a legal hunting color?
