Fishing during rifle seasons

[Forestfishin]

Asking this as someone who has never hunted. How do you approach fishing in areas shared with hunters especially during bear and deer rifle seasons. Do you avoid totally? Proceed with caution wearing proper amount of blaze orange?

For those of you that hunt is seeing others in the woods such as hikers or fisherman common or do you wonder why in the heck are they out there?

Not talking about on game lands or private property but other public areas like state parks, state forests, national forest etc

I’ve never trout fished much until after rifle season so wasn’t sure of the proper etiquette.

 

[hooker-of-men]

I just yesterday decided not to go out because the stream I wanted to hit was in state forest (the 15 mph wind also helped with the decision). I've done it on occasion with some orange on, but generally I try to avoid it both out of caution and so I don't screw up someone filling their freezer so I can release a 7 inch fish.

 

[jifigz]

My recommendation is to fish in places where hunters aren't going to be. Fish streams and rivers that are close to civilization where people can't be firing high-powered rifles. Do this out of respect for both your own bodily safety and for the people out there pursuing the deer. Blaze orange, trout fishing, and rather low water conditions are a pretty terrible combination if you ask me.

My next suggestion is this: grab a rifle and hit the deer woods.

 

[tjsingle]

I usually steer clear of most SGLs, SFs, and other public lands I know people are actively hunting. Their season is much, much short than the fishing season (year round C&R).

Make sure you wear blaze orange if you do go out, and be careful.

 

[Swattie87]

I don’t fish during rifle season usually. Those guys only get two weeks a year to hunt, and I get 52 to fish. Don’t want to be messing up their hunt in any way.

If I do fish, it’s in an area where hunting isn’t allowed. I probably haven’t fished during rifle season in many years though. Catch up on projects around the house, watch football, whatever.

Edit: I start wearing blaze orange when archery opens up in Sept, and wear it all the way through the late season closing in the following calendar year. I just have an orange ball cap, and beanie, and switch between the two depending on the weather.

 

[5footfenwick]

I actually wear orange year round. Keep it on my back so I don’t have to worry about fish seeing it. This way I never have to make any changes regardless of the situation or season.

I completely agree with Swattie and Jifigz. No sense going to the middle of nowhere and screwing up hunts. You don’t need to. This is two weeks where it seems like 99% of the fishermen are gone. Want to fish a popular central Pa creek without competition? These two weeks are your chance.

I used to always fish the three sundays around hunting season. There is almost no one fishing. One year i got a buck on opening day so I fished 5-6 miles of a super popular central Pa limestoner over the course of several days during hunting season just as an experiment. I fished about a mile a day for the rest of the week. I never saw another fisherman. The fishing was incredible to say the least. My three biggest trout ever from spring creek came in this short 5 day period. 21inch brown, 22 inch brown, 23inch rainbow. If you are going somewhere on the beaten path I say go for it man. Just don’t forget the hand warmers!
~5footfenwick

 

[Forestfishin]

Thanks for all the quick replies. Was never a concern before they moved the opener and Sunday hunting. Weekend after Thanksgiving at camp has been a thing for years. Great time to be in the woods but I’ve never had a desire to hunt for whatever reason.

Also thanks for the alternate suggestion of hitting a central PA stream but being lost in the woods is a big part of trout fishing for me.

Good luck to those of you who do hunt 👍

Also-did go out yesterday and fished a stocked/native roadside stream and then section of state park closed to hunting. Both areas were pretty quiet so can’t complain. Was nice to actually have fishable water.

 

[gunpowderglass]

This may be a dumb question, but I’ve never been - are any of the Erie steelhead fisheries in areas where hunting is taking place? Or stated more clearly - should I be wearing orange out there on Elk or Walnut?

 

[CRB]

Yes, wear orange!

FYI
Lake Effect from Thursday on,



Hazardous Weather Outlook
National Weather Service Cleveland OH
341 PM EST Mon Nov 25 2024

OHZ011>014-089-PAZ001>003-262045-
Cuyahoga-Lake-Geauga-Ashtabula Inland-Ashtabula Lakeshore-
Northern Erie-Southern Erie-Crawford-
341 PM EST Mon Nov 25 2024

This Hazardous Weather Outlook is for northeast Ohio and northwest
Pennsylvania.

.DAY ONE...This afternoon and tonight.

Hazardous weather is not expected at this time.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Tuesday through Sunday.

Periods of lake effect snow are expected Thursday night through the
weekend. Accumulating snow is likely in the primary snowbelt region
of Northeast Ohio and Northwest Pennsylvania during this time,
although confidence in the placement of the highest accumulations and
resulting impacts remains low.

Hazardous Weather Outlook
National Weather Service Buffalo NY
337 PM EST Mon Nov 25 2024

NYZ001>005-010>014-019>021-085-262045-
Niagara-Orleans-Monroe-Wayne-Northern Cayuga-Northern Erie-Genesee-
Wyoming-Livingston-Ontario-Chautauqua-Cattaraugus-Allegany-
Southern Erie-
337 PM EST Mon Nov 25 2024

This Hazardous Weather Outlook is for portions of western and north
central New York.

.DAY ONE...This afternoon and tonight.

Hazardous weather is not expected at this time.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Tuesday through Sunday.

A storm system could bring wintry precipitation in the form of rain
and wet snow Thanksgiving Day, though confidence on exact details
including the storm track, evolution, expected precipitation and
accumulation is low at this time.

A colder pattern will bring the potential for accumulating, possibly
significant lake effect snow east of Lake Erie Friday into the
weekend. There is large uncertainty in the placement of where the
heaviest snow bands may develop and how persistent they could be
once they form.

Weathermen are not talking amounts yet all depends on the wind direction.
Rember Buffalo last fall early winter. 2 storms in excess of 6'(feet)

 

[Andrwhite610]

This is certainly factoring in on my decision on where to fish this Sunday. I know the stream I would like to fish is going to be surrounded by hunters Sunday morning. I will be fishing elsewhere.

 

[Sylvaneous]

This may be a dumb question, but I’ve never been - are any of the Erie steelhead fisheries in areas where hunting is taking place? Or stated more clearly - should I be wearing orange out there on Elk or Walnut?

I know people archery hunt in places around the steelhead creeks, but I'd say they are too close to houses and civilization and such for rifles. Not that it doesn't enter my mind, but I just don't think anyone would be able or permitted legally to shoot firearms where the steelhead creeks are.

 

[BrookieChaser]

Thanks for all the quick replies. Was never a concern before they moved the opener and Sunday hunting. Weekend after Thanksgiving at camp has been a thing for years. Great time to be in the woods but I’ve never had a desire to hunt for whatever reason.

Also thanks for the alternate suggestion of hitting a central PA stream but being lost in the woods is a big part of trout fishing for me.

Good luck to those of you who do hunt 👍

Also-did go out yesterday and fished a stocked/native roadside stream and then section of state park closed to hunting. Both areas were pretty quiet so can’t complain. Was nice to actually have fishable water.

I don't like the Saturday deer opener either. It ruined the "deer camp" tradition and hurt small town economies. I never thought of it from your angle of not being able to fish that weekend.

 

[Kms]

I haven’t fished in active hunting areas, but I’ve been told it’s especially important to wear a blaze orange HAT, as you want the highest point on your body to be immediately distinguishable as not game.

 

[Forestfishin]

I don't like the Saturday deer opener either. It ruined the "deer camp" tradition and hurt small town economies. I never thought of it from your angle of not being able to fish that weekend.

Not so much I’m personally against the Saturday start other than selfish reasons. Can see both sides of it but anecdotally most friends that hunt don’t like the Saturday opener.

Think we’ve only missed one weekend I can think of since 2003 and there was a definite change to the vibe after the opening day switch. The charm of that weekend to me was that it was probably a throwback to before older guys passed and camps were left to kids that didn’t really hunt or fish. Could be wrong but that’s always the impression I got.

 

[JackM]

I don't hunt. But I do think if you fire a gun at something, you should be quite certain it isn't a human being.

 

[Cznymph]

I don't like the Saturday deer opener either. It ruined the "deer camp" tradition and hurt small town economies. I never thought of it from your angle of not being able to fish that weekend.

Has it? We have more sporting goods stores in Potter and Tioga County than ever before. This is the exact opposite of what nice been told is happening.

 

[nymphingmaniac]

People hunt for more than deer.
Correct me if I'm wrong. My fear isn't that a hunter will shot me because they mistaken me for a deer (or other game)- not identifying the target. Mine is that I would be positioned behind a legit target and a missed shot would strike me. The bright colors would notify a hunter of my presence and hopefully they would forego the shot

 

[jifigz]

People hunt for more than deer.
Correct me if I'm wrong. My fear isn't that a hunter will shot me because they mistaken me for a deer (or other game)- not identifying the target. Mine is that I would be positioned behind a legit target and a missed shot would strike me. The bright colors would notify a hunter of my presence and hopefully they would forego the shot

Well, this is the danger of many deer cartridges fired around PA. If you're unlucky enough, you may well be in the path of a bullet that just happens to not hit anything for hundreds of yards.... Until it hits you, of course. The chances of this are extremely low, as the bullet is much more likely to hit a tree, branch, dirt, rock, etc first, but it can and does happen.

My best friend in high school got shot with a rifle during deer season. It was a very serious injury, but he was lucky to have been shot in the arm. Even though his arm isn't like it used to be, he still has it.

 

[dudemanspecial]

I also don't like the fact that hunting was moved to Saturday because I liked to fish the weekend after Thanksgiving.

I also stay the hell out of the woods for the next couple weeks. Let the hunters hunt.

 

[DomR]

My best friend in high school got shot with a rifle during deer season. It was a very serious injury, but he was lucky to have been shot in the arm. Even though his arm isn't like it used to be, he still has it.

Was he actively hunting at the time or just going about his business in another activity?