Blaze Pink Hunting Gear Could Be Headed to Wisconsin

We're used to seeing the traditional blaze orange hunting gear here in Minnesota, but over in Wisconsin a new color might soon be joining the blaze orange gear in the woods.

Although I'm not a hunter, seeing as I hail from our neighboring state to the east, this story caught my eye-- literally. According to Wisconsin Public Radio, the Wisconsin State Assembly passed a bill earlier this fall that would make it legal for hunters in that state to not only wear blaze orange gear, but also a new blaze pink color when they head into the woods.

The Wisconsin gun deer season is only nine days long and always begins on the Saturday before Thanksgiving. And while this new bill isn't a law yet, and likely won't be in time for the start of this year's deer season, it did clear its first hurdle in the Wisconsin legislature.

So what's behind the move to make blaze pink legal in the Dairy State? According to this Star Tribune story, "The bill's authors, Reps. Nick Milroy, D-South Range, and Joel Kleefisch, R-Oconomowoc, maintain that the measure will encourage more women to take up hunting, give hunters more clothing options and give apparel manufacturers a boost."

The bill now moves to the Wisconsin Senate for approval, and if passed, would then head to Governor Scott Walker's desk. If it passes, Wisconsin would become the first state in the country to authorize blaze pink hunting gear.

"According to the National Assembly of Sportsmen's Caucuses, no state has legalized blaze pink for hunting clothing. A Maine legislator proposed a bill earlier this year that would have allowed hunters in that state to wear pink during October to raise breast cancer awareness but the measure hasn't gone anywhere," the Star Trib story noted.