Hunting in blaze pink?

[Lee Borgersen]

   Hunting in blaze pink?


Lawmakers debate adding second color to traditional blaze orange



Apr 9, 2016 at 11:39 p.m.

  .....
ST. PAUL — The big debates in the Minnesota Legislature tend to be about taxes, spending, abortion, gay rights and such, but it turned to orange vs. pink the other day.


During a House committee meeting, in which several male representatives wore bright pink clothes, lawmakers debated whether to allow hunters to wear “blaze pink” instead of the traditional blaze orange, if they want.

The provision is contained in a game and fish bill the committee eventually passed, but not before Rep. Alice Hausman, D-St. Paul, unsuccessfully tried to remove it.

Hausman said she talked to constituents about the pink issue, and received comments such as “only a man could come up with something like that” and “isn’t that sexist?”

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The pink provision was added, in part at least, to attract more women to hunting. While the sexist argument has been used against the idea in other states where the issue came up, pink does seem to have a bit of momentum. Wisconsin, for instance, recently approved the concept.

Rep. Dan Fabian, R-Roseau, sent a message to a girl during the committee hearing, asking if she would prefer wearing orange or pink. The one-word reply was: “pink.”

Fabian made one point clear: “No one is forcing anyone to wear blaze pink.”

Rep. Denny McNamara, R-Hastings, said his granddaughter “thinks it’s really cool that she gets to wear cammo that’s pink. ... I truthfully believe she is more excited about going hunting because she gets to wear that.”

A Wisconsin researcher has determined that pink is at least as visible to other hunters as the traditional orange and may be less visible to deer, which would be good news for hunters.

Current Minnesota law requires blaze orange clothes, an attempt to ensure that hunters can see each other in the field.