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Blaze pink may soon be an option for Virginia hunters

Posted at 11:53 AM, Jan 17, 2017
and last updated 2017-01-17 15:11:33-05

RICHMOND, Va. -- A bill introduced at the 2017 Virginia General Assembly would add a splash of color to the closets of hunters around the Commonwealth.

House Bill 1939, proposed by Del. James Edmunds (R-South Boston), would give hunters the option to wear blaze pink and/or blaze orange, during deer hunting season.

Current Virginia law mandates:

Every hunter, or persons accompanying a hunter, shall wear a blaze orange hat or blaze orange upper body clothing that is visible from 360 degrees or display at least 100 square inches of solid blaze orange material at shoulder level within body reach and visible from 360 degrees.

The idea behind blaze orange is to alert fellow hunters that you are in the woods and not to shoot.

Hunters like Cassie Crouch said it was about time to add other bright colors to a hunter's wardrobe.

"It's just as bright as the bright orange, so I think that women should be able to wear pink," Crouch told WDBJ7. "The more pink that comes out in camouflage, I think more women are going to be attracted to it. I know I am. I mean I wear blaze orange, but if I had blaze pink, shoot I'd wear it all the time."

Del. Edmunds previously told the South Boston News & Record that the idea came from a trade show he attended where a female friend suggested more women might take up hunting if "the clothing was more oriented towards them."

"Quite frankly, females have been overlooked in the hunting industry for years," Edmunds told the newspaper. "If we can make them look better while they're [hunting] and feel better about how they look as they’re doing it, we will."

Edmunds' blaze pink bill was introduced this week. Click here to track its progress.