Bill Conners reports in the Poughkeepsie Journal about the new rules for deer and bear hunting, as the season opens Nov. 20. First, the opening is different, now one-half hour before sunrise, which will be roughly 6:53 a.m. locally. There are also new safety rules requiring hunters to wear fluorescent orange or fluorescent pink. They include:
• A minimum of 250 square inches of solid fluorescent orange or fluorescent pink material worn above the waist and visible from all directions; or
• A minimum of 250 square inches of patterned fluorescent orange or fluorescent pink consisting of no less than 50 percent fluorescent orange or fluorescent pink worn above the waist and visible from all directions; or
• A hat or cap with no less than 50 percent of the exterior consisting of solid fluorescent orange or fluorescent pink material and visible from all directions.
Last hunting season there were 22 firearms incidents, three of which were fatal, and one human death involving a treestand. Read more about this story in the Poughkeepsie Journal.