Fluorescent pink could become the new fluorescent orange
Sen. Lynda Wilson, R-Vancouver, speaking about her bill to allow hunters to wear pink.
Hunting season might become a little more pink.
Under current state law, hunters are required to wear at least 400-square inches of the signature fluorescent orange that’s associated with seasons for deer, elk, grouse, rabbits and other game. State Sen. Lynda Wilson, R-Vancouver, has introduced SB 5148, which would allow hunters to swap out the fluorescent orange for fluorescent pink.
“I really wanted to do this bill because nobody looks good in orange,” Wilson told the Senate Agriculture, Water, Natural Resources and Parks Committee on Thursday. But she added that the bill will also make hunting safer and could bring more people (particularly women) into the sport.
She said if more people take up hunting it will generate more sales in gear and, in turn, more revenue from taxes that are earmarked for wildlife habitat restoration.
Wilson, who is being treated for breast cancer, appeared before the committee on Thursday wearing a blaze pink vest. She said that hunters can blend in with brightly colored leaves. She also said that as a hunter she’s had a hard time finding hunting apparel for women.
“You go into Cabelas and it’s, you know, not much,” she said. Six other states have enacted similar legislation she told the committee.
Tom Echols, a representative for the Hunters Heritage Council, told the committee that they are supportive of the bill for the same reasons.
“There is evidence to suggest that pink is superior to orange when it comes to visibility of hunters in the field,” he said.
David Whipple, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife hunter education division manager, said his department was also supportive of the legislation.
But Sen. Judy Warnick, a Moses Lake Republican who sits on the committee, stressed that the bill won’t require guys to wear pink.
The bill was passed out of committee.
