Think Pink (and Orange) During Hunting Season

Even a simple walk in the woods can have hazards. A few precautions (such as wearing bright orange clothing) can help keep you safe.
Photo by Cynthia Hochswender
Autumn is a time when I think of the color orange,not only because of the falling leaves and not only because I associate the fall and winter months with eating citrus fruit but also because it is now hunting season and it’s important to wear orange if you’re out in the woods.
Connecticut and New York state offer slightly different advice to hikers, dog walkers, paddlers, anglers, equestrians and anyone else who is outdoors at this time of year. Connecticut just says to wear (fluorescent) orange. New York says you can also wear (fluorescent) pink.
The New York Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) tip sheet offers the moderately encouraging information that, “Hunters who wear hunter orange are seven times less likely to be shot.” Presumably this applies as well to everyone who’s out in the woods.
The DEC also says that, “wearing bright colors makes it easier for Forest Rangers, Environmental Conservation Police Officers and other rescue personnel to find lost, sick or injured people afield.”
Many of us like to take our dogs out for a walk in the woods at this time of year, but if anything, pets are even more at risk during hunting season than their owners.
Therefore, the New York DEC says, “Pet owners are encouraged to dress their dogs in blaze orange or pink or another bright color vest or scarf. Dogs should also stay leashed at all times.”
Keeping your dog on a leash will also help keep it from getting caught in a trap.
For hunters, there are specific rules about how much blaze pink and blaze orange you should wear, and those same guidelines work for anyone else out in the woods at this time of year.
In New York the guidance is: “a shirt, jacket or vest with at least 250 square inches of solid or patterned fluorescent orange or pink (the pattern must be at least 50% orange or pink) OR a hat with at least 50% fluorescent orange or pink.”
In Connecticut, “400 square inches of fluorescent orange are required for hunters,” and you should “avoid wearing gray, brown, tan or white when hiking in hunted areas.”
Cyclists and riders are encouraged to put a bell on their bike or horse. Hikers are encouraged to call out and identify themselves if they see or hear hunters nearby.
Newcomers to the area — and visitors who are only here on a day trip to enjoy our area trails, rivers and forests — might not realize that there is quite a bit of hunting around here. The New York DEC says hunting is “among the most popular forms of wildlife recreation in the state, drawing an estimated 600,000 New Yorkers.”
COVID-19 has also brought more people to the area, seeking a way to be out in the fresh air and (theoretically) away from the close contact with other people that is hard to avoid in urban areas.
As a result, this hunting season there is likely to be more overlap in the woods, of people who are hunting and people seeking other types of outdoor activities (and who might not realize that this is hunting season).
The schedules for the different seasons and types of hunting are complicated but, essentially, hunting started in late October and will continue through December. It won’t end in December, but there will be less of it.
Most hunters go out around 9 a.m. and/or in the late afternoon, especially but not exclusively on Saturdays and holidays.
This year, Connecticut is also warning anyone out in the woods to be aware of falling trees and limbs.
“Look up and watch out for hazardous trees while in forested areas. Several years of storms, drought and insect infestations have severely damaged a significant number of Connecticut’s trees. A ‘hazard tree’ has a structural defect that makes it likely to fail in whole or in part. Such a tree can fall without warning.”
For a full list of safety tips for the state of Connecticut, go to https://portal.ct.gov/DEEP/Hunting/Outdoor-Safety-Tips. For New York, go to www.dec.ny.gov/press/121768.html.
Built in 1820, 1168 Bangall Amenia Road sold for $875,000 on July 31 with the transfer recorded in August. It has a Millbrook post office and is located in the Webutuck school district.
STANFORD — The Town of Stanford with nine transfers in two months reached a median price in August of $573,000 for single family homes, still below Stanford’s all-time median high in August 2024 of $640,000.
At the beginning of October there is a large inventory of single-family homes listed for sale with only six of the 18 homes listed for below the median price of $573,000 and seven above $1 million.
July transfers
79 Ernest Road — 4 bedroom/2.5 bath home on 6.87 acres in 2 parcels sold to Matthew C. Marinetti for $1,225,000.
29 Drake Road — 3 bedroom/3.5 bath home on 2 acres sold to Harper Montgomery for $850,000.
6042 Route 82 — 4 bedroom/2 bath home on 1.09 acres sold to Spencer Thompson for $795,000.
125 Tick Tock Way — 3 bedroom/2.5 bath ranch on 1.9 acres sold to Fleur Touchard for $475,000.
August transfers
102 Prospect Hill Road — 3 bedroom/2 bath home on 6.35 acres sold to Karl Creighton Pfister for $565,000.
252 Ernest Road — 2 bedroom/1 bath cottage on .85 acres sold to Meg Bumie for $465,000.
1196 Bangall Amenia Road — 4 bedroom/2.5 bath home on 2.16 acres sold to Roderick Alleyne for $875,000.
Hunns Lake Road (#759929) — 59.1 acres of residential land sold to Argos Farm LLC for $3,325,000.
* Town of Stanford recorded real estate transfers from July 1 to August 31 provided by Dutchess County Real Property Office monthly transfer reports. Details on each property from Dutchess Parcel Access - properties with an # indicate location on Dutchess Parcel Access. Market data from One Key MLS and Infosparks .Compiled by Christine Bates, Real Estate Advisor with William Pitt Sotheby’s International Realty, Licensed in Connecticut and New York.
Hunt club members and friends gathered near Pugsley Hill at the historic Wethersfield Estate and Gardens in Amenia for the opening meet of the 2025-2026 Millbrook Hunt Club season on Saturday, Oct. 4. Foxhunters took off from Wethersfield’s hilltop gardens just after 8 a.m. for a hunting jaunt around Amenia’s countryside.
Joining in the fun at the dedication of the new pollinator pathway garden at The Millbrook Library on Saturday, Oct. 4, local expert gardener Maryanne Snow Pitts provides information about a planting to Lorraine Mirabella of Poughkeepsie.
MILLBROOK — Participating in a patchwork of libraries that have planted pollinator pathway gardens to attract insects and birds to their native plantings was one of the accomplishments being celebrated at the dedication of a new pollinator garden at the Millbrook Library on Saturday, Oct. 4.
“A lot of work went into it,” said Emma Sweeney, past President of the Millbrook Garden Club, who started the local library’s initiative two years ago.
The Pollinator Pathway program is a national effort to plant native plants that native insects depend upon for sustenance and preferred plants for their own seasonal reproduction.
Jana Hogan of Ridgefield, Connecticut, Executive Director of the Pollinator Pathway program, was on hand to present a plaque to the library for its successful participation.
“A garden is not just a garden,” said garden designer Andy Durbridge of Wassaic, designer of the library’s garden. “It may serve as a model for other gardens along the line.”
Speaking to the 50 visitors at the dedication, Durbridge said that the library’s garden has a mission, that it is a working garden, planned to serve insects and birds over their seasons. The earliest plants support pollinators, while the full range of plants continues to serve the needs of those they attract, offering habitat, shelter and food.
A pollinator garden is akin to a prairie, rather than a formalized European garden, Durbridge noted.
The garden project was supported by the library’s Friends group using funds raised during the Holiday Silent Auction and ongoing book sale. A grant from the Millbrook Garden Club also provided support.
Amenia Town Hall on Route 22.
AMENIA — After gathering comments from the Planning Board and the Zoning Board of Appeals, as it considers adding alternate members to those boards, the Town Board discussed possible changes to local laws governing those boards at its meeting on Friday, Oct. 3. The meeting date, usually on a Thursday, had been changed to accommodate a holiday.
In recent weeks Town Board attorney Ian Lindars has been compiling comments from the affected boards along with comments from the Town Board. The new laws may bring the appointment of two alternate members to each board. Alternate members are likely to be required to attend all meetings and be prepared to be seated if needed and be familiar with the applications being discussed. They would also need to take training required of all board members.
Lindars will prepare a draft of the new local laws to be reviewed by the Town Board and the affected boards.
As the Town Board begins work on the town’s annual budget negotiation process and anticipating an increase in some budget lines to accommodate major projects, the board unanimously approved three resolutions. The first will override the tax levy limit imposed on municipalities by the state of New York, a limit generally tied to the rate of inflation.
A public hearing on the proposal to override the levy limit was set for Thursday, November 6, beginning at 7 p.m. at the Town Hall.