Certain colors are widely used to communicate clear messages: Red means “stop,” green means “go” and hunter orange means “Don’t shoot me, I’m not a deer.”

But now, some states have legalized the use of blaze pink as an alternative to blaze orange to make hunters visible. Pink may be a highly visible color, but the message it sends is not as clear.

First, consider how the pink will be perceived by the deer. Imagine some big buck, minding his own business, when he catches sight of a hunter wearing pink. “No problem,” he might think. “She’s just out here looking for a cure for breast cancer.” It hardly seems sporting to take a shot under those misleading circumstances.

In reality, experts on deer eyesight say pink is a more effective hunting color because deer perceive it as grey, while hunter orange stands out as a shade of yellow. But people already have the benefit of scent lures, deer calls and firearms. Shouldn’t we leave the deer a few advantages?

Wisconsin was the first state to legalize pink for hunters in 2016. Since then, another seven states have made pink legal —Colorado, Illinois, Louisiana, Minnesota, New York, Virginia and Washington,. The idea is being considered in additional states as well.

According to the Wisconsin wildlife officials who came up with the idea, it is meant to inspire more women to become deer hunters. Following that logic, we should reissue “slow-moving vehicle” emblems with pink triangles to attract more women to farming. And Frito-Lay should make pink Doritos to increase sales to women. Oh, wait, women already do most of the grocery shopping anyway.

All joking aside, it seems unlikely any hunter, male or female, would base the decision to hunt on the color of clothing required. Some women like pink and some women don’t. But if a woman won’t hunt because she has to wear orange, she’ll probably have other excuses anyway. Maybe “Hunting season is the same week as my Mary Kay convention,” or “I’m too busy filming ‘Legally Blonde 3.’”

COORDINATING COLORS: Hunters are already free to add pink to their hunting ensembles.

In the pink

Admittedly, hunter orange is not flattering on most people. And we all know how important it is to look good while hunting. However, there is no need to change the law for those who look their best wearing bright pink.

Although it is traditional for hunters to wear their hunter orange hats, vests and jackets with coordinating brown or camo pants, it’s not required. Even without a change in the law, hunters are free to pair their mandated orange with any shade of pink they like.

Allowing pink to replace orange hunting gear might increase clothing sales for some retailers, but it doesn’t seem to be boosting the numbers of women hunters. Figures for 2019 aren’t available yet, but the number of women who bought deer hunting licenses in Wisconsin was actually lower in 2018 than in 2017. Obviously, there are other factors involved, because fewer men bought deer licenses as well.

But, for some reason, nobody is suggesting that a neon shade of “bullet blue” be permitted in order to attract more men to the sport.

Keck writes from Raymond, Ohio.