McClory: Common sense rules help us all enjoy beautiful fall

The brilliant colors, crisp air, and wildlife activity lure me outside in the fall.Whether your passion is hiking, hunting, fishing, birding, or just taking in the scenery, a few common sense safety reminders will add to your enjoyment during a day in the field.Know your limits. Don’t take off on a long hike, hunt, or bike ride if you’re not physically ready. Always tell someone where you’re going and when you expect to return. Watch the weather. New England weather is notorious changeable and many news reports of lost hikers underline that fact.Be ready with extra clothing. Expect the unexpected. Carrying a fanny pack with a few first aid items, matches, water, pocket knife, cell phone, map, compass, whistle, extra food, and flashlight can help prevent small problems from becoming big ones.Wear blaze orange for visibility. Whether you’re a hunter, hiker, birder or dog walker in rural areas, it’s a good idea to wear a cap or vest of highly visible blaze orange clothing while you’re enjoying the great outdoors.Respect the water. Canoeists and kayakers are required to wear life jackets from Sept. 15 to May 15, but all water enthusiasts, especially anglers who wade in larger rivers, would be wise to wear floatation devices now that water temperatures are cooling. Respect other outdoor users. Mountain biking, horseback riding, wildlife watching, hunting, and hiking need not be and are not mutually exclusive activities.Know the seasons and who is likely to be sharing the woods and waters with you. Keep dogs under direct control and respect other outdoor users’ rights to enjoy our open spaces. Finally, licensed sportsmen and women are reminded to take the basics of hunter safety to heart. Treat every firearm as it were loaded, keeping the muzzle pointed in a safe direction at all times. Positively identify your target and what lies beyond it.You are always in style in the woods when wearing fluorescent hunter orange. Hunters who wear it are just as likely to be successful because it’s highly visible to humans, but not to deer.Hunters moving into the line of fire of other hunters and mistaking other hunters for game are two common causes of hunting accidents. Both types involve visibility problems and both underscore the need for hunters to see and be seen during the fall firearms deer and small game seasons. According to a nationwide survey, you are seven times less likely to be shot by another hunter if you are wearing fluorescent orange.uHunting season is in full swing in many New England states. In Massachusetts the pheasant hunting season opens Saturday morning, Oct. 19, and will be open through the Saturday following Thanksgiving. Hunting is permitted from sunrise to sunset on any Wildlife Management Area where pheasants are stocked. All participants are required to wear a high visibility orange cap.On all other property, hunting hours begin one half hour before sunrise and run through one half hour after sunset on those lands.The daily bag limit is two pheasants. Archery hunters will be dressed in their camouflage clothing and climbing tree stands Monday morning Oct. 21, before first light for the start of the 2013 Massachusetts deer season. Turkey hunters will also don their camouflage and head to the woods on Monday morning for the start of their season. The Division of Fisheries and Wildlife reminds turkey hunters that the fall hunting season dates are Monday, October 21 through Saturday, Nov. 2.The incorrect fall dates were printed on wild turkey permits. This error has been corrected so that any permit reprints from the MassFishHunt system will now show the correct fall season dates. Please help us spread the word and tell other turkey hunters about the correct dates.uNew this year, and long overdue, hunters may report “or check” their deer, bear, turkey, and most furbearers online. You must log into MassFishHunt with your Customer ID in order to check your game.During the shotgun hunting season for deer, all deer must b