Assembly committee approves blaze pink hunting gear; bill now heads to full chamber

MADISON— A bill that would legalize blaze pink hunting gear has cleared its first legislative hurdle.

The Assembly's natural resources committee approved the measure on a 14-1 vote Wednesday. The vote clears the way for the full chamber to take up the bill.

Under current Wisconsin law, at least half of each article of clothing that gun deer hunters wear above the waist must be blaze orange. The bipartisan bill would allow hunters to wear fluorescent pink as well.

According to the National Assembly of Sportsmen's Caucuses, no state has legalized blaze pink for hunting clothing. A Maine legislator proposed a bill earlier this year that would have allowed hunters in that state to wear pink during October to raise breast cancer awareness but the measure hasn't gone anywhere.