Archery season opened Saturday in the Bridger foothills and the transition was immediate. Hikers who spent August in tank tops appeared Sunday in blaze-orange vests purchased that morning at the Murdoch’s on North 7th.

The vests were worn over fleeces, under rain shells, and in one documented case, tied around a Labrador retriever named Biscuit. No one seemed certain whether the requirement applied to non-hunters but the consensus formed quickly: better visible than sorry.

“I saw a guy on Sourdough wearing an orange vest backwards,” said Dale Haskins, a bowhunter from Belgrade who has held the same tag since 2003. “The tag was hanging from his pack strap. He waved at me like we were in a parade. I waved back. It felt neighborly.”

Trailhead conversations shifted from wildfire smoke and snowpack predictions to draw weights and broadhead preferences. A group of MSU students at the Fairy Lake turnaround debated whether their Nalgene stickers counted as adequate visibility. They decided to buy vests anyway.

Fish, Wildlife & Parks posted reminders at every kiosk. The posters were printed on waterproof paper and featured a smiling elk. Someone had added googly eyes to the elk at the Moser Creek trailhead by noon.

The parking lot at the M filled by 6:15 a.m. A substitute teacher from Livingston circled for twenty minutes before parking on the shoulder of Bridger Canyon Road. She hiked to the summit in a vest that matched the aspens.

By afternoon the orange had faded into the understory. Only the vests remained, bright as warning lights in the thinning aspens.