What Colors Can Deer See?

canadian hunter312 said:
Camo does not provide any advantage over blaze orange while deer hunting. Maybe confidence for the hunter, but zero impact on deer. There is no issue to be solved by using camo patterned orange.
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In my opinion, that's not true.
While green vs orange may appear similar, it is a darker yellow in color to deer, and a solid color of it is noticeable against foliage.
Color aside, the advantage of camo patterns is to break up that solid blob.

A lot of camo patterns are to tight and at a bit of distance become just a blob too, hence my preference for much more open patterns like predator green and brown deception.
The late fall/winter of greys and white are a totally different story with open patterns of camo becoming more important to break up the blob on a log or tree stand.
UV is something else, get that glow off your outfit or it will not matter what you are wearing, same as wind and movement.

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canadian hunter312 said:
Camo does not provide any advantage over blaze orange while deer hunting. Maybe confidence for the hunter, but zero impact on deer. There is no issue to be solved by using camo patterned orange.
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I'm curious how you came to this conclusion and how you can prove it? Obviously movement is the biggest give away and I've had a ton of close encounters with game while wearing normal clothes but I can't see how something that breaks up your outline would have zero benefits. Makes zero sense.
 
Butcherbill said:
It’s all bull#### in the end anyway, play the wind and be still as best you can and it doesn’t really matter what colour you have on. How many times have you seen pics of some old hunter in jeans and a wool plaid with a dead animal? Guy was probably smoking while he shot it lol.
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Yeah I read the books about the colours and the UV range. & While I don't disagree with the science; Whitetail will sniff you out long before they see you or you them. Mulies will stop and stare at you if you get the jump on them. I guess their attitude is "Nobody moves & nobody gets hurt". They were wrong....
 
Mulies: - my recollection from Zone 46 in Saskatchewan - we would raise them out of poplar bluff when "pushing" for white tail - would see them go bouncing across several hundred yards pasture to next bush - then all would stop and look back, before they entered that next bush - as if they forgot why they had been running (their "running" gait was like a "stot"), and wanted to check ...

South and East of Val Marie, Sask. - Zone 2, I think - they would run like whitetail - until I saw that, I did not know that they could.
 
canadian hunter312 said:
Camo does not provide any advantage over blaze orange while deer hunting. Maybe confidence for the hunter, but zero impact on deer. There is no issue to be solved by using camo patterned orange.
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I didnt say that camo provided an advantage over blaze orange. My point was, we have a requirement to wear blaze orange. That blaze orange - as with any solid mass of colour - is not natural and will stand out. If the blaze orange was to be incorporated into a camo pattern, you could still "remain safe" from other hunters, while not walking around with a blob of colour on you.

And you're wrong about camo having no impact on deer. I'd love to see evidence, other than anecdotal, to back that up.
 
Butcherbill said:
It’s all bull#### in the end anyway, play the wind and be still as best you can and it doesn’t really matter what colour you have on. How many times have you seen pics of some old hunter in jeans and a wool plaid with a dead animal? Guy was probably smoking while he shot it lol.
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Lol truth right here BB! Describes lots of the old timers in my area that were excellent hunters in their day.
 
DANCESWITHEMPTIES said:
Yeah I read the books about the colours and the UV range. & While I don't disagree with the science; Whitetail will sniff you out long before they see you or you them. Mulies will stop and stare at you if you get the jump on them. I guess their attitude is "Nobody moves & nobody gets hurt". They were wrong....
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Lol, so true. Hunting whitetails is always more fun, you got to be quick most of the time. The couple mule deer bucks I’ve shot have just stood around or just casually walked around waiting to be shot.
 
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Butcherbill said:
It’s all bull#### in the end anyway, play the wind and be still as best you can and it doesn’t really matter what colour you have on. How many times have you seen pics of some old hunter in jeans and a wool plaid with a dead animal? Guy was probably smoking while he shot it lol.
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That would be me. I wear plaid most of the time or just plain drab colour clothing.
https://imgur.com/a/PBVSuu2
 
I think it comes down to not just being seen, but being noticed.

You may be well within their visible spectrum, but if you don't move, may not be noticed, or if you are noticed, not recognized for what you are.

I think camo plays a part in not being noticed, or recognized.
 
Suther said:
Smell probably.


I didn't check the link in the OP, but I found a peer reviewed journal article on this topic a few years ago. Basically they have more rods than us but fewer cones. Humans have 3 types of cones but deer only have 2 and lack the one that allows us to see red. But they see blue really good (and for this reason i always avoid blue in my clothes, bag, etc). The additional rods they have give them better low light vision than us.
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I read a similar article years ago written by some scientist in California that basically said the same thing. Blue deer see very well, oranges and reds appear a gray shade to them. I think of all the fellas that still wear blue jeans while hunting.
 
STEELCITYSLICKER said:
I didnt say that camo provided an advantage over blaze orange. My point was, we have a requirement to wear blaze orange. That blaze orange - as with any solid mass of colour - is not natural and will stand out. If the blaze orange was to be incorporated into a camo pattern, you could still "remain safe" from other hunters, while not walking around with a blob of colour on you.

And you're wrong about camo having no impact on deer. I'd love to see evidence, other than anecdotal, to back that up.
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Wrong, eh?

Why is it that I can stalk to within 10-15 yards of deer wether I am wearing head to toe camo or khaki pants with blaze orange jacket and hat?

Why is it that some of the most successful hunters I know hunt on the ground either spot/stalk or still hunt while wearing dickies pants and flannel jackets or full orange?

Why is it that while doing deer drives, our blockers wearing head to toe orange are rarely noticed or are almost run over by deer despite being 100% visible to the deer walking towards them? Because it doesn't matter what you wear.

Its funny how 99% of stand hunters believe you need full camo, scents etc while 99% of still hunters know camo is irrelevant.

Marketing has done a great job to fool many hunters into believing they must have camo.


Curious....how many of you naysayers choose to hunt from a blind or treestand?

How many have bothered to wear normal clothes vs camo to see if it actually makes a difference? I'll go with zero as the "must have camo" guys are relying on what marketing has told them to believe instead of actually seeing for themselves.
 
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jbmauser said:
I'm curious how you came to this conclusion and how you can prove it? Obviously movement is the biggest give away and I've had a ton of close encounters with game while wearing normal clothes but I can't see how something that breaks up your outline would have zero benefits. Makes zero sense.
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Commercial camo wasn't available until the 80's and before that the only camo was DIY or milsurp gear. Following your logic, hunters weren't successful before the 80's because they didn't have camo?

Pre 80's, very few people thought you needed camo. Step into the 90's when camo became mainstream and marketing convinced everyone they need camo.


Funny how pre camo days the deer were blind and couldn't notice hunters, then suddenly after camo became commercially available the deer suddenly evolved to see everyone who wasn't wearing camo?

Marketing is a powerful tool to convince people they need something to be successful. Golf and fishing are other examples of fooling people into parting with their money.


What makes zero sense is how deer somehow evolved so quickly to necessitate the use of camo.....
 
canadian hunter312 said:
Commercial camo wasn't available until the 80's and before that the only camo was DIY or milsurp gear. Following your logic, hunters weren't successful before the 80's because they didn't have camo?

Pre 80's, very few people thought you needed camo. Step into the 90's when camo became mainstream and marketing convinced everyone they need camo.


Funny how pre camo days the deer were blind and couldn't notice hunters, then suddenly after camo became commercially available the deer suddenly evolved to see everyone who wasn't wearing camo?

Marketing is a powerful tool to convince people they need something to be successful. Golf and fishing are other examples of fooling people into parting with their money.


What makes zero sense is how deer somehow evolved so quickly to necessitate the use of camo.....
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Wow. I never said you can't be successful without camo or that it's a necessity. If you read, I said I have had a lot of close encounters myself while not wearing camo. All I'm saying is that something that breaks up your outline has to have benefits in some situations. For as adamant you are that you don't think camo has benefits, there are just as many people that think it does.

My opinion is based on 30 plus years of still hunting, stand hunting, spot and stalk and blind hunting. I've hunted with all sorts of clothes in all sorts of conditions.

I guess I'm just one of the 1%.
 
canadian hunter312 said:
Wrong, eh?

Why is it that I can stalk to within 10-15 yards of deer wether I am wearing head to toe camo or khaki pants with blaze orange jacket and hat?

Why is it that some of the most successful hunters I know hunt on the ground either spot/stalk or still hunt while wearing dickies pants and flannel jackets or full orange?

Why is it that while doing deer drives, our blockers wearing head to toe orange are rarely noticed or are almost run over by deer despite being 100% visible to the deer walking towards them? Because it doesn't matter what you wear.

Its funny how 99% of stand hunters believe you need full camo, scents etc while 99% of still hunters know camo is irrelevant.

Marketing has done a great job to fool many hunters into believing they must have camo.


Curious....how many of you naysayers choose to hunt from a blind or treestand?

How many have bothered to wear normal clothes vs camo to see if it actually makes a difference? I'll go with zero as the "must have camo" guys are relying on what marketing has told them to believe instead of actually seeing for themselves.
Click to expand...

So no evidence other than your anecdotal stuff? Gotcha. Thank you for confirming.

You are not reading - or perhaps not understanding - what I've (and others) said. Read it again, this time slower and with less emotion.
 
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