Can deer see green or blue light?

[jaclinto]

I bought a hat from head lite (www.head-lite.com) the other day that has a built in light. They offer different colors in lighting which include red, green, and blue along with the normal white light. My question is - Can deer see green or blue light? I know they can't see red, but the green light seems to put out more light. Any scientists out there?

[Steverino]

While I am not a scientist, do not play one on T.V. and have not spent the past evening slumbering comfortably at the Best Western , I did read an interesting article in (I believe?) last months Field and Stream that discussed this very topic.

If I am not mistaken, I believe that the article cited a university study (Alabama perhaps) done with wildlife biologists that studied the eyes of deer to better understand how deer see.

I do not recall anything specifically about the color green, but do seem to recall that the cones in a deers eye do see certain images as blue.

I'll try and dig that article up at home as it was interesting-(canchya tell from just how much of the article that I am able to recall here? )


Perhaps someone more knowledgable in this area than I could help shed some light on this subject.

Where are my manners? A big Welcome Aboard Jac!

[Niteowl]

welcome jack....I as steve am no expert,but I did have occasion to test the theroy in the field,I was coming down out of my stand after dark and a group of 6 deer came in ,mommas and fawns,I stood 4 rungs up on the ladder stand and shined my green lite 1st and then my mini mag(white) directly in their faces nothing happened,they continued to eat the corn on the ground.I had to actually talk to them to get them to leave.The big bummer was that I know they would never come in like that during legal hunting times. FWIW,that was my experience

[Darkwolf]

An article in ourdoor life followed up on a study which stated that deer do see certain color ranges and that blue was an "alarm" color for them at ground levels. Apparantly, the same "stand-out"reaction that humans get from "safety orange" is how deer react to median shades of blue. The article suggested that blue jeans might not be an appropriate color of pants for early-season hunters.

[BILLY D.]

DARKWOLF

I READ THE SAME ARTICLE AND HOW ULTRAVIOLET RAYS ARE REFLECTED OFF CLOTHING. TRIED TO RUN A SEARCH FOR IT BUT COULDN'T FIND THE ARTICLE. MAYBE I'M NOT PATIENT ENOUGH.

[Steverino]

I also did a search online after discovering that the 'Mrs.' discarded some of my read magazines at home. I came up empty as well.

I also recall, as others had pointed out in the article, that deer do not seem to be adversely effected by hunter orange as previously thought.

I have trudged through dense wooded cover on many occassions with a white Mini-Mag Lite and have had deer actually approach my figure.I'd surmise that they were probably more likely curious as to my presence in their bedrooms and travel corridors as opposed to the light but who knows.

[Slim-Zippy]

I read in a magazine (which one?) that deer have dichromatic vision. They see two color spectrums, the black white color spectrum and the blue green color spectrum. They also see many more shades of these spectrums than humans see of all the colors alltogether. Coyotes also see both of these color spectrums.

I beleive the above information to be correct, but am not totally positive.

My experience is that movement is often more important than camo. I have to hunt on the ground these days and try to wear off the shelf clothes in solid colors that match my surroundings. Tan, brown for pants and light green, dark green, or brown for shirts and this depends where I am hunting, but I am willing to back myself into some very uncomfortable places on the ground. I cover my black rifle stock, barrel and face with camo.

If you wash your clothes with Whisk or some other non-phosphate clothes soap a couple of times it will take out the ultraviolet phosphoreressence that make clothes so bright and shine like neon for deer.

I do not beleive that deer see red camoflouge, just the phasphates from laundry detergents.

Just my humble thoughts on camoflouge and what deer see. I could be mistaken.

[jaclinto]

thanks for the feedback

[ghost stalker]

i heard somewhere as well about certain detergents leaving UV reflective coatings.

[HPBTMTCH]

I guess i have`nt tested different colored lights on the same deer to see if it makes a difference. What i do know is that if the deer have not been shot at with a light, they will pay no attenion to it no matter what color or candle power. A dim light, and adding color makes it less bright than white light, they don`t seem to notice as much as a bright red light. They will see a bright red light. Coyotes on the other hand, can see any light you can see. The UV thing is real. Have tested that one.