Deer Hunting Tips: Why deer will never make good pilots

I found this great article on deer vision. For deer hunting tips this post gets a little scientific, but don't groan if that's not your style, it's worth it. Some states make hunters where bright orange hazard jackets, and there has been some debate over what effect this has on their hunting.

I've summarized the juicy bits for you:

First up, let's understand the eye. In mammals, the retina is at the back of the eye, and is made up of two light sensitive cells- rods and cones. Rods work in lowlight conditions and allow night vision. Cones work in the day and allow color vision. That's why you should never get dressed in the dark! Anyway...

Humans see a wide range of colors because they have three types of cones.

Deer have a higher concentraion of rods, but a lower concentration of cones. What does this mean? Deer have better vision in lowlight conditions than humans, but worse vision during the day. Deer's pupils also open wider, letting more light in, which gives them better nighttime vision. And if that wasn't enough, they have a reflective layer at the back of the eye called a tapetum (in case you want to show off how clever you are...). This acts as a mirror and reflects light not absorbed by the cells back for a second try. This means that deer use the same light we do TWICE!



I guess that's why the deer's eyes light up so much. Kind of creepy.

Now on to the next issue, humans have UV filters on their eyes. It protects and gives us better focus. But we can't see short-wavelength colors as well. Deer don't have these filters, so they see with less detail, but they see UV light better.

A lot of detergents these days have UV enhancers which make your clothes look brighter. If you wash your clothes in this, you could glow for the deer. Some fabrics are UV treated, so check before you buy. Fabrics with UV dyes, or enhancers will make you more visible.

Now back to the cones, deer only have two types, so they are red-green color blind. This means that green/red/orange look the same color, though blue/green look different.

So how does this apply to me when I go hunting?

- Colour of camoflage is not as important as pattern, solid, unbroken colours will make you stand out
- anythig that reflects light will alert deer, so don't polish your boots, and be aware of the glare your gun can cause
- basically keep it dull and don't go for blue. It may not be the most fashionable, but it will help you stay undetected.

Overall, color is not as important as movement and scent, but it's good to know anyway how deer see.

Anyway here's the link to the article