Do deer see color?

[303Guy]

Apparently they do but there is good news - they cannot see pink! Even better, men see pink very well indeed - we associate pink with women and there's no way we would mistake a women for a deer and shoot her. We might shoot a man for wearing pink though.

What cammo do y'all wear when hunting deer? Considering that with cast boolits we do kinda need to get in closer - or do we?

Oh, pigs see red green and blue, deer see green and blue. Not sure how pigs see red and not deer but apparently deer don't see red very well so orange blaze does not glow light a light house to them.

[reloader28]

I always heard that the animals that have night vision, are color blind.
The ones that dont have night vision, see color.

[fouronesix]

I doubt deer see color. They do "see" movement and they do see very well. They obviously see relative brightness- some colors have more relative brightness than others. Their hearing is only matched by their sense of smell but they can hear upwind- nothing can smell upwind

[atr]

not so much color.....but movement and sound,,,,especially sound,,,,and smell....
based on my field experience I would say Sound, movement, and smell in that order.

[Jim]

http://www.buckmasters.com/are-deer-...lor-blind.aspx

[aspangler]

http://www.buckmasters.com/are-deer-...lor-blind.aspx

That's what we are taught as Hunter Safety Instructors.

[303Guy]

The trick is not to have large areas of a single color. Blaze orange vests and caps are a large area and deer can see it but not so much as a light beacon, just a large area. In the link above they talk about how blaze orange is created.

It's important to note that blaze orange is pigmented in two ways. One is by combining red and yellow. The other is by combining yellow and magenta (reddish-purple). Magenta is in the peak sensitivity range of a deer's visual spectrum, and thus will glow in a deer's eyes.

When spooked, it's often because the movement of a solid human form catches the deer's eyes, rather than them noticing color.

They do see green and blue.

Be aware that many conventional laundry detergents and color dyes used on camouflage clothing manufactured overseas contain brightening, blueing or whitening agents.
These collect light energy from a wide range of wavelengths and re-radiate it in a powerful peak at a range of about 440 nanometers - near maximum sensitivity of a deer. They might not see it well in bright sunlight, but in twilight these brightening agents can make your clothes glow like a neon sign to deer.

I've found several references to the University of Georgia's Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources study and each says something a little different. This one says deer do not see green and yellow well while another says they do. They do have green sensitive cones in their retina.

[truckjohn]

It's a mistake to assume that because they can't "See" some colors - that they cannot tell hue, brightness, saturation, and other attributes....

There are many color blind people that actually have very good visual acuity - they can tell differences in hues, brightness, surface texture, etc quite well... where other people who *CAN* "See" color may be terrible differentiating hues, surface texture, etc....

I would assume it's the same for animals... while they can't maybe tell Pink from Orange - it just looks "Brown"... BUT.. they can tell hue, brightness, saturation, and the like - and so the Camo patterns may well look very different from "Forest" they are used to looking at..... because there are all sorts of different flavors of "Brown" mixed up together on a cloth pattern that doesn't look like leaves...

Think about how you would pick out a snake, small bird, or a squirrel in the woods... The "Color" isn't what we pick up on as much as the texture of the skin, fur, feathers compared to the texture of leaves, dirt, and bark....

Thanks

[HABCAN]

I was told (and, observing in the field have never had reason to doubt) that predators 'see' colors and 'prey' see 'grays', or as truckjohn says above............

[303Guy]

Well, that study shows they see two color ranges as well as black and white. We see black and white too in the dark. No-one knows for sure how they perceive color. It is thought that pigs don't see contrast very well like we do. Another thing is antelope and deer do not have a concentrated central vision like we do but they do have a fairly concentrated horizontal band on their retina so they have a good panoramic view but it is not know whether they have much accommodation. We do know they see pretty damn well in the dark, about nine times better than ours. Something that comes to mind is we might get a vague idea of what deer see by how we see in the dark if we can imagine it being brighter. We lose our sharp central vision to some extent in the dark and of course all our color vision.

[reloader28]

I dont think deer see color at all. We've sat on the ground right out in the open and have had a herd come right up to within 20yds of us. Not just once, either. Several times.
As long as you dont move, they will not see you. They only take off because we start laughing or jump up and scare them. and thats with 1-3 guys wearing orange hats, vests or sweatshirts. We wear lots of orange so other hunters can see us and contrary to hunter myth, deer cannot see blaze orange.
Last year I was wearing an orange hat and vest, and shot a doe at about 25yds that I sneaked up to in her bed.

[quilbilly]

I don't think they see much color but they sure do see ultra violet. That is why I now even "soak" my orange hunting gear in that UV Killer.

[Driver man]

Deer see colour including red. Although they dont have the cone in the eye for red discrimination they perceive it in a different way. Probably the way light diffuses or reflects from red. I can say with absolute certainty that they can see reflective surfaces like wet oilskins, pvc wet weather gear etc. I know that in low light they can sure see better than me. The UV argument is valid in low light conditions.

[303Guy]

I would imagine they see red the same way we do in low light - as grey. Everything looks grey in low light. The researchers say blaze orange looks grey to deer but not bright. It's movement we are trying to disguise when we wear cammo and also to break our outline. Reflective gun barrels has been mentioned as well. It's quite possible that a solid blaze orange against a uniform background would be quite invisible to them. Apparently, one can stalk a deer in an open field if on keeps a bush or tree directly behind us to break our outline.

Our skin would be reflective and bright to deer wouldn't it? Specially if we are pale faces. And face creams that we might be using like UV-blockers.

[MT Gianni]

I believe that animals see color but are not alarmed by it unless there is movement. I have had too many elk and deer stare at me then go right back to feeding if I did not lift a gun or stare at them with intent.

[Mk42gunner]

I don't know if they see color the way we do or not, but like MT Gianni, I have had way too many deer within ten yards of me to believe they are spooked by color alone.

Then there was the coyote that I watched come clear across a cut soybean field. I watched him pop over the levee (~350-400 yards away)and head almost directly towards me, I put the vertical crosshair on his right shoulder when he was about 300 yards out; then thought, "Let's see how close he will come."

He covered twenty-five or thirty yards before the crosshair was behind his left hind leg. I kept watching and he kept coming, right up until he smelled me at about twenty yards. Even then he didn't spook, but just circled a bit and went into the brush. I never have regretted not shooting him, it was very interesting.

Here is the kicker, I was wearing blue jeans, a blaze orange long sleeved shirt and hat. It was firearms deer season.

Just as fishing lures are designed to catch fishermen, I think most commercial camouflage is designed to catch hunters.

Robert

[milkman]

Deer have a set of ultra-violet, night vision type, heat detecting eyes concealed in their ears. Every time that I have been "spotted", even when I have been totally immobile, the deer's ears have been pointed at me. As long as they don't have their ears pointed at you, they are blind as a bat. It's a wonder they can see enough to find something to eat.

[303Guy]

I suppose those radar ears can hear the slightest movement we make, maybe our breathing. A slight bit of wind would help hide our sounds. That would confirm that it is movement we are trying to disguise and cammo that breaks out outline would be a start but perhaps also soften our outline so movement is disguised. But noise is another thing to think about. Boot noise, clothing rubbing together, brushing against vegetation and so on. Funny how critters sometimes stand and look at us until we point a gun at them then they seem to get nervous and move off. But only when they see that gun pointing at them. Is it the scope they see?

By the way, I have a theory that cammo should blend one in with the environment in a way other hunters can't see us so they can't shoot us! I've had buddies try to hide from me in their cammo when in fact it drew attention to them! Their cammo was too light. I've hidden from them and got spotted by the unnatural outline of my hat. I was otherwise in full view within the leafy bushes and was wearing green. I've now got olive green clothing that is a very quiet micro-fleece type polyethylene. I'll try that out next hunt. It's also very warm in cold and wet weather without being too hot in the warmth.

[MBTcustom]

All I have to say is that I think that the deer can see much better than anyone gives them credit for, and they hear about as good as everyone thinks, and they smell pretty good too. They're also dumb. They're a freakin goat with pretty horns. I've stood stalk still at full draw in the middle of a logging road at dusk, with my scent blowing ahead of me, straight at three deer that were walking towards me. The rear two turned off into the woods one after the other, but the lead deer didn't turn till it was 15 yards from me. Soon as it did "Chunk!" double lung hit.
See, it was a fresh logging road, and the deer had never been hunted in that area before. Had we been down in the flats, those same deer would have never presented a decent shot. That's the secret to hunting (especially on public land): You get where nobody else has gotten, and you can pretty much hold open your bag and the deer will jump right in.

A word on blaze orange: I always wear it. I take my chances in bow season, but make no mistake, getting shot with a broadhead that far out in the woods is a really bad idea and extremely life threatening, and I know I'm taking a risk.

I consider myself a fair to middlin deer hunter and sportsman, and at one time, I was a superb shot with a bow (matter of fact, I could shoot a bow better than most folks can shoot a rifle)
Anyways, I was set up waiting in the woods one evening with my bow, and I saw this creature coming towards me about 50 yards away. Now bear in mind, it was dusk. It was about to be too dark to see in about 30 minutes. I thought sure I was looking at a bear! The adrenaline started pumping and I drew my bow (hell at 50 yards, I could pick which hair I wanted to cut, and my eyesight is superb) Well, I was about to send it when this creature crouched down and I thought it looked for all the world like a black panther. I was about to send it, when this creature turned sideways a little, and I realized it was actually a turkey with it's fan opened! That didn't make any sense, because what I saw at first could not possibly have been a turkey. I let my bow down, and decided to wait till I could figure out what I was looking at. About that time, the "creature" stood up and I realized that it was my hunting buddy with his crossbow on his back. he had dropped something on the ground and had bent down to pick it up! All that damn camo and pack and bow, had broken up his outline so well, that It was playing tricks on me in the dusk! He wondered why I was a nervous wreck when he got to me. He asked if I had seen a deer or what? I told him I had just seen a lot more than that!
I still get goosbumps when I think about that, but I noticed in subsequent years that had that feller been wearing blaze orange, I really would never have mistaken him for anything but a hunter.

[1bluehorse]

I have no idea if deer "see" color or not....all this has been an interesting read...BUT, I do know humans can see color and that blaze orange stands out for miles...that's why there is no way I venture into the woods during hunting season without a fairly large covering of it.....even then you would be surprised by the amount of "hunters" that think a 1200lb sorrel animal wearing a saddle with an orange saddle pad and orange bags, a person on it's back also wearing an orange vest and orange bandana around his hat gets, "man, you looked like a big buck coming down the road"...........down "the road" mind you....I'm thinking of getting a white horse, but I'm not sure it would make any difference....what I have found in my area is to wait until Tuesday after opening weekend and I have the woods pretty much to myself...also get at least a mile from where anyone can drive to and it's pretty much just me...so my concern is to be seen by other "hunters" and not worry to much if a deer can see me or not....