Deer Facts: Deer it has been determined do not see color as humans do-that's why it's not the color as much as the pattern that's important. I do, however believe that deer do see blaze orange. It may be the glow, but whatever, they do see it.
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While sneaking through an area the other day, to where I was going to climb
a tree for the evening hunt; I had deer spook at about 75 yds and run in the
thick area that I was heading for. Believing that they saw my blaze orange hat,
I decided to conduct an experiment, and put the hat in my coat, and replace
it with a camo hat. I was in the center of a piece of land that no one else
had permission to hunt in, or I wouldn't have done that. I proceeded toward
my selected stand site, when I went over the brow of the hill and had gone about
five steps, two does and a small buck jumped less than 12 steps in front of
me. I stopped, and they ran about 20 yards and looked back, uncertain of what
they had seen, apparently. They stopped and looked in my direction, then proceeded
to walk away, undisturbed. I have never had that reaction in 40 years of hunting
whitetails! Another hunter, setting on a stump, after leaving his tree stand
some distance away, saw a doe feeding out the side of a ridge toward him. He
decided he'd see how close the deer would come before spotting him, setting
right there in the open. At about 20 yards, the hunter had to cough, so cough
he did. The deer jerked her head up, looking straight at him, and started walking
his way, staring at him the whole way. At about ten steps, the hunter whistled,
the deer stopped, still looking; then started walking in his direction again.
At the point the hunter could have reached out and touched the deer, he hollered
and waived to scare the doe off. To say he was convinced in "his" camo's effectiveness
is an understatement.
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Wild turkeys and birds in general can see as we do, color and all. Nothing gets by a turkey's eyes! Nothing! We all watch the outdoor shows where the hunter is fidgeting, moving the gun abruptly, shifting positions, etc.. I don't know where they hunt their birds, but I even squint my eyes so they don't see them when I have a gobbler coming in! I've hunted gobblers in the Virginia since the first season back in the 60's, and our turkeys are wild to the point that you sometimes get the suspicion that they can feel you, when they get within shotgun range! I've killed as many trophy gobblers as anybody, and I've had turkeys as close as 15 to 20 yards come over a hill, and get away before I could react.
We have had reports from two hunters this fall, who were setting on the ground with ZERO-DETECT CAMO on. The first called in a big gobbler, letting him keep coming toward him, setting right in the open; at less than 20 yards decided to shoot. The gobbler never saw him. Another hunter reported having a small flock, of about 8 birds walk within feet of him setting up against a tree, none of them spotting him setting right in the open. He had never been that close to wild turkeys in his life!
The combination of the color and pattern worked together to eliminate both hunters outline to deceive those turkeys eyes. This was our first year with less than 50 suits being issued to hunter to get their reactions-and the reports keep coming in. to be posted later. Hopefully you will have stories to tell in the future! We have stories from Va. to Idaho, and even Africa!
