Maybe its just me but something I've been noticing more of this year or at least thinking about it. I don't guess to know how or or what deer can see at low light or darkness but.......I've noticed that at low light some camos are more easily seen by me than others, and I don't believe it has anything to do with ultraviolet light.
For example, some camos that seem to be blobs in daylight disappear in low light while some camos that we think blend in better in daylight are easier seen in low light. My question is: if a camo blends in to the surroundings better in the daylight than another, why can the same camo be more easily seen in low light than the blobby camo? Again this is with the knowledge that both camos have no uv brighteners. Make any sense?
Edit: After looking at some different camos I own and comparing them in my low light bedroom, I noticed my old, badly faded Realtree Hardwoods jacket is harder to see than my new Predator Fall Gray or Realtree AP jackets..........now wondering to myself if the manufacturers are using dyes that are not hunter friendly in there new camo.
Most of the patterns on store shelves are so called "closed patterns", they will blob up to a deer regardless of the lighting conditions. My own fave is Realtree Hardwoods, but when I did a side by side test against varying backgrounds with more open patterns such as Natural Gear and ASAT the difference was apparent to the much more sensitive human eye. In your example the faded camo, which according to those who make camo and "camo restorer" should be getting you busted all the time, has faded to a less distinctive shade so the pattern is less descernable in some conditions, particularly lighter backgrounds. Mossy Oak is great if you're hunting a dark Mississippi swamp, but in a well lit Indiana hardwoods it sticks out like a sore thumb. My own research leads me to believe that pattern and/or color is far less important than background and movement. I've had multiple deer walk to within feet of me while I was wearing ordinary Woodland camo simply because I hadn't moved and had a cluttered backdrop. Their depth perception is also rather lousy too due to the position of their eyes on the sides of the head, a factor I like to exploit whenever possible.
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Kevin Haendiges
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http://hunting-indiana.com
There is an idea floating around now about something called 'chameleon cloth', a kind of holographic material that will bend light rays around your body and make you blend in with any background. For now it's sci-fi stuff,but they've been getting pretty good lately at making sci-fi reality. I know they're working on it though and, when we get it,it will solve all your problems, Coug.
When thinking about camo, I always try to get away from "how I see it". I totally agree though, that "blob" is not what you want a deer to see though, and something that breaks up the outline is what should work the best. I also try to stay away from garments that reflect UV and am extra careful with white colors such as the snow camos.
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"I do not Hunt animals to Kill them. I kill animals because I Hunt." Roger Rothhaar
I have been getting good invisibility when trying not to move or look like a human being.
I've had a doe coming up to me and getting her fawn out of the ferns because she couldn't figure me out, I was crouched down and had my arms tucked in my armystyle jumper. When she spotted my big black camera on the side that's when she jumped....
So I guess movement and figure are dead givaways....
Did I mention that I think the US must be full of giants !!! I ordered predator camo and the XL makes the european XL look like a small medium....
I can make two suits out of the one I bought.....
F.
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"in the arms of tragedy there lies no comfort in being right"
Kinda makes you wonder... If you were up in the tree, wrapped in one of these:
On the ground, they look obnoxiously shiny, b/c they're reflecting all of the light from the sky (against a dark background). But, if you were up in a tree, and your prey is on the ground - wouldn't you appear to be just a big glimmering blob of reflected leaves, branches and sunlight?
[:-]
I would be interested in seeing some treestand photos (taken from the ground) of an individual wrapped in a super-reflective space blanket. Just to see how that compares to the current state of the art camo.
Didn't I see on the Discovery Channel sometime last year a "fibre optic" camo??? If memory serves correctly, it literally pulled the image from behind the person wearing it to the front.....They showed a guy walking along a tree line and it look almost EXACTLY like the predator bouncing around in the trees, from the movie....."Predator"........Or was I incoherently passed out?? I swear I saw something like that though...
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1995 Ford Ranger XL
Douglas Radial Tires
Super Blue headlights
Fiberglass front bumper
2400 pounds
Taking a different view of camo
