Thoughts on the color Black
 

What do you guys think about treestands, camo, bowaccessories
with black on them. I think deer reconize black in the woods. I even change my strap on my stands to a camo one.

This is not a fight on camo, I just want to hear your thoughts on black is seen by deer. We can argue about if they can see color or not, but we know they can see black. In a tree(besides a black squirrel) you hardly see any black.

RE: Thoughts on the color Black
 

I'd go with a light to mid grey color as my primary base color in any of that stuff you can paint. Even if it comes in black I'd give it a quick once over with grey and then splotch it with some greens, yellows etc. to break up the straight lines. If you can make it harder for humans to see deer won't see it. And like you say, black stands out up in a tree. I have a couple hang ons that utilize black straps to hold them in place. that black strap really stands out. That said, boy does a black bear disappear in the underbrush. Big ole turkeys can vanish pretty quick too.[&:][&:]

RE: Thoughts on the color Black
 

Unless its a large amount of black, as in a hunter wearing all black in a stand, I don't think it raises any flags for deer.

The straps on my stand are black, the accesories on my bow are black, the soles of my boots are black... Doesn't seem to bother them at all.

I think we as hunters give deer too much credit. Granted, they're smart to an extent, but they aren't humans.

RE: Thoughts on the color Black
 

I think deer temporarily focus on anything that doesn't look right , but if the suspicious object doesn't move they'll quickly forget that it's even there . I've seen this in the field too many times to doubt it . My pop-up blind has the black interior , but I quickly noticed that deer were spooking from it when they hadn't from my nearly identical previous one . The black interior turned out to be the culprit . I can't shoot a bow from this blind , so I started zipping the windows up until only "murder slits" were left . This left thin black strips across the sides , but not gaping black holes , and the deer returned to normal after I started doing that . Can they see black ? Sure they can . Does a thin black line viewed from a distance look like a silhouetted branch to a critter that has somewhat limited daytime visual acuity ? Probably . Will it spook them ? Maybe , depends on the deer . My ladder stand is flat black and looks nothing like a tree , hell the bottom of the camo seat is black . Will I be able to kill deer from it ? No question .

RE: Thoughts on the color Black
 

Kevin1 how many 3.5 up deer have you killed from the black treestand? We had one on the farm, I watch a deer walk up to it and look right up at my Dad. Funny thing the deer turn around to walk away, then turned back around and walked right past it. He was yearing, I am just curious on how the react in other areas. No judging on what anybody wants to shoot.

Another question is we set the stand upand the first time a mature deer notices the stand(black strap) does this send him nocturnil?

RE: Thoughts on the color Black
 

I can't stand the black nylon strap that came on a lot of my fixed-position stands I own... I take grey primer paint in a spray can and break it up by painting stripes and spots on it every four or five inches...

Not sure if it would attract a deer's attention that much (I killed a bunch before I started doing that), but I know I used to be able to spot that black horizontal stripe from 100 yards away when walking up to my stands in the woods... If nothing else, they're less visible to potential thieves.

RE: Thoughts on the color Black
 

Greg that is what bothered me, I thought if I can see the thing from 100 yds out a deer could.

RE: Thoughts on the color Black
 

You guys raise some good points. I have never really given it much thought. I just purchased a new ladder stand for next year and the entire thing is black.

I think I will hit it with some grey paint to break it up a little before I put it out.

Germ and Greg are "droppin knowledge"!!![8D]

RE: Thoughts on the color Black
 

Germ , 3.5 deer aren't common where I live due to B&Ds , and the stand is also brand new , so I haven't shot any that size from this particular stand . I have had deer of various ages walk by the stand , all of them checked it out , none of them spooked unless I moved or otherwise blew it . I sincerely doubt that you can ever truly hide any new object from a whitetail , they notice new objects very easily . All I'm saying is that I doubt that a couple of black stripes are gonna blow your hunt . Your smell or movement will do that far more often .

RE: Thoughts on the color Black
 

HG my Uncles bought a big black two person stand, I hunt near their farm. The night I shot my deer I was looking across the field and went, "what the heck is that" It looked like a big tall guy next to the tree. Now i am about 300-400 yds out, I put the 8x30's on it, and it was there stand. My dad said the same thing. It really stuck out!!