How many people here remember hitting the woods with our red and black plaid wool coats and a pair of blue jeans. The deer can't tell the difference, it's our actions that give us away. We wear camo because we look good while we're wearing it.

For 7 years I always took a buck opening day ofMaryland archery opener. Always out of the same stand which was in an awesomenatural funnel between an activefarm field and a bedding thicket. The wind was always perfect as well for a morning hunt. In all the years hunting from thatstand I can honestly say I was never busted. Well never busted until I tried the so called UV Killer! I'm not sure what they call it now but back then (the early 90) that's what it was called.There was no way that deer should have ever spotted me but somehow, he did.

I called and wrote a letter explainingmy hunt and I never heard back from them. I called them severaltimes trying to get some kind of reply and still nothing. Until they find a deer that can talk and tell me different, it nothing more than a 100% gimmick. For those that believe in it......more power to ya.

I am sorry but I am going to go out on a limb here and totally disagree with most of you that thinks it does not matter or that there has not been any good scientific research done. I hunt waterfowl quite a bit and know for a fact that they respond nagatively to uv glow coming off of white cotton sheets when some people use them as snow covers on blinds or persons. Birds will flare especially on a cloudy day like you would not believe if someone forgot to clean their sheets properly or they purchased foreign made blind covers with UV brighteners. I know some of you are going to naturally say that it is calling, or some other hunting fault but I don't care, I can tell you without a doubt that birds respond negatively to UV glow, I mean to the point of being funny or wierd and magically when covers are used minus UV glow the result is boom boom. Now with that being said I have been under the impression that the old studies and some more recent ones (I think the mose recent and elaborate was done by Univ. of Georgia) show that both birds and Whitetails lack a U.V filter and if that is the case you can bet your butt I will spend the 19.95 to be able to treat my stuff. If you have a question on how much glow you have then us a light and see. To me personally this is pretty cheap stuff when you think about all of the other things that we buy especially how much money we spend on camo, and oh yeah the scent control thing (now I think that is the gimmick). The reason that the old days of wool and such worked is because it was made in the good old U.S.A and UV brighteners were not added. I would also like to mention that I have had numerous occasions where I have been down wind and had camo from head to toe including my face, been behind good natural cover and deer would look right at me pick me out and run the other way.

Doubt it!!! It's probably some movement, or you looking at them or that scent blocker ain't working as well as you think. (Try X-scent base-layers, best thing I've ever used!!!!) I knowingly wash all my clothes in a Scent-Free detergent (All: Free & Clear) UV brightener, I've been within CLOSE shot distance of MANY deer while ON THE GROUND without a blind, in the last several years, and not spooked but a rare couple of them. TRUST ME, the UV thing may hold some small amount of water, but it it held that much water, the two encouters I've had that I've had deer within 5yds. of me on the ground wouldn't have happened. And I've had probably 20 within 10yds. of me on the ground, in the last 4 yrs, that seemed to have no idea what I was.

The reason I was so interested in the video clip was because I also read an article, featured on HNI, that involved professors at a Forest Resources University in Georgia.

Heres the link: http://www.huntingnet.com/articles/article_detail.aspx?articles_id=579

I will admit that my comfort level is higher when Im in my Realtree AP...regardless of the study. I am one of those who used to hunt in my fathers old army drab. I have been 15 ft from a half dozen does that were looking me in my eyes...and continued eating the acorns on the ground because they never saw me...and yesI do look cool as hell in total concealment.

Im all for "helping" me blend into the whitetails environment...so yes Im interested in these studies. Im not running out to buy any particular brand of UV killer because there are several companies that make the UV killer spray or wash. I am sorry for starting this debate, but I was guessing that it has come up before and I would get a "yes" or "no".

......continue as you were!

I wash mine in baking soda and hang dry. That's all you need. No scent, no UV.

I've had too many deer within 15 yardsand not notice me to believe UV gives me away

I Hear ya!!! .....but when I read about scientists who do the studies like the one from HNI, I kinda give it SOME credibility.

Like I said in my original post...I never really gave it a second thought until I read the article. I believe that biologists and people with phd's in the field of wildlife studies KINDA know what they are talking about!

Im not stressing out whether or not my camo, that has brought me success, is a gimmick but it makes sense when you understand the whitetails UV vision.

Okay, maybe it's too hard to click on a link or maybe it's too hard to understand what's there. I'll go through my reasoning and you can tell me if it's whacked.

Here's the UV map of the U.S. for October.



Now your clothes don't emit UV light themselves, right? So they can only reflect what UV they're exposed to. So we have to consider the amount of UV we're exposing our clothes to. That's where the map comes in.

Let's pick Kansas as a good compromise between hunting the U.P. or the Texas brush country. The mean UV index for an October day is between 3 and 4. That's pretty darn low already, compared to the 9.4 in Puerto Rico. Okay, you've got your stand in the tree and the leaves haven't fallen. You're in shade. That cuts UV exposure even more. Most guys only hunt early in the morning or late in the evening, well before or after peak hours of UV exposure. So that's even less UV.

We're hunting during the season when UV radiation is way down from summer. We're in the shade being blocked from UV light. We're hunting during the times of day when UV is low. Ain't no way we're gonna be glowing like it showed in that video.

If it makes you feel better, then by all means go ahead and spend the money to cut your UV reflection. But the way I see it, other than washing your clothes in a scent and brightener free detergent, it's not that big a deal. IMO, the only people who have to worry all that much about UV glow are those who are in a stand with a black light hanging over them, burning incense and smoking those funny smelling twisted cigarettes. [8D]

You mean to tell me that these dont make me a better hunter?