RE: being a glow dope in a tree all camo'ed out
 

To put an end to my input on this subject, I am going to use it this year on my gear. As much as I spend on boot spray and scent wafers another few dollars on UV killer will not break me.

I have seen a TV show on the Outdoor Channel about hunting in ground blinds, and they did, in fact, spray half of the blind in UV killer and left the other half unsprayed...and then turned on a black light. It did glow like a christmas tree. The guy actually covered up the brand name on the UV killer spray and sidenoted that he was not selling a particular brand...but the concept.

It was convincing enough for me to at least try this in my attempt to deceive the whitetail in its environment. I guess if I didnt believe in attempting to conceal myself, I would go hunting in my work clothes and favorite baseball cap.

Anyhoo...I will keep a journal of the success (for my own knowledge).

RE: being a glow dope in a tree all camo'ed out
 

Just to add another thing to consider. Don't forget that your clothes are not the only thing in the woods that reflect UV, in varying degrees. So does foliage, tree bark, grass... Instead of looking like a glowing specter, you might wind up looking like a dark human shaped blob amongst the glow of the woods.;)

But good luck with it.

RE: being a glow dope in a tree all camo'ed out
 

Arthur I think you bring up a very good point with the natural ambient glow and I think I will do a little research with that and maybe conduct a little on my own. I do agree that the index will show where it my be more of a concern from one area to the next but I still think it is a concern in all; I live in an area of what might be considered lower U.V but I have had issues with it.

Early in--my mistake on the baking soda reference, I do agree it is a great cleaner (especially for hunting), hell I actually do most my house cleaning with borax, vinegar and hydrogen peroxide.

To all, thank you for not jumping on my opposition with witty attacks, I am only trying to get to the bottom of this as well and like to have constructive discussions. In will do a little checking on the glow of natural surrounding and let everyone know what I find out. You know, here again overseas manufacturing has given us a problem as years ago during some of the early generations of camo they did not add U.V brighteners and it was not an issue. I also thought I would drop a little note that my military buddies say that certain U.S military forces insist that their uniforms are U.V brightener free, I don't really know why but this subject was not new to them.

Hoyt Viper-- good post, and I think you are making the right move by treating your items; honestly in the grand scheme of things it is really cheap and once you do it if taken care of properly you don't have to "kill" the U.V again. The bottle I was looking at was only 10 bucks and does something like 10 garments.

RE: being a glow dope in a tree all camo'ed out
 

I'll bet more deer have spotted more hunters in low light conditions due to the ultra violet spectrum than in braod daylight. Washing clothes in non-scented detergent with non-brighteners helps and I do believe in the UV wash and spray.

RE: being a glow dope in a tree all camo'ed out
 

Maybe. But I'd bet the back forty that most, if not all hunters are busted by movement as oposed to UV signatures. Might sound like BS, but I've actually haddeer come under my stand, stare straight up at me, and look. When I was sitting, motionless, they just moved on. Sometimes after a few minutes, sometimes up to several minutes. The times I've been standing, I'd swear they saw my eyes blink as we made eye contact. Maybe I swayed a little. Whatever the reason, they picked up movement, darted 20 or 30 yards away, then played the head bob game trying to figure out what the heck I was. Then went about the business again as if I was never there. Every now and then though, they'd dart a look back at me. Take it for what it's worth. Maybe they were stupid deer. Maybe they were immature deer. Can't say. But if this UV signature thing was such an issue, why wouldn't they bolt for cover when they saw "Preditor" in a tree?As Arnold said, "He didn't see me". :D

RE: being a glow dope in a tree all camo'ed out
 

Deer have no natural UV blocker in their corneas like we do, so yes they can see very well into the UV spectrum. Most birds can too, I saw a program one time that showed a hawk hunting rodents by wtching for the glowing UV trails of their urine, the hawk decided where to hunt based on the greatest number of trails. I've also tested UV killer for myself and the product works just as well as advertised. I also noted that of all the camo I own it's only the most recently purchased items that exibited the glow phenomenon, my clothing from a few years ago had a no glow whatsoever. Apparently the addition of brighteners to camo is a recent one.

RE: being a glow dope in a tree all camo'ed out
 

Made in China?

RE: being a glow dope in a tree all camo'ed out
 

Two years ago I was sitting in my treestand about 22' up in my camo that was freshly washed with UV blocker. A big nine point walked up headed right at me. Ducked under a branch and look up right at me. Right before I could loose the arrow, he turned and bolted. I was already at full draw so he didn't see that, there was a slight wind blowing at me coming from his direction so I don't think he winded me. He just seen that something wasn't right (Thinking about it now, I think I may have been silhouetted). Prior to using the UV blocker and only being in a tree about 15' up I had a five point within 10 yards of me for about 10-15 minutes. Looking in my direction a few times with out spooking.

RE: being a glow dope in a tree all camo'ed out
 

Ok....OK Now you have done it....got my curiosity up...way up. I bought a black light and I will be testing all my hunting apparel shortly....old, new, borrowed and blue....I will share my result in a few days.

I don't know about the national UV index and don't know for sure if the exposure is stronger during sunlight or in dim light, but I will do my own highly scientific country boy testing in my own lavatory (dark basement.) To make it more interesting I have ask my wife to model the apparel for me....

I guess if I do or can have all the UV eliminated it would increase my chances of being seen by deer.....Anyway I look forward to the complexity of this experiment.

RE: being a glow dope in a tree all camo'ed out
 

Only the one that glowed. I was very disappointed since it was a tee shirt I bought to complete a suite of Natural Gear, one of my favorite patterns. I had previously purchased a jacket and BDU style cargo pants from Sportsman's Guide(which were OEM and didn't glow), so I found this surprising until I remembered where I bought the shirt, Bass Pro Shops. Oh well, I suppose I can always use it to dress fashionably when not hunting...:D

RE: being a glow dope in a tree all camo'ed out
 

Just as the sun sets the visible part of the spectrum rapidly diminishes and the effects of the UV spectrum become more noticable. as far as the Atsko product goes it is a very reasonably priced detergent that I believe was around before they started promoting it for hunters, I remember using it to was down clothes and sleeping bags. It came recommended from the manufacturers beacuse it rinses out leaving no residue on the down which would affect the lofting properties. Same reason it's good for hunting. ( I do use baking soda a lot too)

RE: being a glow dope in a tree all camo'ed out
 

That is why I have heard that the UV spectrum is different at different times of days. Perhaps this is why some hunters agree or disagree with the effects it may have on their clothing. They may have had different results depending on the time of day or cover in the woods. I have covered all my gear, clothes, slings, and stands...so at least that part of my game is covered...whether they can see it or not.

At least I can feel comfortable that my stuff isnt going to be noticed by a deer, predator, or any blacklights that may be wondering through the woods!

If it is something I should not be worried about, as some have proclaimed, for the $10it costs me I am that much closer to total concealment.

RE: being a glow dope in a tree all camo'ed out
 

I believe 100% in the UV theory. The first year I started back deer hunting (after a 20 year break) I got into the area I intended to hunt (pine thicket) an hour before daylight. A bright full moon was out. I was wearing a pair of camoflauge Lee jeans and a camo sweatshirt. My pants were glowing like a neon light in the light of the full moon whereas the sweatshirt appeared completely black. (Note that the light reflected from a full moon is UV-blue) Had a doe & yearling come in around 8 am and bust me (hunting on the ground back against tree) So I move into the bushes for better concealment. Around 4 pm another doe came in, looked in my direction and immediatly saw me. The weather had turned into a gray drizzly afternoon with low light conditions, exactly the conditions that UV reflection shows up best. And now you know the whole story.

RE: being a glow dope in a tree all camo'ed out
 

I'll bet that if you were in your tree saddle you wouldn't have gotten picked off!;):D:D:D:D:D

RE: being a glow dope in a tree all camo'ed out
 

So what is consensus from this thread? Wash our stuff in UV killer detergent?

RE: being a glow dope in a tree all camo'ed out
 

Early in----
Anudder good un. In that case I really wudda ben "a glow dope in a tree all camo'ed out" swingin from de tree. You's n me's gonna have lots o fun.:D

RE: being a glow dope in a tree all camo'ed out
 

A glowing blue light with the sky as a back ground. I didn't know I blended in that well!:D

What do they see when they look at the uv filled sky?

I heard most camo isn't made with uv dyes.

Most paint only goesdown to a "flat" sheen. Camo paint goes to "ultra flat". If there's a reason for that then good camo would be very dull.

RE: being a glow dope in a tree all camo'ed out
 

Arthur P, very intelligent post, love reading good stuff like that. There are so many ways to disect the UV debate it could be an endless one. Scent, wind, movement and matching yourpattern background are the real "get busted" issues IMO. The UV brightnersin camo mainly comes from thedye and or ink, not the fabric unless its been dyed or pre washed in a UV detergent prior to printing the pattern. Coming directly from my textile company, less UV means the inks will not last as long on the fabric, more UV makes the inks more steadfast in the fabric. I have lots of fabric printed in the US and if they usecertain dyes with UV brightners its no different than getting stuff printed in China if they use UV brightners or wash it in a UV brightenting detergent. Im not an expert on deer vision, but for the cost of the Atsko product, less than $20, it certainly cant hurt if you feel its worth the cost. I spend so much money on all kinds of hunting gadgets, the cost of UV wash is minimal in comparison to most of them.If I was getting bustedfrequently I wouldnt hesitate to try it, because every little bit helps. Although,my camo pattern has been pretty darn good to me, even after being busted moving which we tested for 3 years, thats when the vertical bark pattern really messes with the deers vision and their head, they just cant figure it out ;)

RE: being a glow dope in a tree all camo'ed out
 

Best answer yet!!

RE: being a glow dope in a tree all camo'ed out
 

In my previous post I relayed my first experience with UV reflection. Time for some elaboration. It was several years later that I finally decided to put my hunting clothes to the test using a black light. I was shocked with the results, and thinking back on the times I got easily picked off, I was wearing the clothes that reflected UV light. At the time I was hunting primarily in pine thickets, close quarters, on the ground. I would actually hide inside of bushes sometimes, yet be picked off immedieatly. Other times I've had mature bucks within10 yards of me in the open making rubs & scrapes and never knew I was there. So now days I wear hunting clothes that do not reflect UV light. I own piles of hunting clothes- different patterns- different materials- different manufacturers. Shine a black light on them, some appear completely black, others will just about blind you. The only real offender is clothing made of cotton. The worst I own is Fusion 3D T-shirts (available at Walmart) & Predator Deception (from Predator themselves). Anything made of polyester does not reflect UV, but I don't care for it because it appears shiney. Polyester fleece is great however because it refracts light (breaks it up). Wool is the best of all as it refracts light the best, but too hot down here in south Alabama. By the way, I did purchase a bottle of that UV Killer. Never used it. Probably never will. and I don't advocate purchasing the stuff.
A side note- those pictures they show illustrating UV glow...the T shirtthe man iswearing is Fusion 3D- the absolute worst I've seen at reflecting UV. The Fusion 3D pants are great- completely black under a black light. That's the pants I wear all the time, and the pants the man is wearing in the photo. Put that in your pipe and smoke it.

RE: being a glow dope in a tree all camo'ed out
 

Just wanted to post the link to the photo I'm referring to. Since I'm not up on exactly how to do that, ya'll will have to copy & paste the url. Or its located within the articles section of this website.

http://www.hunting.net/articles/article_detail.aspx?articles_id=574

The shirt only glows like they are showing when its under a black light. The pants do not glow at all. The photo just illustrates how the deer sees you when you are wearing UV reflective clothing.