deermeat01

Iv been reading a few articals about deer vision and uv brightners in our clothing,gear and things that can be done to supress the brightning affect the deer can see. i know you can wash the clothing in scent free and uv supressing soap but is that all, do the brightners wash it out. can you us a Black Light to see if any thing stands out? I tried it and all the camo showed up as a muted colores, good....except for the Blaze Orange hat. it poped out real bright in the black light, do the deer see it that way? what can be done

MichaelT.

Deer see UV light in a much more expanded field than we do, and yes, it is a problem for us as hunters.

Years ago, that was not as much of a problem as it is today. Back 15-20 years ago it began to be a problem that would be gathering momentum even through today. UV additives , made into fabrics, are what helps colors remain bright , even after many many washings. For everyday street clothes , that is a great thing. Clothes stay nicer looking and therefore last longer... Even detergents today are made with UV enhancing chemicals in them to help keep your clothes looking new.

That is why you should not wash your clothes in a regular detergent like TIDE ( liquid or powder ). If you hunt exclusively out of tower stands, then none of this is an issue, but if you hunt in tree stands, ladder stands, or on the ground, then it can create problems. UV brighteners cause your clothes to " GLOW ". Imagine being in a dark room, and someone fires up a blue cylume stick.... Thats about what you would look like.

Detergents with NO UV brighteners work well, but understand that it will not remove the UV in the materials completely. So called UV " Killer " does work, but it does not work in one application or wash. It takes multiple washings with the UV killer soap to do any real good.

The funny thing about the UV spectrum deer see is that the Blaze orange, and Chartruse, are on the outside edge of their " Bright " spectrum, so they are therefore not alarmed by the bright colors we see, because they are not bright and bold to them. They dont see color the same way we do, so the Orange or Chartruse could be one of several different colors. So as long as your orange or chartruse is not chocked full of UV brighteners, then they will not react to it.

Old timers didnt have a bunch of camo to wear in the woods, they just wore wool pants and shirts of some type. But they still killed deer..... Why ?? Because UV brighteners were not used back then, so their street clothes didn't even glow, much less their hunting clothes.

The first step in beating the UV glow, is to buy clothes that have no UV brighteners in them. Some catalogues feature clothes that are made just that way.... Some labels are printed with that information on it..... The next step is to buy some UV killer detergent and begin, way before the season starts, washing all of your hunting clothes in that soap. Thendry the clothes .... Then wash them and dry them again..... and keep doing it as you move closer to the season. And you need to wash everything gloves, hats, face masks, jackets, shirts,pants, Coveralls, Overalls, .... andeven check your boots, if they have fabric on them.

And finally, before you start doing all of this, buy you a UV light. A black light willNOT work. It might give youa little bit of an idea, but black light and UV light are not the same things. Find a UV light and lay all of your hunting clothes out, turn off the light, and turn on the UV light and pass it over all of the clothes ( front and back ) to see how bad your stuff glows. You may not have much that glows, but then again, it doesn't take much to spook a deer, because any UV glowing is 100% unnatural in their environment..... And certainly not sitting 12 - 20 feet up in the air in a tree.

Deer have great vision, and the two things that will bust you quick are glowing and movement.... but the first one we can do something about. The second one is up to you.

I hope this helps you out and explains things in a way that is easy to understand.

God Bless

MET

lawson0207

are these articles widely accepted by deer biologists? I'm still trying to figure out how to cover up my scent, glowing like a light bulf in a tree seems to be just as bad to me. Where'd you read the articles? I'd like to give them a look-see for myself.

MichaelT.

Articles such as those mentioned are factual. Deer biologists have taken the deers eyes and disected them microscopically and compaire the # of rods and the # of cones that make up a deers vision. That is how the colors of hunter orange and hunter chartruse came to be the standard for protection of hunters. Those colors are seen differently by deer than humans, and they fall outside the UV spectrum that would cause deer to be alarmed, while providing maximum visability to other hunters.

There are many articles written about this subject, and no doubt you could do an internet search and find a few.

MET

deermeat01

one of the articals I read was in the deer and deerhunter, two magazines ago. very good and indepth.

lawson0207

thanks! for the help. uv killer here i come

kevin1

You'll have far more sucess covering your UV reflectivity than you ever will your scent, a deer's nose is at least on par with dogs, and no scent routine will ever fool a dog.Atsko UV Killer works as advertised, I've blacklight tested it and seen for myself.

jkm03003

Its good to see that another Arkansan knows his deer huntin'. The Deer and Deer Huntin article was great, I would highly recommend this mag. They also have a TV show on the Outdoor channel. They discuss the science behind deer hunting and many of the shows are based on past articles, I record everyone of the shows.