To whom ever thinks it is or would be ok to hunt deer at night,you are an idiot and should not even be allowed to own any guns.Take it as a personal attack if you want,but it only becomes this if in fact you think it would be ok.

I'm pretty certain that the eyes aren't going to give away anything about lighting conditions when killed...it's an old wives tale....Your pupil isn't actually there, it is a hole in your eye, your iris is a system of muscles that contract or extend your lens and pupil to focus or allow more light, you'll note that if you're looking in a mirror close to your face, your pupils get large, however, if you look at your eyes in a reflection of another mirror in the mirror (increasing the length between you and your image) your pupils are smaller.

Anyway...your iris' are going to relax or contract following death, I would assume they would relax, but depending on the manner of death, they may contract similar to skeletal muscles going limp and the deer dropping, OR the deer jumping and convulsing violently after he's already "dead".

It is also possible that the deer isn't looking at the light the exact instant that it dies, say I shoot it and it runs 100ft, by the time it runs that far, it's eyes will have readjusted, or if it falls and dies relatively slowly, then the eyes will readjust during the death to the dark.

I would also assume that as the eye dries after death, the pupils will contract, since the total eye tissue will dry and contract.

Woody, I use your name since you directed animosity towards me first contrary to the rules of this board as in no personal attacks allowed so you have shown all that your ethics are in question. I already know and admit I have many flaws and some might be construed as bad ethics by some. Then again that is always a matter of opinion. I do not spotlight light deer. I could do it legally if I cared to but I choose not to. Try and figure that out. Many of my replies are aimed at bringing up opposite sides of opinion even though I don’t agree with what I write. Obviously you were never on the debate team. Oh well mister perfect I have to stop now before I get carried away. By the way you were right on one item I really don’t care if people poach, to bad that’s my opinion and my right to have the opinion. I don’t poach but again that is beside the point

[]Im sorry Striper Phil, your right. It may of seemed like an attack but it wasn't I was just answering posts.
.. im so so sorry if I said anything about your ethics at all. Your attitude is to be commended. And spotlighting thats a choice too.... Sorry
PLEASE FORGIVE ME
P.S. Give me your address I will send you some batteries for your flashlight

Its why we call it hunting....not spotlighting. You learn your game animal, scout his area, learn his movements and where abouts, its the challenge of you againt them in there natural surroundings. Personally, the greatest enjoyment I get is having the deer come down the trail I have scouted and appear perfectly in the main shooting lane I cut out. Having a million power lamp shown on them at night is not natural. Maybe for counting or viewing, but not the taking of animals. If you can't do it the legal way, don't do it at all and give everyone that does a bad name. It's hard enough these days to find private land to hunt on because of those that went before and did the wrong thing....guess I'm done for now.

Then I wonder why we hunt coyotes and foxes and racoons at night with a light?

Hmmm.... "thats why we call it hunting"??

Isn't our role as hunters to remove the excess population, that natural predators which no longer exist cannot control? Well thats what I was told when I took my hunter education class. That was the role our instructor layed out, It is the 'service' we provide the state. We want to be viewed as conservationists who 'balance' the populations and we provide that service to the state's residents.

So why not hunt at night for deer? IS it just a paradigm that some hunters think it must be done during the day? Must be, because we shoot coyotes and foxes with high powered rifles at night with lights (in pa we do). And we are just doing the same thing in controlling the coyote pop as we are trying to control the deer population. Right?


The main reason that the origional poster got grief over the comment is because it goes against conventional wisdom. Its a paradigm shift that most sportsman can't comprehend because it would mean a change in what they have done for many years.

As much as DNR's and commissions say they want herd controlled, they don't want hunter success rates to go up too much so they don't allow night hunting for deer, yet they allow it for fox, coyote and raccons. And it is not because some are nocturnal and some are not, deer are just as nocturnal as fox and coyote. Both do a lot of resting in the day and feed after dark. Same - same.

Not a silly suggestion if people were truly interested in controlling populations, but they are not. But some pepole cannot think outside the box, nor can some challenge conventional wisdom.

Thanks Chickory you put it so well.

D cells will do just fine

That is what I was going to say, maybe the pupils will be really small because of the bright light. I do not know but it is what i think. i do not agree with spotlighting to kill deer.

The reason you hunt coyotes, fox and coon at night is because your chances to get them during the day are almost nil (except coyote which are best hunted in early morning and evening). And theres a reason the have the saying deer in the headlights. The deer literally freeze. No sport in it. Predators can still see better at night; move and there out of there. I've played with deer at night before while I was calling. There so inquisitive they will stay there and keep trying to find out what is making the noise. Not the same.

Sorry folks, locking this one before it goes further south and the bashing observed gets out of hand. Some posts on this topic have been well thought out, some have not & been bashing period. Hunting season is upon us and Admin and Mods hunt too ya know.

Bottom line is that spotlight hunting for Whitetail Deer is to my knowledge illegal in dang near every state .....It is not fair chase, it is not ethical, not safe and very much frowned upon by most true hunters. Respect the animal we hunt please! Nuff said.

Happy Hunting...