What can critters see?

G

GAR700

New member
I am interested in finding reliable reference material on what animals can and cannot see. I hear people talk about what deer and coyotes can see as if it is well documented and posted on a bulletin board somewhere. I am looking for good information that was obtained through some use of the scientific method.
I am getting tired of being berated by friends for using the wrong laundry detergent or wearing the wrong colors on a hunting trip.
I suspect that animal sight is based much more on the detection of movement than color but I want to hear it from someone who knows what they are talking about.
Thanks,
GAR
 
Gar700.All i can tell you is they are color blind. Maybe different shades of color alert them. Their noses are their life,so if you smell from something,they can probebly smell you a mile away.:)
 
Rods & cones.......that's what it comes down to.....mostly.

In general the better a animal can see at night the less likely it is to have good color vision. Has to do with the rods & cones. One is a black & white sensing organ and the other senses color.

The animals that see good at night have more of the ones that detect black & white hence they don't have a lot of the ones that detect color.

Very generaly you can rely on that as a guide.

For deer just break up your outline and don't move a lot and you're fine.

As stated their nose is their trump card.

In fact I would say that in daylight humans have better eyesight than deer.
 
The eyes, yours and the animals are far more sensitive to movement !! KEEP STILL and if you have to move do it slowly ! I've never hunted wearing camo but that hasn't stopped me from getting my deer !
 
At one end of the colour spectrum are blaze orange/ infa red, while at the opposite end of the colour spectrum are neon blues.
It is thought that deer react more to colours at the neon blue end of the spectrum( washing powders that contain optical brighteners-"to make youre whites brighter"). It is also thought that deer dont react as much to colours on the orande/infa red end of the colour spectrum - blaze orange camo for hunters.
It is difficult to get a definitive answer on this subject as researchers have found the deer are unco-operative when it comes to filling in surveys and answering questions as to what colours they see.
I guess just as many deer have been shot by hunters wearing blue jeans washed in regular washing powder , compared to hunters dressed in blaze orange.
 
Deer see movement. Your camo color or style of camo isn't going to make or break your hunt. All you really need is some thing that will break up your outline a bit and sit still.

As far as detergent, deer have pretty good sniffers. I wouldn't use any thing that has a lot of scent to it. Personally, I don't know that deer would associate my fabric softner to the image of a human sitting in the woods, but why take that chance?
 
they hear very well too.
they heard me this season, looked up and saw me clear as day, and ran.
no camo. orange vest, and BLUE jacket.
 
I dont know bout what color deer see and all that nonsence that folks talk bout, but ive always belived and have been tought and learned over the years is your background. if you have a good background with little sky in it they area less likly to see you. I do alot of hunting on the ground. instead of useing one of these high dollar blinds i just throw some sticks and brush or whatever is around me and kinda make a natural blind. and try to make sure that it is fairly thick behind me. even in my stand I go in befor season starts and make blinds in the stnad. When I climb i try to climb close to another tree with fairly thick branches to try and break up my out line. Once again movment is one of your worst enemies!!
 
The science boffins say that while birds can see colors, most mammals only see shades of gray.

I guess that reflective material might be a case of, "That's Different! Therefore it's BAD!" in the minds of Bambi and friends. Anything which doesn't fit in as being a normal part of the terrain is BAD.

Doves are said by TP&WD wildlife biologists to shun the color blue.
 
Kestrels see in the ultraviolet part of the spectrum also . Voles dribble urine that reflects UV . Kestrels eat a lot of voles !!:D
 
Mainly, if you hold still, you are in pretty good shape. Sure, I wear the uber expensive Sitka gear, but I wear it because I love the toughness of the fabric they use, their warranty (ruin it, and they'll fix it or ship you a new one. Already damaged my 90% gear and pack, which they promptly fixed at no charge, and shipped back for free). It's camo, but, let's face it, camo is really only going to help bow hunters; at 100 yards, camo won't help you or hurt you, just hold still.

I hedge my bets on the whole UV thing. It's not a big deal to wash all my hunting stuff in UV killer detergent.

But hunter orange - - I think that if ungulates see primarily black/white/gray, and that if they see hunter orange as that as well, that 'orange' will appear to them as a shade of gray they don't normally see in their everyday lives. Think about it: They see the same shades day in and day out, and stupid, stinky, loud human goes in the woods dressed in a shade of gray they have never, or very rarely ever seen. Deer are kind of dumb, and may look at you out of curiosity. You can shoot at them and they stand there. But elk, probably won't stick around to see what that new shade of gray is all about. They tend to just leave when ANYTHING is amiss.

I refuse to wear the stuff in Idaho, but have to here in WA. Every little advantage helps.
 
GAR700, your best bet is probably a Google search on the order of "mammals + vision" or some variant.

I don't try to remember specific cites. I've been reading these articles and news releases for over a half-century. I merely remember enough of it to be useful to me.
 
Great Question

I have experimented with various camouflage patterns, looking at them through Night Vision Goggles (Both active IR and inactive light enhancement). Most of the commercial Camo products seem to bleach out and appear as a solid white under NVG's. The Military Marpat and Woodland Camo retain their effectiveness when viewed at night with NVG's. I don't know if this has any relevance to a deer's eye or not. It is useful to keep in mind that most hunting products are designed to catch hunters (By the Wallet) first.
 
I want to hear a personal story of a deer NOT seeing someone in camo.

I got busted by making noise, and bambi saw me, looked at me, and ran.
But I had on a full orange vest and orange hat, no camo.

a personal story is more accurate than reading some advertisment.
 
In general the better a animal can see at night the less likely it is to have good color vision. Has to do with the rods & cones. One is a black & white sensing organ and the other senses color.
Click to expand...

I've heard rumors of deer seeing better if you have blue on, but who wears blue...

Red equals green in "color blind." That's why fawns are that red color. I wouldn't sweat it.
 
I can’t speak from the deer’s perspective but I don’t think any deer I have killed while wearing camouflage ever saw me. Why would they stick around if they had.

Personally I believe that you could kill deer while wearing a red satin dress and sling backed pumps provided that you remain still and quiet. Movement and noise are your real enemies.
 
Hog Buster, that outfit might be a pretty good strategy for hunting public land. Somebody tries to move in on your spot you could just offer to let them come sit with you:D. Word gets around, you' ll probably have a square mile of public land to yourself.
 
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