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Captcurt

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Aug 9, 2010
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Ozark Mountains of Arkansas
The last day that I went to the farm I had 5 deer pick me off instantly. I had seen several feeding in one corner of the pasture and had steaked it out. I was 10 feet into the brush sitting on a log in full camo. Five deer came out on the other side of the field about 170 yards and stopped immediately, pointing me like a birddog. I had the wind in my face and didn't move, yet they had me pegged. After a little Google time I found several reports claiming that deer see UV light. They might be on to something for this is not the first time this has happened. So what say ye? Was I glowing like a neon sign? Has it happened to you and do you use UV killer?
 
The last day that I went to the farm I had 5 deer pick me off instantly. I had seen several feeding in one corner of the pasture and had steaked it out. I was 10 feet into the brush sitting on a log in full camo. Five deer came out on the other side of the field about 170 yards and stopped immediately, pointing me like a birddog. I had the wind in my face and didn't move, yet they had me pegged. After a little Google time I found several reports claiming that deer see UV light. They might be on to something for this is not the first time this has happened. So what say ye? Was I glowing like a neon sign? Has it happened to you and do you use UV killer?
Never used UV killer. If your camo has been washed in any sort of normal clothes wash it has UV brightener in it now. Only other thing I can think of is the wind swirled or they hit your boot tracks. I used to think the whole rubber vs leather boot thing was BS until I wore leather boots and had deer stop dead and smell where I walked in at and then turned the other way or blew. I have also thought the wind was in my face and it changed ever so slightly and next thing I know I am being blown at.
 
Most of my hunting clothes are old army stuff, and all my hunting clothes get washed in soap designed for hunting clothes. If I hunt on the ground, it is from a popup blind. AFAIK, every time I was "busted" by a deer, it was because of some noise I made.
 
I hunt in elevated stands and usually have no problem with deer spooking. However, excess movement will alert them.
I always wear LaCrosse rubber boots. I believe rubber boots help a lot.
 
Movement and wind. I've hunted with bright blaze orange and yellow vests and hats without deer seeming to notice. If every there was UV to be seen they would have been on to me. ** and noise!
According to research, deer don't see orange or yellow the same way that humans do. They are basically green red colorblind. They do see blue very well. I often wonder how many deer that I would have taken if only I had left my Levis at home.
 
Many people assume color blind means deer, or people, who are color blind see in black and white. Color blind people, and deer, see colors, they just don't see the same colors the rest of us do. And to them some colors look exactly alike, and it is different with different people. To some people red and black look exactly the same. Others see green and blue exactly the same.

For most human's hunter orange jumps out as very different. My son-in-law is color blind. When I've hunted with him in the past; I can easily spot a speck of orange in the distance and know we are approaching another hunter and change paths. He can't see it. Deer see much the same. Orange just blends in to them and does not appear much different than the background. I don't doubt that deer can see blue easier than hunter orange, but that doesn't necessarily mean all blue should be avoided.

Deer that live near humans see them all the time. 99.99% of the time they are not a threat. I've always felt the best camo for deer hunting on a farm was blue jeans, a flannel shirt and a John Deere cap while sitting out in the open on a tractor. In other words, dress just like the farmer they see every day that isn't a threat.

Most of the camo we wear is designed to fool human eyes, not necessarily deer. Interestingly, birds like turkey and waterfowl have eyes much like humans. The best camo clothes for them may well be what we can't see. I no longer wear full camo while hunting big game. Maybe a camo jacket because that is what I have. But I tend to wear solid color pants and shirts in dark or drab colors like green, gray, brown or black.

I suspect that there was something about your clothes, a glint of sunlight off the rifle or scope, etc. that caught their attention. They may have heard something or seen a small movement. I honestly think deer now associate camo as a threat. And while the orange I assume you were wearing may not have jumped out to them, they could probably see something out of place.

I'm not sold on the UV in clothes. For one thing it would only be an issue in the dark and for a few moments at 1st light or last light. I tried washing my clothes in some of the special detergent when this 1st came out and didn't note any difference. I've had game spot me at a distance before and I couldn't figure out why. Gotta wonder about how many spotted me and I never knew they were there. But I've had too many walk within very close range with me sitting out in the open with no special treatment to my clothes.
 
They see things that are different than last time they were in the location. Put of a box with a hole you can look out. Over time they become accustomed to seeing that box and become complacent.

This is when you go sit inside the box vs looking like a new bump on that log.
 
While I believe that deer see UV differently than we do, I think the whole "U.V. Killer" thing is over-hyped. They still have to have reason to relate the so called "U.V. Glow" to danger. I've been down at the cabin after my wife did regular laundry and hung it out on the line, only to have deer walk by and feed on the apples on the ground next to them. Not only did the detergent have U.V. brighteners in it, it also was heavily scented. My guess is, that at some point, relatively recently, something in that spot previously spooked the deer. Thus, their focus on that spot, plus something different, put them on guard. The U.V. brighteners may have contributed, but without movement, I have a hard time thinking it is the primary reason. Sometimes, even the most popular camo patterns to us, are not the best camo for deer. Many times the intricate patterns that catch our eyes, look like a huge blob out of place from the surrounding terrain. Thus, to an animal already alert to a spot from a previous experience, will feel threatened when they see a blob in the same spot. I use detergents specifically designed for hunting clothes not only because they lack U.V. brighteners, but because they are also scentless and/or scent killing.

Few years back, I had deer starting to pick me out immediately in a tree stand that had previously always been very productive. This was from all the way across the field. They would take one look and go the other way. Finally gave up on it. One day I went down during the week instead on the weekend only to find the neighbor kid sitting in it. By the time I got to it he was already gone, but it was pretty evident to me why the deer were spooked to it, even tho I had not over hunted it myself much. Later on the kid admitted he had been sitting in it during the week when he knew we weren't going to be around.
 
I’ve been deer busted and did not know how. Last season I used a pop up blind I grabbed on sale at Atwood’s. I am convinced the blind mitigated scent, human shape and allowed reasonable movement without spooking game.
I actually liked sitting in the blind in my Goodwill office chair reading Louis Lamour.
 
A lot has to do with the conditions on a particular day. What those conditions are I have no idea. Light, dark, cloudy, sunny, have been seen under all conditions .They best I can come up with is try to stay within a couple of shades of the environment and leave anything shiny at home.Sometimes deer can spot you a mile away. The next day, with the same clothes, they will walk close enough to harvest with a baseball bat.
 
leave anything shiny at home. Sometimes deer can spot you a mile away. The next day, with the same clothes, they will walk close enough to harvest with a baseball bat.

One of the first things my grandpa taught me back in the early sixties when I first started to hunt, was to always sit with the sun to my back. Yes, it's more difficult for animals to look into the sun, but it's also less likely you will get a reflection off any surface(gun, glasses, binos, scope, face, buttons, watch, etc.) that would be directed towards the game you are after. Fortunately, even tho it's make it difficult, I can still hunt without having to wear my glasses. Have found them to be a big deterrent. Many years back while turkey hunting I had a tom stop in his tracks @ ten yards, stare directly at me and was in the process of getting the 'ell outta there when I pulled the trigger. Later figured out, it was my watch(we all wore watches back then) that I was wearing on my left hand, on the the forearm of the shotgun, that almost cost me a bird. Went to using a pocket watch after that, of which I still use today.
 
The last day that I went to the farm I had 5 deer pick me off instantly. I had seen several feeding in one corner of the pasture and had steaked it out. I was 10 feet into the brush sitting on a log in full camo. Five deer came out on the other side of the field about 170 yards and stopped immediately, pointing me like a birddog. I had the wind in my face and didn't move, yet they had me pegged. After a little Google time I found several reports claiming that deer see UV light. They might be on to something for this is not the first time this has happened. So what say ye? Was I glowing like a neon sign? Has it happened to you and do you use UV killer?


I never wash any hunting clothes in commercial laundry detergent. Borax, baking soda and line dry. If I convert a piece to hunting, I will wash it several times, to make sure the UV brighteners are washed out. Blue jeans washed in laundry soap are the worst.
 
Well, since I'm 7 ft tall and this happens all the time with me, I should try the borax. Being a 7 footer, I feel like a deer lighthouse. I did make a camo orange cap but that didn't help. They cross a busy road, jump into my corn field 60 yards away, stop and stare right at me.
Hmmm? Come back to this thread a year from now and I'll tell ya whether the borax or baking soda does any good.
I did get a doe this year, she ran first, then stopped a second, to look back at me.
 
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The last day that I went to the farm I had 5 deer pick me off instantly. I had seen several feeding in one corner of the pasture and had steaked it out. I was 10 feet into the brush sitting on a log in full camo. Five deer came out on the other side of the field about 170 yards and stopped immediately, pointing me like a birddog. I had the wind in my face and didn't move, yet they had me pegged. After a little Google time I found several reports claiming that deer see UV light. They might be on to something for this is not the first time this has happened. So what say ye? Was I glowing like a neon sign? Has it happened to you and do you use UV killer?
UV thing is real, not so sure the UV Killer sales hype is real. Just walk outside in the full moon light and look at those jeans and shirt you are wearing in your avatar pic. If you are standing with a dark background and moon light hits you, it will be like you are in a spot light.

Not to conclude THAT was the spooky thing THAT day.

More likely I'd say that isn't the first time you've set on THAT log, in that spot, and may be SOMEONE has even take a couple shots at different times from there. May be there is a trail entering the pasture near there or some other reason they have been acclimated to stop and check out that spot first thing before entering the pasture.
 
More likely I'd say that isn't the first time you've set on THAT log, in that spot, and may be SOMEONE has even take a couple shots at different times from there. May be there is a trail entering the pasture near there or some other reason they have been acclimated to stop and check out that spot first thing before entering the pasture.
Nope, I have never sat on the log or with in 100 yards of it, plus I am the only one who has deer hunted that property in the last 7 or 8 years. I've been picked off at other places too. Usually in late afternoon.
 
My head usually gets me busted.

If im watching for animals i try to keep my head in the shadows if possible, since it does the most moving around, and usually has the shiniest stuff on it.

Friend of mine goes a step farther and wears a leafy mask, but otherwise pretty plain camo, and seems to get shorter shots than anyone else I know.
 
Nope, I have never sat on the log or with in 100 yards of it, plus I am the only one who has deer hunted that property in the last 7 or 8 years. I've been picked off at other places too. Usually in late afternoon.

Not getting back lighted?

May be go back the same time of day with a partner or a video camera. Position an observer where the deer were and walk over there and sit on the log for a few minutes. Then just ask 'em what they could see or stay in contact on a phone and take time to do a few different things or movements to see what they THINK might be giving it away.

Sounds like it would be worth the effort to find out. I can remember like it was yesterday the first time I discovered just how shiny an 870 could be, when I saw a sun flash from one about 3-400 yards away.
 
I can remember like it was yesterday the first time I discovered just how shiny an 870 could be, when I saw a sun flash from one about 3-400 yards away.
Ive been surprised how shiny guns can be also, even matte stainless stands out when light hits it and its backed against a dark object....like someone wearing camo......
 
My head usually gets me busted.

If im watching for animals i try to keep my head in the shadows if possible, since it does the most moving around, and usually has the shiniest stuff on it.

Friend of mine goes a step farther and wears a leafy mask, but otherwise pretty plain camo, and seems to get shorter shots than anyone else I know.

I am 100% convinced that "leafy" camo head/face nets make a significant difference. 2020 was the first year I hunted with a bow so I decided to use my turkey hunting head net. No luck during bow season (the deer pattern shifted 20 yards farther from my stand) but great success during crossbow and rifle. Best example of how good the head net worked: I was sitting in a treestand on a hillside. Several deer approached heading toward me slightly up the hillside. Two dropped down and were about to pass by my treestand at about 15 yards. Being uphill, they were only maybe 6-8ft below me. I shot the lead doe broadside. The second deer was a few yards behind the first and looked directly at the noise. I stayed perfectly still and about 10 seconds later it went back to eating. That deer's view of me was completely unobstructed. I know from prior years hunting that it should have seen me, but it didn't. I have had several similar experiences in the last two years now that I wear the head net. For <$20 it is a no brainer to try one if you are getting busted.

Like other posters above, I always wear rubber boots, simply because I often have to cross water. I also wash my hunting jacket and bibs very, very rarely. I think they were last washed in September 2020 with a soap with no UV brighteners and supposedly a waterproofing enhancer.
 
The last day that I went to the farm I had 5 deer pick me off instantly. I had seen several feeding in one corner of the pasture and had steaked it out. I was 10 feet into the brush sitting on a log in full camo. Five deer came out on the other side of the field about 170 yards and stopped immediately, pointing me like a birddog. I had the wind in my face and didn't move, yet they had me pegged. After a little Google time I found several reports claiming that deer see UV light. They might be on to something for this is not the first time this has happened. So what say ye? Was I glowing like a neon sign? Has it happened to you and do you use UV killer?
I've never used UV killer specifically but I always make sure to wash my hunting clothes in detergent that doesn't have any optical brighteners in it. Most detergents that you wash your laundry in I have chemicals in them that make your colors pop and under a black light basically make you glow. Try washing your hunting clothes and something like woolite or all free and clear
 
Some of it depends on the deer. If they are not spooked, I have walked up on them in plain sight. That requires being very slow and noiseless. But it is too difficult for me now. On the other hand, I have seen deer spook 300 yards away by slight movement. Once the season opens you have a limited time period before the deer go into high alert for several days. This year I failed to get a deer because I made a slight noise reaching for my rifle. Once they are aware of you or anything out of place they disappear. Also bow hunters going in before season have ruined hunting spots too. It also depends on what deer are used to. Guys say they see more deer cutting wood with a chain saw than sneaking around with a rifle. One thing, I wash my clothes in descenting soap or baking soda and bag them up with some leaves and dirt from where I hunt. Boots I spray with scent killer. I only wear them for deer hunting.
 
Sometimes they just seem to have a 6th sense.
They do absolutely key in on movement, even slight movement at distance. They will also target their attention on anything out of place. Un-natural angles (square blinds), or skylines.
I do believe in the UV thing. I try to wear natural fiber clothing (often the cold prevents this) washed in the same unaltered laundry powder we do all our clothes in. It's a Norwex product. Fels Naptha and washing soda with a Borax booster will work also. "Grandma soap." Not sure if it makes a difference, not enough data, but I perceive that I am busted less while bow hunting.

Use cover properly. Try to place a large tree trunk between yourself and most likely line of sight. Brush may not do it. Deer see blaze as bright whitish, and you will stand out like a light bulb without solid cover in front of you. If a solid tree is unavailable, I like to weave brush together to make a sort of mat. Balsam fir or spruce is perfect for this, but doesn't grow everywhere. You can use grasses or cornstalks also, just be sure to make the edges uneven and avoid straight lines on top.
 
Have read the claims that deer see UV light. Maybe.

IME: A deers reaction depends on numerous things. i usually wear camouflage coveralls when hunting. Deer have run off after spotting me from 300 yards away. They have continued to walk in my direction with my scent in their faces. Deer have walked under my tree stands and within a few feet of my blinds. One licked the urine off the ladder after a friend whizzed.

Spent a lot of time sitting in lawn chairs, in blinds and elevated stands overlooking trails, ponds and game plots, usually at close range. Methinks deer that spot a persons eyes are gone. Deer have often spotted me, usually after i made some noise or movement. Some immediately ran off. Others stood looking in my direction, then resumed browsing or drinking after i closed my eyes: If i sat there with my eyes open most ran off.

At one property i have run a feeder year around since 2000, Deer there no longer recognize me as a threat: My scent is on everything including the corn. Would not consider shooting them.
 
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