Why do hunters wear camouflage if they’re also wearing fluorescent? Don’t animals spot them instantly with their hi-vis gear?

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Why do hunters wear camouflage if they’re also wearing fluorescent? Don’t animals spot them instantly with their hi-vis gear?

In: Biology

11 Answers

Anonymous 0 Comments

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Anonymous 0 Comments

Deer cannot see blaze orange the way that humans do. It just looks brown to them, outside their visible spectrum.

Anonymous 0 Comments

First I’d like to say camouflage is not so much about “blending in” as it is about breaking apart shapes/lines. I know you didn’t exactly ask this but it’s a common topic so I figured I’d mention it. This is why some modern digital-style patterns with light colour can be much harder to see than the traditional camo pattern, even with a human eye at 100yds. A dark blob is just easier to see than a lighter figure that melts into the surrounding foliage.

Now, if we’re hunting deer for example, a majority of the colours they are picking up are just different shades of grey. (Think black & white). The blaze orange is purely for hunter safety in high volume areas, and mandatory in some states. That being said, to some extent the contrast between the colours can be a give away. Perfect example is sitting in a tree stand with your face uncovered, it will essentially look like a giant pie plate to the animals. The rest of you may be broken apart and harder to distinguish, but they still pick up fast/sudden movements very easily as well.

Worth noting that if you’re looking to get into hunting, scent control/wind management and general expertise will always prevail over fancy camouflage.

Source: Have been in the woods since I was a toddler

Anonymous 0 Comments

Most prey animals detect movement so the camo decreases how much you stand out by breaking up your shape, they don’t see colour the sane way we do so the hi-vis is less impactful, some wouldn’t even detect the bright orange instead seeing a different hue of grey. That blob of grey doesn’t hold any special significance.

Where as predators, like us, can detect colour pretty well, and may not see your camo clad self perched in a bush, but the hi-vis says “Hey, I’m here” and you don’t end up getting shot. It’s a balancing act.

Anonymous 0 Comments

Blaze orange gear is required in most states during deer hunting season to prevent hunting accidents. This works out okay because deer are colorblind and do not notice the orange clothing. Other types of hunting either do not require blaze orange (like turkey hunting) or are the type of hunting when the animals seeing you in advance doesn’t really matter (like pheasant hunting).

Anonymous 0 Comments

A lot of comments here are saying deer can’t see orange as if that is the primary reason. It is not. The primary reason is so that you are visible to other hunters and don’t get shot accidentally.

Anonymous 0 Comments

Inside your eye are two distinct… “things” that help with vision. They are rods and cones. Rods don’t see color well and have mediocre spacial acuity (ability to tell difference between two objects.) Cones are to help you see colors and give you the ability to see spaces between objects (think reaching out to grab a can of coke) the cones see different wavelengths of light. Short and middle wavelength cones are seen as blues and greens respectively. Long wavelength is responsible for red and oranges. Deer simply lack the equipment in their eyes to see the long wavelength and interpret it the way that we do. To put it another way think of a dog whistle, your dog can hear it but you cannot. This is another topic that I can explain if you would like. But as other people stated the purpose of the orange is so that other hunters can see you more easily.

Anonymous 0 Comments

Different animals have different color spectrums that they can see and the thus you have to wear different stuff when hunting them.

Animals like Elk and deer react to smell and sharp/quick movements so there’s really no reason to have camouflage clothing while hunting them. They are also mostly hunted by multiple people at the same time (where I’m from) so having vibrant colors makes it more safe for hunters in the same area to see each other.

I know of a guy that wore a neon pink one-piece/ mechanics suit for every yearly elk hunt and he shot as many elk as any other hunter.

Birds on the other hand react to colors more strongly since they have a wider color spectrum than us humans. When hunting birds where you’re shooting them while they’re sitting in a tree you don’t want to scare them and want to blend in with your environment as much as possible. This type of hunting is usually done during winter when birds can’t feed on the ground because of snow so hunters usually wear snow-colored coating over their clothes.

There are tons of more explanations for different animals and different hunting styles.

TL:DR different animals have different color spectrums and there for call for different clothing and when multiple hunters hunt at one time safety is chosen over looking tactical.

Source: Swedish hunting education.

Anonymous 0 Comments

Because they like to pretend they’re soldiers but also just barely smart enough to have self preservation.

Anonymous 0 Comments

Since I didn’t see it mentioned I will add hunters usually only wear blaze orange while moving to and from a stand. Most states do not require it will in a blind or an elevated tree stand or similar device.