What do deer see?

[gobblegrunter]

I was reading the thread about fletchings and ran across Zradix's comment about "anybody buying into the UV sensitive deer eyes" and I was just curious to hear what all of your thoughts are on this, and any other interesting opinions, insight on what they might actually see...  

[Mr.Magoo]

They see movement and they notice when things are out of place and that's about it.

I worry about their nose and ears more than their eyes.

[Hot Hap]

There is no doubt in my mind about it. Hap

[gobblegrunter]

Originally posted by Hot Hap:
There is no doubt in my mind about it. Hap

No doubt that they see UV's? shades?

Anyone else to weigh in?

[macbow]

The latest bowhunter mag. has a good article on the latest study on deer vision. The biggest find is blue is very visible to deer.
Also they have a wide narrow pupil which alows them to see in focus for 300 degrees in a narrow top to bottom field of view. So they can pick up your movement within that 300 degree with out turning their head.
Ron

[gobblegrunter]

Originally posted by macbow:
The latest bowhunter mag. has a good article on the latest study on deer vision. The biggest find is blue is very visible to deer.
Also they have a wide narrow pupil which alows them to see in focus for 300 degrees in a narrow top to bottom field of view. So they can pick up your movement within that 300 degree with out turning their head.
Ron

Hadn't seen this article. Very interesting. Will have to check it out. Thanks! Anyone else that can share their experience/wisdom?

[Zbone]

Not wisdom, but experience…8^)

Yeah, what do deer 'really' see, is the million dollar question...8^)

Like Mr.Magoo, movement is the quickest thing they pick up, but personally do believe there is something to do about the UV color thing, just not sure how much or how sensitive they are to it. Same with colored light beams, whereas I don't believe it’s the color of the light, but the intensity of the beam. Cats and dogs can prove that. As posted before, no better entertainment than a six-pack, a laser pointer, and a Jack Russell Terrier...8^)

As said in the fletch thread - from my experiences, animals do seem to pick up white or light bright colors with movement, where as you may get away with a little more movement with natural barred fletching. Have been busted by light bright fletching the woods where as more natural colors I may have gotten away with. Jet black also stands out in the woods.

Used to do quite a bit of crow hunting, and I understand birds see colors better than mammals, but crow hunting will sure enlighten a person on colors and camo, but you still can't convince me mammals don't see some color. Enough to identify what is not a natural and believe that is where the UV thingy comes in.

[nc recurveman]

My grandpa told me, "a deer will question his eyes, he will doubt his ears, but he listens to his nose" always found it to be true.

[Ssamac]

Deer sure see reflected light, like off a scope, eyeglasses, belt buckle anything shiny. Be sure everything you have out there is matted. And movement. Move a hair and they got you if they are looking your way. And that does not mean that they need to be facing you. They have to be facing away not to see. But I agree, smell and hearing are the strongest scents. You can stay still until they turn away and then pull back the arrow, but if you make a noise, they are gone.

sam

sam

[gobblegrunter]

Originally posted by Zbone:
Not wisdom, but experience…8^)

Yeah, what do deer 'really' see, is the million dollar question...8^)

Like Mr.Magoo, movement is the quickest thing they pick up, but personally do believe there is something to do about the UV color thing, just not sure how much or how sensitive they are to it. Same with colored light beams, whereas I don't believe it’s the color of the light, but the intensity of the beam. Cats and dogs can prove that. As posted before, no better entertainment than a six-pack, a laser pointer, and a Jack Russell Terrier...8^)

As said in the fletch thread - from my experiences, animals do seem to pick up white or light bright colors with movement, where as you may get away with a little more movement with natural barred fletching. Have been busted by light bright fletching the woods where as more natural colors I may have gotten away with. Jet black also stands out in the woods.

Used to do quite a bit of crow hunting, and I understand birds see colors better than mammals, but crow hunting will sure enlighten a person on colors and camo, but you still can't convince me mammals don't see some color. Enough to identify what is not a natural and believe that is where the UV thingy comes in.

Great thoughts as well!


 

Originally posted by nc recurveman:
My grandpa told me, "a deer will question his eyes, he will doubt his ears, but he listens to his nose" always found it to be true.

Wow. I love the quote from your grandfather! A great memory for you, I'm sure! Do you mind if I use that one sometime?

[Zradix]

Atsko has a nice little book that I got for free when I ordered some stuff from them to try. The book goes in to good detail why they feel you should buy their product.

The basics of what a deer can see are this.
Deer see in blue and green. They can also see yellow. The deer eye has no UV filter so UV light should be visable to them.

Deer have better low light vision than humans because they have more rods in there eyes "low light sensors" Deer cannot see colors as well as humans because they have less cones "color sensors" than humans.

SO if we wear green hues they can see that. This is ok if we're in a green woods or field.

DON"T WEAR blue. deer can see blue. There is basically no blue in nature other than the sky, flowers, water, and a few animals. Certainly no 6'tall ones.

=====>>>>> IMPORTANT  <<<<<<==========
UV brighteners do NOT reflect or make UV light brighter!!!!!

A UV brightener when used with fabrics is designed to make that fabric appear "whiter"
The way a UV brightener works is this. The UV light from the Sun hits the UV brightener. The UV brightener "absorbs" this UV light and turns it into a light blue light "fluoresces". This light blue light humans and deer can see just fine. "deer can see it better" Now this light blue light coming off the fabric "overshines" the yellowish hues often seen in untreated white fabric. Bottom line is the whites look whiter to us and we're happy.

Problem is deer can see that light blue light MANY TIMES better than we can.
So at dawn and dusk when UV light is most prevalent our UV brightener treated clothing is giving off a faint to us "brighter to deer" blue glow.

This UV brightener is mixed with fabrics before any print is ever even applied. Be it super heroes or camo.

There are non UV TREATED CAMO products out there.

A lot of people say "Grand Dad never spooked a deer with UV brightener. Why would I?"

Answer UV brighteners haven't been prevalent in the marketplace all that long. It's very common to have UV brightened fabrics right from the textile mills. Didn't use to be that way.

I don't know how big a deal this all is.
But this is my understanding of it.
================================================
BTW ... A deers optic nerves are arranged in a different way from ours. We can focus on what a very few number of receptors are picking up. This allows us to focus in great detail.

Deer cannot focus so finely. They have bigger groups of receptors "wired" together". Makes for a more blotchy image to them. HOWEVER that arrangement of nerves and receptors makes seeing movement easier for deer.... More nerves are firing at once.


GOOD LUCK

[SEMO_HUNTER]

I agree with all the above. You can fool the eyes and ears, but they have a nose like a blood hound and will pick you off every time with it. Hunt the wind directions and keep your movements subtle, slow, and deliberate. Only move when the deer has it's head down feeding or facing away.

I've heard that deer see red as gray, and if you wash your clothes in laundry detergent that has UV brightners you look like a flourescent light bulb in the woods to them. Wearing camo that breaks up your outline is a plus because it helps you blend into the light and shadows.
I have literally walked right up on top of deer while wearing snow camo, only to have them spook and run a little ways, then stop and look back. Plenty of time for a shot, but I just watched in amazement at how well this stuff works in the snow. The deer had absolutely no idea what or where I was, all it knew was that "something" got too close for comfort.
I think good camo with fairly large light and dark patterns on it is a definite advantage and hunting the wind direction is your best tools for fooling a whitetail's senses. I don't worry too much about the hearing because they are actually curious to certain sounds and I have even dropped things out of my treestand while deer were close and they didn't even look up.
Then again, an un-natural sound like an aluminum arrow clinking against a metal riser will send them into the next county everytime. Just keep the noise down to a dull minimum and there's no problem there.
BTW- have you ever noticed how much noise a deer makes when walking in the woods when it's dry? They don't try to be quiet at all.
Then have you noticed how quiet they are when feeding? You can barely hear anything at all. I try to replicate this as best I can and never make anymore noise than a deer feeding if I can help it.

[gobblegrunter]

 Some great responses! Thanks very much! Any more?

[Hot Hap]

Gobblegrunter-There is no doubt in my mind they see UV light. Without a filter like you and me, they see it. Hap

[lpcjon2]

Most times it's me sleeping in my stand...    

  Shapes that don't fit the terrain(silhouettes)thats why I always have a tree behind me to break up my outline.

[chopx2]

Originally posted by SEMO_HUNTER:
I have literally walked right up on top of deer while wearing snow camo, only to have them spook and run a little ways, then stop and look back.

Because deer have a much higher proportion of rods, they actually don't see as well in bright light. It is like the snow blind effect. This probably explains why they seem to be out earlier when it's overcast. In fact deer see BEST in lowlight conditions which is typically when we see them moving most.

Ever notice that it is easier for humans to pick up movement out of the corner of your eyes especially at night? then you turn to look and can't see what made the movement.

It's because humans have a higher desity of cones in the center of our eyes and more rods on the periphery.

It's also easier to pick up movement of solids than broken patterns as long as those patterns are large and contrasting. Minute patterns blend "blob" together as most of us have experienced.