Lark Bunting
New member
- Sep 14, 2016
- 710
I read yesterday that elk see the color blue.
?True
?False
?Maybe
?True
?False
?Maybe
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Do elk see blue? Or any color for that matter?
- Thread starter Lark Bunting
- Start date
I am skeptical of that claim. I have read that before also, but I have and still do wear blue jeans. The elk react no different than when I wear camo. I think they see solids. The best antidote for being seen is to stay still and don\'t move when they look your way.
Lark Bunting
New member
- Sep 14, 2016
- 710
If you see my other thread regarding gloves... I have mechanix gloves I was going to use this year but they are blue. When I read elk see blue the first thing I thought of was a neon sign (my blue gloves) flashing that a hunter was present.\"Swede\" said:I am skeptical of that claim. I have read that before also, but I have and still do wear blue jeans. The elk react no different than when I wear camo. I think they see solids. The best antidote for being seen is to stay still and don\'t move when they look your way.
Swede ... if they are red-green color blind, then they see blue, sure, but they can\'t differentiate it from greens and reds.
My answer was a bit of snark. Yep, they \"see\" it, like a color blind person sees a traffic light ... just don\'t ask that person, or the elk, what color they are looking at!
The elk don\'t react differently to blue jeans because everything kind of looks like blue jeans to them ... the pattern/solid issue holds, but not the color issue.
My answer was a bit of snark. Yep, they \"see\" it, like a color blind person sees a traffic light ... just don\'t ask that person, or the elk, what color they are looking at!
The elk don\'t react differently to blue jeans because everything kind of looks like blue jeans to them ... the pattern/solid issue holds, but not the color issue.
Lark Bunting
New member
- Sep 14, 2016
- 710
I should get a camo cover for my camelbak tube. :wtf:\"Swede\" said:Tick: That makes sense to me. What I have read and we have even seen advertising around, is the idea that elk are frightened off when they see blue. That has definitely not been my experience, but what you wrote fits. Thanks.
Bob Frapples
Member
- Mar 10, 2014
- 367
I\'ve killed plenty of deer in blue jeans as well, I don\'t make a habit out of it because I feel I don\'t fit into my surroundings plus I like stay out of sight of other humans.
They (elk) passed the food bowel test so they can differentiate it from others colors but that doesn\'t mean they see blue per say. If you even remotely think they can, dye the gloves or don\'t use them, in real world hunting the odds are against you. Even if its in your mind, don\'t put anything like that to have you second guessing. movement, that\'s the deal breaker when talking colors.
As a red-green deficient dude I know three things
1. Generally speaking I spot deer faster that my buddies.
2. If u need me to blood trail ur elk, it better have snowed the night before.
3. I hate you folks that like to hang your traffic lights sideways. :x
They (elk) passed the food bowel test so they can differentiate it from others colors but that doesn\'t mean they see blue per say. If you even remotely think they can, dye the gloves or don\'t use them, in real world hunting the odds are against you. Even if its in your mind, don\'t put anything like that to have you second guessing. movement, that\'s the deal breaker when talking colors.
As a red-green deficient dude I know three things
1. Generally speaking I spot deer faster that my buddies.
2. If u need me to blood trail ur elk, it better have snowed the night before.
3. I hate you folks that like to hang your traffic lights sideways. :x
The ads you refer to, I think, are the \"UV\" ads.
They have to have a way to \"highlight\" a hunter\'s \"UV\" pattern, so they choose to make it blue. That\'s not to say that that is what ungulates see, or that \"blue\", per se, is bad. I think they are happy with the confusion, though, as it highlights the \"need\" for camo.
Lark ... so, as above, they \"see\" blue, but they see almost everything as a shade of \"blue\" so it doesn\'t really matter.
It\'s not quite right to think of them as having blue sunglasses, though ... people with red/green color blindness don\'t see like that.
If you\'ve ever known a \"color blind\" person, well, that\'s how an elk sees ... so ask them if they mind blue jeans versus brown ones! You\'ll get a straighter answer from them than from an elk. Dang elk can\'t be trusted! :crazy:
Bob ... you\'re right ... I bet color blind people rely on movement more than the rest of us ... and spot animals better in some settings.
They have to have a way to \"highlight\" a hunter\'s \"UV\" pattern, so they choose to make it blue. That\'s not to say that that is what ungulates see, or that \"blue\", per se, is bad. I think they are happy with the confusion, though, as it highlights the \"need\" for camo.
Lark ... so, as above, they \"see\" blue, but they see almost everything as a shade of \"blue\" so it doesn\'t really matter.
It\'s not quite right to think of them as having blue sunglasses, though ... people with red/green color blindness don\'t see like that.
If you\'ve ever known a \"color blind\" person, well, that\'s how an elk sees ... so ask them if they mind blue jeans versus brown ones! You\'ll get a straighter answer from them than from an elk. Dang elk can\'t be trusted! :crazy:
Bob ... you\'re right ... I bet color blind people rely on movement more than the rest of us ... and spot animals better in some settings.
\"Bob Frapples\" said:3. I hate you folks that like to hang your traffic lights sideways. :x
Lol... I bet that really sucks for peolpe that can\'t differentiate colors. I never thought about it till now.
Biologists tell us that the rods and cones in the eyes of deer and elk see the frequencies of blue and yellow vividly. Other colors they see as shades of gray. Their eyes are programmed to see motion, so if you\'re wearing a yellow shirt and blue jeans and not moving, it won\'t alarm them. But they\'ll definitely pick up the movement more effectively with those colors than with others.
This isn\'t from me ar anything anecdotal, it\'s from deep research into the visual acuity and rod-cone lightwave processing of deer, elk,and other wild ungulates.
As for hunter orange, when I was guiding I used to call bulls into point-blank range of my \"pumpkins\". Supposedly the frequency of that color appears as gray to deer and elk.
This isn\'t from me ar anything anecdotal, it\'s from deep research into the visual acuity and rod-cone lightwave processing of deer, elk,and other wild ungulates.
As for hunter orange, when I was guiding I used to call bulls into point-blank range of my \"pumpkins\". Supposedly the frequency of that color appears as gray to deer and elk.
Here\'s a \"color-blindness simulator\" for those of you who are interested:
<!-- m --><a class=\"postlink\" href=\"http://www.webexhibits.org/causesofcolor/2.html\">http://www.webexhibits.org/causesofcolor/2.html</a><!-- m -->
And, while we\'re at it, how about a test for you:
<!-- m --><a class=\"postlink\" href=\"http://colorvisiontesting.com/online%20test.htm\">http://colorvisiontesting.com/online%20test.htm</a><!-- m -->
<!-- m --><a class=\"postlink\" href=\"http://www.webexhibits.org/causesofcolor/2.html\">http://www.webexhibits.org/causesofcolor/2.html</a><!-- m -->
And, while we\'re at it, how about a test for you:
<!-- m --><a class=\"postlink\" href=\"http://colorvisiontesting.com/online%20test.htm\">http://colorvisiontesting.com/online%20test.htm</a><!-- m -->
Bob Frapples
Member
- Mar 10, 2014
- 367
\"bowhunter\" said:Lol... I bet that really sucks for peolpe that can\'t differentiate colors. I never thought about it till now.
Yea, some type traffic lights are worse than others. The LED ones at different times of the day seem particularly troublesome.
In people red-green is the most common, yellow-blue and total color blind are much rarer. So I\'m special, just not THAT special, but thats debatable.
Bob Frapples
Member
- Mar 10, 2014
- 367
I always though about peroxide but figured it bubbled up on everything outside I\'ve never had too worry as 9/10 times my dad is with me and he\'s better than a hound.
We finally figured out I was red-green when I was about 15. My mom was relieved cause she said I the worse she\'d ever see in color coordinating my clothes, lol
We finally figured out I was red-green when I was about 15. My mom was relieved cause she said I the worse she\'d ever see in color coordinating my clothes, lol
Glacier Country
New member
- Nov 13, 2013
- 177
I am friends with Rob Smollack who owns ASAT Camo. I have had several conversations with Rob about what colors deer and elk can see and sensitivity to UV . They are definitely sensitive to blue and yellow. Different shades make a difference. Ever notice Chuck Adams fletching. All REd All the time. Deertick has spelled it out in his posts above pretty well.
If you stop and think about it, people pick up on the color blue also. Example: I was fishing on a lake one time and happen to notice something blue on the dam a good 300 yards away. Had that fisherman not been wearing new blue jeans, I never would have noticed him.
Elk are color blind and they can see very well in the dark. Hmmmm! I wonder if color blind people might have an edge on the rest of us in low light conditions???
Elk are color blind and they can see very well in the dark. Hmmmm! I wonder if color blind people might have an edge on the rest of us in low light conditions???
Now, I am not saying I believe the UV adverts or not, but consider this:
Back when I was a lot younger, I had an eye injury that caused a cataract. Back in those days they were just starting to delve into \"micro\" surgery for the eyes. When they removed my cataract, they also removed about 1/4 of my iris. Also, there was no such thing as lens implant. I wore a thick contact lens in that eye for years.
During those years, black lights and florescent colors were the \"in\" thing. When I looked at those black lights with my good eye, they were virtually black when lit up, when viewed with my bad eye, they glowed a bright electric blue! Also, besides the bright colors on posters and the white tee shirts glowing under that light, any blue, even blue jeans, had a slight glow to it.
So, from my experience, I tend to avoid hunting in clothes and camo with blue or bluish grey colors in them and try to avoid detergents with brighteners in them. I do this because of how I saw with that bad eye and I have had occasions when deer stop and look at me for no apparent reason, usually at low light (moonlight?), no movement on my part and wind seemingly ok. Do they see like my bad eye? I do not know.....
Back when I was a lot younger, I had an eye injury that caused a cataract. Back in those days they were just starting to delve into \"micro\" surgery for the eyes. When they removed my cataract, they also removed about 1/4 of my iris. Also, there was no such thing as lens implant. I wore a thick contact lens in that eye for years.
During those years, black lights and florescent colors were the \"in\" thing. When I looked at those black lights with my good eye, they were virtually black when lit up, when viewed with my bad eye, they glowed a bright electric blue! Also, besides the bright colors on posters and the white tee shirts glowing under that light, any blue, even blue jeans, had a slight glow to it.
So, from my experience, I tend to avoid hunting in clothes and camo with blue or bluish grey colors in them and try to avoid detergents with brighteners in them. I do this because of how I saw with that bad eye and I have had occasions when deer stop and look at me for no apparent reason, usually at low light (moonlight?), no movement on my part and wind seemingly ok. Do they see like my bad eye? I do not know.....
Bob Frapples
Member
- Mar 10, 2014
- 367
There was a trivia question on the radio one morning along the same lines, I was hesitant to mention it cause I knew I\'d screw it up. It had to do with sending UV morse code ship to shore in prep for D-day invasion. \"seniors\" with certain eye conditions being the only one that could see the Uv light.
I\'ve never noticed any difference in low light vs others I\'ve been around. in my case I think my red to green color receptors ratio is way low in the reds, making green \"overload\" the reds. This explans why specs of blood among greens are difficult for me to pick out.
Night vision comes from rods and I don\'t think us less color seeing folk have more rods, but then again maybe i do? Heck, I might just be the next X-man.
I\'ve never noticed any difference in low light vs others I\'ve been around. in my case I think my red to green color receptors ratio is way low in the reds, making green \"overload\" the reds. This explans why specs of blood among greens are difficult for me to pick out.
Night vision comes from rods and I don\'t think us less color seeing folk have more rods, but then again maybe i do? Heck, I might just be the next X-man.
