Hunter clothing hints

My OutdoorsLet's say you're moving stealthily along the edge of a bog, partially hidden by shrubs and low trees. Slung across your shoulder is your trusty rifle, a .308 calibre equipped with a 3-9X scope. You are hunting big game, a moose or caribou.

It is late evening when these animals begin to emerge from their deep woods hiding places. The sun is low in the sky and the air has taken on a chill.

You are following the rules and wearing a cap of blaze orange. To help you blend with the natural terrain you are dressed in a soft camouflage parka that is virtually silent as you brush against branches while you stalk your game.

Out on the edge of the bog about 100 yards away you notice a nice animal and decide this is your opportunity. You step out onto the edge of the trees to get a clear shot, but the animal spots you and dashes for cover. All you get to see is his butt disappearing into the trees.

You might stop to scratch your head and wonder why you were spotted. Was it movement, or was it that blaze orange cap you were wearing so you wouldn't be mistakenly shot by another hunter?

You may be surprised to learn it might not have been the hat at all, and perhaps the movement only to a very small degree. It could have been the patterned jacket you were wearing to help you blend with your background.

It all has to do with animal vision and how they see things, much different from the way we humans see. While we see in colour due to the physical makeup of our eyes, a moose or caribou, or indeed any member of the deer family, sees in shades of grey or yellow.

That blaze orange cap is seen as just another shade in a background of other shades, and if the cap itself has a camouflage pattern it might just be mistaken for a branch with a bunch of leaves on it.

While human eyes have a predominance of cones, deer eyes contain a predominance of rods. They see no red in the spectrum.

But they do perceive one thing humans don't see - ultraviolet brighteners.

If that camouflage parka had been laundered in a detergent containing UV brighteners, you were glowing in the dark as far as that animal was concerned. You would have looked like a ghost coming out of the woods, like a flashlight moving across a dark night.

It could have been your cap as well if it was also washed in a soap containing UV brighteners.

Phosphates are whiteners that are used in many laundry soaps to get that bright colour look. Unfortunately for hunters, they make you stand out like a sore thumb.

Dr. Jay Neitz is a vision specialist. He says, "Deer are about eight times more sensitive than humans to lights of wavelengths near 430-440 nm (such as those emitted by UV brighteners). Garments can reflect (or emit) considerable light in this spectral band. Because of the deer's high relative sensitivity to short wavelength light, the presence of blue, violet and UV components would make a garment stand out as both bright and coloured against natural backgrounds. Those same components could be barely noticeable to humans."

If you want to blend with your background, try washing your hunting clothing in laundry detergent that is phosphate free, or containing no whiteners. You'll see it printed on the side of the box. There are also companies that sell after-market products to do the job of covering or hiding them.

This little hint may help you harvest your moose or caribou next time out. It also helps to be a good shot and a good hunter, and if you do miss your quarry, you won't be able to blame it on the clothing.

Editor's Note: Mr. Rich writes for a number of outdoor publications, including the Atlantc Salmon Journal and the Newfoundland Sportsman. For almost a decade, he wrote a column for the Newfoundland Herald called In the Woods. A lot of his writing focuses on outdoor life in Newfoundland and Labrador. He also has six books tucked under his belt and will be publishing a seventh in the fall entitled Memoirs of a Fly-Fisher. He writes from Grand Falls-Windsor.