Thread: Ever been shot at? Blaze vs Camo

Having been shot past/over once and drawn on twice while wearing full camo -gloves/mask etc while bowhunting...I'd rather lose a deer wearing blue then get shot wearing washed out red deer looking orange. For what it's worth I have orange as well but when it fades it gets relegated to be slopping about the whare/yard work etc.

I don't really give a flying fuck what colour spectrum deer can see. They honestly don't give a shit what they see if that colour isn't moving or doesn't appear to be a threat. The UV argument is moot when you take that UV torch out in low light and play it on much of our vegetation. You would be surprised what dense bush looks like under the correct spectrum.

Tens or hundreds of thousands of deer were culled by men wearing black wollen singlets and stubbies. Different times for sure, but I want to take meat home not be taken home in a bag because someone fucked up and shot at movement through trees.

My family is the priority. My ability to properly provide for them would be somewhat hindered by getting capped because of a lack of identification.

Cringing to read some of this. This is why I make sure my life insurance has me covered for "hunting accidents". I hope that if I do get shot, its in the head and not the guts.

So aside from ceramic plate armor, what is the safest way to dress for hunting ?
My personal thought is that flouresent light blue, if it was available would be pretty good or even a Flouro Blue / Orange / pink Zebra pattern.

I’ve seen it multiple times over with my Dad who is red/green colour deficient in his sight. Blaze orange, blood etc appears brown at first glance until pointed out and identified. I’ve hunted with him for over 20 years now and what I can quickly see is not the same for him. Blue on the other hand is on the same level for us, if we follow blue track markers in the bush he can pick them up easy like me, orange not so much. This is very common too, both my brother and even my wife have the same thing. It’s a stupidly easy choice for me, blaze blue when I feel the need… couldn’t care less if deer see it easier either.

woods 223.....Bit of bad luck there old chap.
Deer carcase being carried on the back. Been to one funeral as a result of that period of "meet hunting activity in 1973."

The older you get......The more you loose your situation awareness?

Colours and shapes......Colours. I went on a field trip with a camera club to the Whanganui country side and one chap who was wearing a black checked swandri [which was common in its day] was on his hands and knees photographing fowers in the scrub. Looking through the thick foliage he had the profile of a local pig.

Colours and shading....One time outside a super market there was a big great dane dog fawn / brown colur. If it was in the right bush setting a quick glance at it because of its size it could easily pass off for a small deer?

The old adage...Looking through a rifle scope to spot "objects " to see what it is? I did a google search before i posted this and there must be a lot of liars out there who have said they have never done it while deer hunting in the world?

What are world wide statistics on big game hunting deaths ?
Perhaps hunting colour related clothing is a factor ?
Is New Zealand any different firearm safety wise to any other countries in the world ?
What country has the worst hunting related statistics on a pro rata basis over all ?

one of my old hunting mates was red green color blind...pain in the arse trying to point out something brown on/in green to him...shit on meat is just a dark spot. rabbit on grass under spotlight just about impossible....
vividly recall newyears day 2010?? hunting with mate in thick bush,heck of good day we had spooked 5-6 deer and coming down a spur in dappled light,I looked ahead about 50 yards downhill and had bright orange band about 30" long by 5" deep horizontally infront of me...looked at it,(open bolt) scope on it,lean on tree,scope up to 9x...look some more,mate also looking,both shrugging shoulders,we knew it was wrong but couldnt ID it...till spikers head came up and he was off....in sunlight he was bright orange..really bright in dark setting,that put me off orange.
blue sticks out like dogs balls....H&F put out a TEE shirt with all panels a different fabric color or pattern and front and rear split into 4....love wearing it as anyone can see it....SWAZI made a blaze coat early on for SAR.It was a pinky orange..chatruuse I believe is technical term for it...it stuck out in tussock better than any other colour Ive seen.
mix it up is best advice I can give....and if roar sounds dodge reply with your own roar...MYBALLSAREBIGGERTHANYOURBALLSSSSS.... try that now and you will see you can do it well enough that human will pick it but stag not so much.

Originally Posted by Micky Duck

one of my old hunting mates was red green color blind...pain in the arse trying to point out something brown on/in green to him...shit on meat is just a dark spot. rabbit on grass under spotlight just about impossible....
vividly recall newyears day 2010?? hunting with mate in thick bush,heck of good day we had spooked 5-6 deer and coming down a spur in dappled light,I looked ahead about 50 yards downhill and had bright orange band about 30" long by 5" deep horizontally infront of me...looked at it,(open bolt) scope on it,lean on tree,scope up to 9x...look some more,mate also looking,both shrugging shoulders,we knew it was wrong but couldnt ID it...till spikers head came up and he was off....in sunlight he was bright orange..really bright in dark setting,that put me off orange.
blue sticks out like dogs balls....H&F put out a TEE shirt with all panels a different fabric color or pattern and front and rear split into 4....love wearing it as anyone can see it....SWAZI made a blaze coat early on for SAR.It was a pinky orange..chatruuse I believe is technical term for it...it stuck out in tussock better than any other colour Ive seen.
mix it up is best advice I can give....and if roar sounds dodge reply with your own roar...MYBALLSAREBIGGERTHANYOURBALLSSSSS.... try that now and you will see you can do it well enough that human will pick it but stag not so much.

That's the great thing wile sika hunting ive found is people using electronic callers, can hear the difference and adjust course accordingly

After reading some of these stories I would have to say thank goodness there are so many poor shots out there or there would be a lot less of you on this forum today.

I think if I was shot 4 - 5 times I would be getting out of the game however you would have to keep asking yourself how it could ever happen again so maybe your thought pattern would be surely I can't get shot again

Certainly makes you weary of people, even mates, or situations. But you can’t fully mitigate dumb fucks or people who just want to shoot you.

Originally Posted by Preacher

Having been shot past/over once and drawn on twice while wearing full camo -gloves/mask etc while bowhunting...I'd rather lose a deer wearing blue then get shot wearing washed out red deer looking orange. For what it's worth I have orange as well but when it fades it gets relegated to be slopping about the whare/yard work etc.

I don't really give a flying fuck what colour spectrum deer can see. They honestly don't give a shit what they see if that colour isn't moving or doesn't appear to be a threat. The UV argument is moot when you take that UV torch out in low light and play it on much of our vegetation. You would be surprised what dense bush looks like under the correct spectrum.

Tens or hundreds of thousands of deer were culled by men wearing black wollen singlets and stubbies. Different times for sure, but I want to take meat home not be taken home in a bag because someone fucked up and shot at movement through trees.

My family is the priority. My ability to properly provide for them would be somewhat hindered by getting capped because of a lack of identification.

Impressive you do OK in blue as a fellow bowhunter. Reluctant to break out the blue, of all colours. I'm trying to get within 30m of what I'm shooting. I've seen a deer pick me out, completely motionless, wearing blaze orange, can imagine the same would be in blue if not in shade.

What I'm thinking reading this thread is pink seems to be a good compromise - still stands out in bush (trap markers are impressive like that) and is dull to deer. Will definitely be loading up on the trapping tape next mission.

Personal experience with mates farm deer. Hanging various clothing items on fence. Ridgeline blaze orange disruptive pattern vest not worried, same with most well worn clothing. Blaze blue they wouldn’t go near for a few days. Warehouse flouro tops they wouldn’t go near period. Hunting and fishing blaze green disruptive pattern top was ok, had been plain washed a few times. Have shot more than my fair share when wearing old blue jeans too.

A little off topic but related, for those who agree deer lack a uv light filter

This is a test of blaze and normal Camo, greens and blacks used for hunting. All of my gear is religiously washed in Atsko SportsWash (last few years) and prior to that I used Baking Soda. The first shot is our family washing powder to show the UV brighteners. The next shots are in my attic, so not totally dark but you can see the shine, probably from brighteners in the parent material. You can see the difference in the orange vs blaze with brighteners.

Interested to hear if anyone has tested this before, if the Atsko uv killer products work?

https://youtu.be/WvSFkR_y4ac

I'm interested in the UV side of things and don't use any product at all when washing my hunting clothes. It's really not necessary.

My concern with blaze orange is how similar it can look to red deer. When the reds have that bright orange coat and a bit of supple jack covering them its amazing how close it looks to blaze orange. I think the best bit of advice I saw in those articles was "if you choose blaze orange, get a new one each season". I reckon faded blaze orange is the worst thing to wear hunting reds.

My take away from this thread is to definitely get some of the pink track tape.

Originally Posted by Remote

Impressive you do OK in blue as a fellow bowhunter. Reluctant to break out the blue, of all colours. I'm trying to get within 30m of what I'm shooting. I've seen a deer pick me out, completely motionless, wearing blaze orange, can imagine the same would be in blue if not in shade.

What I'm thinking reading this thread is pink seems to be a good compromise - still stands out in bush (trap markers are impressive like that) and is dull to deer. Will definitely be loading up on the trapping tape next mission.

Nah I still go full camtard for the bow hunting but I am also very selective what times and areas I do it. Not over the Roar/Long weekend etc.

One difference is that I will tie a slash of blue blaze on my back for nothing more than psychological comfort blanket