Flashlight/Headlamp usage

[hplayer13]

Do you use em for morning entrances?

I typically do not, hunting in pressured areas I don’t want anything human related being seen by deer, is this a legit concern or no?

[tkohuntsMI]

It really depends. If you know your spot and paths well enough to travel in safely then I’d say go without a light. That’s usually how I travel. But if it’s going to make you noisier going through the woods then go with the headlamp. If I need to I use a green light. I have found that the green doesn’t really catch their attention. I even tested standard, red, and green lights on deer in my old yard. Red didn’t travel far enough, white definitely got their attention but green traveled farther and didn’t spook the deer. If I’m going to use a light going up a tree or in the stand I use red and always make sure to always keep the light angled down.

[Grizzlyadam]

I use red going in on morning hunts. I keep it held down about waist level and pointed more down that straight ahead. More often than not when I'm going in it's dark enough where I would never be able to see anything without it.

One time I was set up nice and early and some other guy was coming through a bit later. He had a green light and I could plainly see him from a long ways off. Looked like a spotlight coming through the woods. Seemed no different than a bright white light to me. I've personally never heard any real convincing evidence to support that a deer can't see the green as well as a regular light. I do however hear many personal accounts of it's effectiveness from other hunters. Maybe there is something to it but I'm definitely not going to try it after seeing that guy that morning.

[LukeTM]

Man I wrestle with this too...
I usually make the decision based on asking myself if having the light on will make me significantly quieter.

When a I do use a light I always use a headlamp so my hands are free. Sometimes this allows me to “swim” through the woods to be quieter. Additionally, I like to put my headlamp around my chest or waist and angle it down. This keeps it from shining up too high and I can turn my head all I want without fear of lighting up everything around me.

Keep in mind that it takes a good 15 minutes for our eyes to fully adjust to the dark. If we go right from headlights and overhead car lights to the darkness, it will always be too dark.

[Grizzlyadam]

Good point about taking some time for our eyes to adjust. A actually painted the lens of the interior light of my truck red. It works great. Just enough light to see my gear and get it on, but not enough to mess with my acclimation to night vision. Also helps keep a low profile so I'm minimizing my disturbance to any neighbors or landowners when I'm slipping in to hunt at 430 am.

[milkweed-militia]

I use a headlamp anytime I'm going in the early AM. My light has a green setting that's real low. I'll use it some but I don't worry too much about it. I haven't had negative results using the regular light or the green setting. The light stays pointed at the ground in front of my feet though. No site seeing that early for me.

[218er]

I use a green one in the am for sure. I want people to know I’m there at a minimum. I use to never use a light in the am. I got turned around like 50% of the time and figured I wasn’t accomplishing much banging and cussing around trying to find my way plus one time I was thumping through the woods and heard someone call out, “hey you.” Spooked me pretty good because I had no idea where this other hunter cane in from, it was about an hour from first light, and we were about a mile from any road. Old timer called me over and cussed me up and down about how I could have got shot. I realized he had a point and i’ve Used a green light since.

[EllieTheChubb]

If it makes my entrance quieter I use it.
I mostly avoid using my light but there's always some thick or technical spots that warrant it. Your sound will travel alot farther than your headlamp so it's worth using.

[Wlog]

I use a light. I keep my headlamp in my hand like a regular flashlight while I’m walking so I can keep it low to the ground and pointed down. I only put it on my head when I need my hands free. I like to see where I’m walking in the dark. If you’ve ever tripped over a dead branch and had your stand and sticks smack you in the back of the head or get poked in the eye you’ll wish you had a light. I’ve done both BTW! Not fun!

[tbunao]

Use the light. I've walked right by deer early morning and evening. I think the cadence of your steps alarms them more than anything. I also wish I could show these videos but a buddy has at least 4 videos of him hitting the deer with his headlamp after last light to get them on film. No reaction whatsoever. These are tanks and fully mature bucks I speak of on small chunks of public that get accessed wrong continuously due to people not having boats or are afraid of water

[funderburk]

Been wrestling through this, too. I recently bought a small light (the size of my palm) and a holster that cants. I put this on my belt and cant it over one click and use the flood setting. Lights up the ground directly in front of my feet. Never have to worry about it leaving the ground. I like it so far. Both light and holster picked up at Home Depot.

[ThePreBanMan]

I always use a light. Safety first. My taxidermist was shot at in the dark walking to his stand one AM. Thankfully the jackwagon missed. Had he had a light on there would have been no mistaking him for a deer. Use a light. Even if you don't need one, at least a red LED or something to identify you as a human to other hunters who may already be in the woods.

[ThePreBanMan]

I use red going in on morning hunts. I keep it held down about waist level and pointed more down that straight ahead. More often than not when I'm going in it's dark enough where I would never be able to see anything without it.

One time I was set up nice and early and some other guy was coming through a bit later. He had a green light and I could plainly see him from a long ways off. Looked like a spotlight coming through the woods. Seemed no different than a bright white light to me. I've personally never heard any real convincing evidence to support that a deer can't see the green as well as a regular light. I do however hear many personal accounts of it's effectiveness from other hunters. Maybe there is something to it but I'm definitely not going to try it after seeing that guy that morning.

The science says they can see green light well enough. Deer see very very well on the blue side of the light spectrum. They can even see ultraviolet which we can not. Gives them great night vision. However, their eyes gather light very poorly on the red side of the spectrum. So, ask yourself, what 2 colors do you mix to get green. It's not a primary color... Yellow and BLUE.. So if deer can see blue exceptionally well, and green contains light from the blue side of the spectrum, then that consequently means they see it. Now how they react is a different story, but they can see it.

[<DK>]

It really depends. If you know your spot and paths well enough to travel in safely then I’d say go without a light. That’s usually how I travel. But if it’s going to make you noisier going through the woods then go with the headlamp. If I need to I use a green light. I have found that the green doesn’t really catch their attention. I even tested standard, red, and green lights on deer in my old yard. Red didn’t travel far enough, white definitely got their attention but green traveled farther and didn’t spook the deer. If I’m going to use a light going up a tree or in the stand I use red and always make sure to always keep the light angled down.

Good post

[LukeTM]

I use red going in on morning hunts. I keep it held down about waist level and pointed more down that straight ahead. More often than not when I'm going in it's dark enough where I would never be able to see anything without it.

One time I was set up nice and early and some other guy was coming through a bit later. He had a green light and I could plainly see him from a long ways off. Looked like a spotlight coming through the woods. Seemed no different than a bright white light to me. I've personally never heard any real convincing evidence to support that a deer can't see the green as well as a regular light. I do however hear many personal accounts of it's effectiveness from other hunters. Maybe there is something to it but I'm definitely not going to try it after seeing that guy that morning.

The science says they can see green light well enough. Deer see very very well on the blue side of the light spectrum. They can even see ultraviolet which we can not. Gives them great night vision. However, their eyes gather light very poorly on the red side of the spectrum. So, ask yourself, what 2 colors do you mix to get green. It's not a primary color... Yellow and BLUE.. So if deer can see blue exceptionally well, and green contains light from the blue side of the spectrum, then that consequently means they see it. Now how they react is a different story, but they can see it.

I was pondering this exact science a few hours ago! Took me a moment to recall the primary colors but based on some stuff I’ve read recently based on this topic, I agree that red is likely the least visible lens option to deer that is both commonly accessible to us. Additionally, it has less of an impact on our dark adjusted eyes.
I think red is a solid choice!