PPHA Forums
Predator Hunting => Night Hunting => Topic started by: foxtrot on September 13, 2012, 10:32:54 AM
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Red or Green?I know this has been talked about before and most recommend red but I have talked to guys that are fairly successful with green.Red is the old standby that almost everyone goes with ,but do you think after a month or so of looking at red the survivers get a little shy of red?Just thinking outside the box.
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White
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Bigben,I assume you had success with white?Never thought to try that.
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Yep. I use red only when the other person i am hunting with only has a red light
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I like red, but have hunted with white for a lot of years. Red seams to let people get away with a lot more on spooking critters and it helps keep a hunters night vision. A lot of hunters blame a lot of stuff that goes wrong on the light for spooking predators but it is usualy some thing else. I do know for me going from red on a stand to white light they do not stick around long. Like Bigben said, stick to the same color light on a stand. But I would stick with red light, those red eyes show up a lot better with red light and a lot farther for me then white. That has helped me get ready for the shot a lot earler. White light, I just have a harder time picking up the critter eyes as early on a stand. But maybe I just have old eyes and can not see as good. But I do not think so. :-)
Green light I have not messed with so I will not say much othere then green does not reflect there eyes good for me.
But your idea might have some merit to it. But how would you ever know they would not have come into red.
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Different strokes for different folks. I havent had an issue yet picking up a set of eyes. Even fox or coon in brush stick out better imo compared to the red light. Thats just me but we (me and jason) havent had any complaints other then from fox dyin. Its easier to see the crosshairs and we can positively id our animals 100%, and id them quicker no more calling to that deer that is out there. If its within 300 yds i can id easily and quickly. I cant do that with a red led.
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Bigben
I wish I could pick eyes with white light as good as you are having luck. Maybe it is just me and my eyes. I have racoons that come to my feeder every night and I just went out and tried it on them with my contacks in and red still wins hands down. I wonder if each persons sees different colors better. I have trouble seeing the raccons eyes reflect at all with a green light for me.
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I have always used an amber\yellow light. Works great for me and I prefer that over red. Each to his own. Use what you like the best. I do have a 250 kill light with a red bulb that I have used with no complaints but my scanning light is yellow.
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Foxtrot: How is that for everybody beating around the bush. Buckwheat sez; I haven't messed w/ green but it doesn't work for him. I listened to the pack and got red. wish I would have tried green. Dick
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Papa1
I try to be open minded to other people opions on lights. So maybe other people see green light reflect eyes better for them.
The reason I never mess around with green light is I could not see there eyes reflect at all for me. I walked up to raccoon at my feeder and can not see there eyes reflect at all. But there are people that like green so I try not to figure out if they can see green better then me. I can say though I have never had any trouble seeing eyes reflect with red lights. There are people that might be a better hunter with a green light and use it alot so let them talk it up. So when I say i have not messed with green much that is why.
I think green light stinks!! for me, do you feel better now that I am not beating around the bush? But now some one is pissed at me for stating that. I like red and can get by with white. What color light do you use?
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I use a combination of both red and green lights. I use a red kill light 100 to scan with and it works great, but I use by green 250 kill light as my shooting light. I haven't had a problem with my two different colored lights. The reason why I use the green as my shooting light is because I feel like it gives me more light to shoot with.
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I happen to have all three colors in various styles of lights. Like Ernie, I prefer Red however it may be the toughest color for us to see because it is on the edge of the light spectrum that we can see. I don't think the color really matters at all as I explain below. We hunters seem to be the only one bothered by colors.
I have seen Ben hunt with white and he did just fine. I personally only ever hunted with white maybe two times and had no luck with call ins so I can not speak on the effect on the predator. White is the easiest for us to see and offers the best clarity.
I have hunted with green several times. I have shot fox with it and I have spooked fox but like Ernie said I'm not sure it was the light that spooked the fox. Clarity is slightly better with green than red.
A good test would be to hunt with all three lights and call equal amounts of fox with each light and log the details for each then post the findings. I don't mind experimenting when I am by myself however, I almost always have somebody with me. I don't like taking chances and messing up other peoples hunting.
I read an article in predator extreme a couple years back about what coyotes see. It was a two part article and was very interesting. Basically it said that coyotes lack the green cone in their eyes. The green cone partially overlaps the red cone which allows them to see red. Because there is no green cone, the coyote can not see red. Think of it like this. Take a layer of red cellophane and place another layer on top. You can not tell the difference between the two layers. Place a layer of green partially underneath the red and you can see the difference.
Experts claim feline and canine can not see color however see the light as different intensitys from white to black. The darker colors they see toward the black spectrum and the lighter toward the white spectrum. If this is true then I don't think it matters what color light you use but rather the intensity of that light.
Now that I have everyone confused, What light color are you going to use this year. May be time for an experiment!!
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LookN4fur
You know it all is interesting reading but in the field things just do not add up.
I have critter called in with up to 3 nigt force lights on animals all night long and had some up to 10 feet away and no animals spooked from to much light. Coyotes, bobcat, gray fox, raccoons and red fox. Think about how much light there is with 3 night force on one critter!!
I would like to know how far you can see eyes refflect back to people with green. Like I said, I see no reflection with the green led lights. Just wonder if it is just my eyes that can not see green reflect eyes good.
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Well I guess the only way to find out is to try it for yourself.Red,Green and amber are the three colors that are the least offensive to the predator and also white.I don't think you can get an amber led light unless you use a filter.Other than red ,green would my choice as an alternative.
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Foxtrot
Yep, sounds like you will have to try them your self. Let us know how you make out.
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Foxtrot
I will give you some information that might help you if you try a white light. I found that a flashlight with a big halo worked betrer. If i used the center of the light held right on them when they started to get close it seamed to confuse the critters.
I think that it would start to blind them some and cause a lot of shadows in front of them and may be part of there confusion. I would watch them go right and left when comming in to try and see better. They were not trying to get my wind with this back and forth movement. If to much white light was on them they would sometimes just stay out there and set down. I will tell you that you can learn better with a white light because you can see the critters body and there body language better. The problem is useing a white light you have to worry about making mistakes with the light more. Like if you shine on a tree or a bush or anythiing that will cast light back on you they can see you. In the woods it is realy hard to stop that from happening.
For a long time when useing a red light I worried about that happening to me with bounce back light and the halo, but have found that with red led lights I do not have that happen very much if any. With red led flashlights the bounce back of light and halo lighting me up in some ways it seams that affect is almost gone. I still keep the light off my hunting partener becase they will see you them. So with red led flashlights it seams as long as I keep 80 % of the light in front of me I do not even worry about lighting up my forearm and gun. With white light you do not get away with it.
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I have learned from the kind soul Buckwheat!
Keep the shooting light illuminated at all times and pointed in the direction you think the predator will come from to your call!
Rifle is in tripod and 250 Killlight on! Using a scanning light when it's time to shoot I shut my Coyote light off while I'm standing behind the tripod! The illuminated light on your scope and barrel shields you! You look down the scope and shoot the fox or coyote. Color doesn't matter! Secret is to keep your shooting light on! Be it red, green or white! You hit them with a light that is turned off they run away! If the light is on they don't spook! Just buy plenty of Killlight batteries and change the battery after every 2 to 3 stands! I would like to say thank you to (Ernie) Buckwheat for showing me this!
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Good stuff guys. I too learned some lighting techniques from Ernie.
There are a lot of variables to running a light and thats part of hunting. I can not explain why you can flood a fox at ten yards with three lightforce lights and not spook it yet another time they sit down a couple hundred yards away.
The two or three fox I shot with the green light was when the kill light first came out. Jeremiah gave me the green LED module to test out. I honestly can not remember if I saw eyes or was shooting at a body. I just know it was slightly easier to identify.
It seems you can kill a predator with any color light as we are hearing with the responses to this thread. It also seems more important on how you run and handle your light then the color.
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Lookn4fur
I think if you pick then out far with a lot of light and you stay on them they do not get as nervous and come in.
If you hit them with a ton of light all at once up close it is the same as turning a light on. That can make them set down or spook them. White light seems to spook them faster with less light.
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Yes, I would definately agree with that.
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Well I did a comparison of red and amber and the animals didn't seem to care either way but I could identify better with the red light.It seems there was more glare from the amber than the red.I would still like to try green sometime.
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Do you have a kill light? I will let you borrow my green LED if you do.
Don't forget the brightness of the night (Moon) and weather (Fog, Rain, Snow) will also dictate how well you can see with certain colors. I think green is the best for light fog. Red for dark nights and amber for snow cover. Seems like to much bother so I stick with red all the time. Might give white a good try this year.
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I have used white with good success but prefer my amber light above the rest. It comes down to personal preference. Honestly, I probably prefer amber because I have so many good memories using that color. Red usually stays in my 'predator hunting' bag. If I need help identifying an animal, I pop just remove the amber lense cover and go to white light. Most times fox don't seem to care. thats just me...
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I like to pull out the 250 or the 100 green Killlight from my bag if I knock down a predator and have to scan for it..So I would never get rid of the green lights..
Also if you have one that hangs up way out there and won't come in it's good to put the green light on it to see just what kind canine it is.
So it's not bad to own a green and a red light... I do use the Coyote Light for shotgunning and for spotting for eyes when I use the rifle... However I like the red 250 Killlight for shooting..
Like Tim said too. Once the moon phases start to change you can get away with green and white. I can't say pop cover amber anymore since that why you get busted when you use pop covers IMO. On pitch dark nights red is the best... As the moon brightens you can go to green and white... Dennis Kirk always recommended using the yellow during the full moon...
Just look at all the things you can do some research on as the moon phase changes...I know over dirty snow I use to use the amber pop covers then... Might be good to try the green then or the white on dark nights over dirty or old snow.
I will tell you this... You break just how to use the lights your going to get fur... Thats the most important thing.. Even more then calling sounds...Now you do have to be able to shoot with those lights too.
Last year I did so well with the E. Wilson tripod and of all guns the 22 WMR and Winchester Dynacaps ammo . I did use the red 250 Killlight...
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Lookn4fur,Thanks for the offer but I do not have a kill light.I noticed with the amber the eyes really lit up but I thought it was harder to make out the body.
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I use white also never had a problem
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Bulldog
What light are you using in white?
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Same headlamp i have. I think he has a white killlight as well
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Yep what ben said
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The red color reflects the predators eyes the best. Also, using red is a huge advantage because it doesn't ruin your eyes night vision. If you turn on a white or green light it will take a few minutes for your eyes to fully recover their night vision.