Mule Deer Fanatic

I’m going to start right off telling you that I am color blind. Years ago, I read an article that said deer are color blind. I think it would be hard to know. I’ve asked – but those darned deer just won’t tell me. I won’t go into detail, but after observing over many years, and after doing some experiments of my own, I believe mule deer are color blind.

What does this mean to the hunter? Well, it is very difficult, at best, for a color blind person to explain what he sees to a “normal” person. But, if I can get you to understand what I see, you may have a comparitive advantage over your fellow hunters when it comes to hunting (particularly bowhunting) mule deer.

It is rumored that color blind soldiers were used in world war II to spot ground camoflauge from airplanes. You see (maybe you don’t), to a color blind person, camoflauge is not camoflauge at all; it stands out somewhat like a neon light. Are you starting to see the picture? All you guys/gals that think you’re hiding from the mule deer are just making yourselves more obvious. If you are wearing camo, for heck sakes, don’t move.

The author of the aforementioned article said that deer see black, white, grey, and yellow. I’m not sure that is completely accurate. I find it reasonable to believe that they see like I do. Let me explain how I see, if I can. In the summer, when deer are reddish (so I’m told), I cannot see them unless they move. They blend in perfectly with their surroundings. I know this may be hard for you to understand. In the fall, when the deer are grey, then I can spot them like they were blinking. Go figure.

My hunting partner, of many years, has the quirky trait of having deer just stand around and gawk at him, while they run from me.

I tell him it is because he looks funny with those thick glasses he wears ( he is legally blind, I am legally color blind). This has always annoyed me, and many times I have sworn to remedy the situation. One year, I had my daughter build me a hat with big mule deer ears on it. I chose the color green, even though I couldn’t tell it was green, because I surmised that the hunters would know I wasn’t a deer, but the deer wouldn’t. It was a real neat trick – until the ears started drooping like dog ears. The deer didn’t like that. They didn’t stand around gawking for very long, once those ears got droopy. But, it did cause them to gawk when the ears were upright.

Here is some color-related advice from a color blind person. The main color to avoid is white. Yellow is not too far behind. Blue would be next on my list. Most camoflauge on the market, even though there have been improvements, is bad. If you want to be seen by hunters, but not by deer use bright red. I think you should know, there is no such thing as bright red for the color blind. Flourencent orange does nothing to impress a color blind person either. Get 100 yards away with your flourescent orange and it might as well be drab green. As far as a single, good color goes, drab green is a good one. But, if you really want to hide from deer, look like a coyote or a lion. Theirs is a terrific camoflauge against color blindness. Sagebrush green/grey is also very good. Now you know.

Happy Hunting and may the Force be with you.