can cyotes see infrared light

R

regulator

New member
Do u think yotes can see a infrared light on night vision equipment.And has anyone ever used a spot light infrared lense to hunt? I thought it might work goo for night tapeing if they cant see it.
 
It's been my experience that infrared light is not visible to any wildlife, including coyotes. The only visible "signature" that an IR light might give would be a small red dot, and I don't think they can see that at all. There are various IR light sources available from filtered spotlights like the Lightforce to IR laser illuminators. You can email me if you need more specific info- timberman@direcway.com
 
Have heard it mentioned from a nearby hunter that a deer will raise it's head and notice it if you scan a field with IR. Forget what he said about coyotes, but I think he mentioned if a deer could see it that he figured a coyote could too.
 
This year I tried hunting fox differently than I had in the past. I got a remote caller, reasoning that it would be better to have the fox hunting something 75-100 yards away than to have him looking for a "rabbit" 25 feet from me. Instead of a shotgun I now use a 17HRM for the close ones and a .223 for the hang-ups. I had a lightforce gun mounted light and used a red lense, and while they would come on in most spooked{stopped and acted differently} the minute the red light was turned on{even dimmed way down}unless they were 150-200 yards out. I went the night vision route only to discover that without the addition of an infra-red illuminator you could not see the animals eyes glow. Now when hunting I notice that a fox will look directly at me 100 yards away from the call when the illuminator is on. Not always for certain but most times there was no chance of scent or movement giving me away. I asked this very same question on another forum and got a few "I dont knows" and "I guess's" but no straight answer. I dont have a different answer but I will say this... "I dont know" either but they sure look directly at me when I turn it on, otherwise I would'nt see their eyes glow ..."I guess" they maybe can see it because I have seen them act just like do when they see a red light. On a full moonlit night when the infra-red should'nt be as "bright" they dont act as spooky about it but on a dark night when it seems to be alot more effective in the scope they seem alot more affected. Based on what I have seen I believe any reasonable person would have to conclude that they see something they are at least aware of that causes them to act different. I also believe that a coyote can probably see as good or better than a fox. If they did'nt have some sort of low light sensitive eyesight why eldse would they hunt so much at night???
 
I have been using night vison for over 10 years now and use it at least 3 times a week. I think there is no way in the world they can see a real IR Illum beam out in front of you. A flashlight with red lens cover? Maybe so as it is not a true IR beam. With that said I will say that they can for sure see the red glow at the base of a IR unit just like you can. Often I will have animals look right at me with a IR turned on and even more so if I move it around.It is kind of like someone using one of those laser points.You can see the little red glow on the front laser pointer but not the beam itself. The IR bean itself is only visiable to a NV unit. Some IR Illum units have more of a glow at the base than others making them harder to see from a distance. So I guess in a way yes and no. They can see the front Illum glow on the unit but nothing out in the field you are lighting up.
 
the infrared beam is only visible to a nightvision unit.... Would you say a fox or coyote has two of those???? How many of them have you seen bumping into trees and rocks walking around at night when viewed thru your night vision???? Is it not reasonable to conclude that perhaps fox/coyote eyes are sensitive to low light just like a night vision scope?????
 
Do any of you night vision guys have experience
with the laser illuminators? I have been curious
about them but dont want to invest the cash on
one it it's not worth it.

I am curious about the infared beam mentioned above. Is it true infared or the red lense covered spot light. It has been my experience
( with the red lense on the spot light) that the coyotes always appear to know that somethings is
fishy but I guess their hunger gets the best of
them. Although some of them bug out code 3, maybe due to prior experience with the situation.
Not that it keeps me from trying.

Also, while I'm on the subject. Do you n/v boys
use some goggles to spot those doggies or the
conventional q beam? (Since I've blown all my
money on a rifle scope.)

i love this night hunting board!
 
I do have a Pair of PVS -7s I use to spot It helps not to have to rasie the NV scope all the time to scan around.On the IR laser Illum I don't have one but have talked to several people using them and they say they are worth every penny and then some.They must be nice but they are high in price. One guy said with his 3rd gen unit he could Illum out to 300-500 yards!!Also he says the laser Illum is more of a clear/uniform type of Illum compared to a standred IR illum. On the IR and varimts I have been out 3 times this week and I just don't beleive they can see it.I have spent thousands of hours veiwing all sorts of wildlife from a few feet to several hundred yards with NV with now sign of this. In fact most all my stuff is 3rd gen so I would not use IR if it was giving me away. I said and know a animal will look right at the base of the IR where the red glow is coming from more often if you move it around alot. They can no doubt see that and I could see more of a problem if you were calling the animal straight to you with a call and had the IR on.If you were moving around alot or at close range they would see it for sure. It would not be as spooky as a light but it might make them know something is up. The main thing is to hold the NV and IR still so the light from the base is not going to catch their eye just like normall hunting. The will see movement of any kind much faster than something still.
 
CAPTSTEVO, I had tried several different IR illuminators and then ran across one of those IR laser illuminators, I thought the $250 price on it was a bit high, but was able to get it on a trial basis so I figured what the heck. Lemme tell ya, one time out with it and I was more than happy to send the LED illuminator I had just bought back for credit, along with the diff to keep the laser illuminator! It is awesome what the little thing will do, it is about 2/3 the size of a mini-mag light, and with Gen 3 equipment, will light up the shadows and the critter's eyes out to 300+ yards, farther than I can shoot at night. Looking at it from a distance all that can be seen is a tiny pin prick of red. I don't think it can be seen at all by wildlife.Some of the LED type illuminators are nice, too, the Newcon 75 is one of the better ones. The visible signature they emit comes from the fact that they emit a small amount of light in the upper 700nM range, which is the upper edge of what the human eye can see.
The laser illumiantor has a little mounting shoe, that I have attached to the right front side of my Handi-rifle stock. The illuminator screws on in a few seconds with a 1/4 x 20 thumbscrew, and while looking through the USNV 441 Gen 3 scope, I can reach around with my index finger and turn the rotary switch on, and focus the beam, too. If you want one of these or an more info, email me at timberman@direcway.com and I can tell you where to get a hold of one.
 
What is it that makes a animals eys glow when an IR illuminator is projected on them. If the reflection is not light then what is it? inquiring minds want to know.
 
I asked a long time NV dealer about this IR ??. He said think of it as your TV remote. Notice the little IR red light up front light up when you change chanels . It is a IR diode just light a IR Ilumm in a NV device(Not red lens cover on flashlight).This IR TV remote will even boost your NV as it is illum just light a NV unit has built in.The light is invisable to any eye man or animal.The base of the red diode can be seen light up which is visable to man and beast He said animals will look at the red glow sometimes which means they can see it at the base of the diode but not the bean going through the air itself on the animal like a flash light at night cutting through the air visable to everyone and thing.This is the way I see it too so that confirms my thoughts about the IR beam itself being visable. Also he said even if the beam was visable to animals(it's not, but) it would be a real low super soft red beam like a red lens cover on a spotlight but much,much softer. Then how would a animal see that as most all color blind night time animals do not see into the red color spectrum very well at all which is why we use a red lens on a light to start with. On a another note is a plain flash light with IR cover. He said with some cheap IR covers they mostlikey do have a visable beam to some sort.A high dollar cover like a surefire that blocks out 99% of all visable light will work much better giving no or a tiny amount of visable light. Thats about the best I can figure within my 10 years of NV use and his 15+ years. If anyonwe else has a scientific though about it or say OWNTHENIGHT who is a NV dealer and had alot of NV experince it would be great!!
 
Hutt, it is reflected light that makes them glow, but it's infrared light, in wavelengths that the human (and critter's) eyes cannot see. You can only see it if you are using a night vision device of some type, especially Gen 3. Even a weak IR illuminator will light them up at ranges that would require a pretty strong spotlight/red filetr, if you were using a visible light. IR wavelengths in the low end of the IR spectrum, from 730-808 nanometers, will have a slight dull red visible glow, but past 830 nM, it is completely invisible to the naked eye.
 
Animals CANNOT see IR light! Period, it scientifically impossible. Kind of like Superman and X-Ray vision.

So light all the deer, bobcat, coyote, etc up and knock'em down!! Hurray for IR light!!

Good Luck!

IOTN
 
IOTN, I had an experience just the other night that confirms what you said, nope, they absolutely cannot see the IR light! Or at least one particular coyote couldn't...
 
Originally Posted By: IownthenightAnimals CANNOT see IR light! Period, it scientifically impossible. Kind of like Superman and X-Ray vision.

So light all the deer, bobcat, coyote, etc up and knock'em down!! Hurray for IR light!!

Good Luck!

IOTN


+1
thumbup1.gif
 
Originally Posted By: IownthenightAnimals CANNOT see IR light! Period, it scientifically impossible. Kind of like Superman and X-Ray vision.

So light all the deer, bobcat, coyote, etc up and knock'em down!! Hurray for IR light!!

Good Luck!

IOTN

This is absolutely true in my experience as well. I've hit a bunch of creatures with all sorts of IR from lasers to lights and they just don't seem to have a clue.
 
We've worked with many animal biologist over the years and have researched the subject quite a bit.

The only animal scientifically proven to see in the near IR is snakes. With that said, there have been some independent on-going studies with a suspicion of rabbits and some deer seeing in the IR arena. Those studies are still-ongoing though.

Vic
 
Pit viper snakes like rattlers do not actually "see" IR with the retinas in their eyes, the have another organ that translates IR heat waves, but it is NOT their eyes.

The Opsin proteins in mammalian eyes are highly evolutionarily conserved among all species and only allow visible wavelengths to be amplified in the rhodopsin electron cascade.

Some Avians, in particular birds of prey and ducks, can see UV at the other lower end of the spectrum.
 

What about trail cameras? They give off a faint red glow. I have had coyotes jump and become nervous when the camera turns on, and more than one coyote has looked hard at the cameras. Not sure if they are looking at the camera itself, or if they see the red glow. I have assumed all along they see the red. I know I can see the red, but maybe a coyote and human sees differently. Maybe I'm wrong, maybe there is something else that spooks them, maybe camera noise or something.
 
Trail cam IR is not true pure IR, it covers a much wider range including some visible, otherwise either you or them would NOT be able to see any red emanating out of the camera.

If you can see a faint red glow, that is not IR you are seeing, it is Visible Red....
 
Back
Top