VaPredHunter
New member
Some one told me coyotes would come in easier with a blue light what do you all think? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif
Blue Light For Coyotes
- Thread starter VaPredHunter
- Start date
coyotesmoke
New member
I have heard of some guys using it and the yellow in fog but I have never used anything but red. Although I would like to know if the yellow or blue help in fog. Last year in one of our contests the fog rolled in so thick that you could not see 50yds with the red lens. I guess the bobcat that came into about 30yds didnt know that.
Marlin 25-36
New member
Go read the thread on predator eyes in the biology section. I would not use blue after reading that.
VaPredHunter
New member
Ok I just wondered I use red but the owner of the one of the local shops said hes been dealing with Burnham Brothers for 20 years and they recommend a blue lense for coyotes I looked it up on their website it did not recommend blue but they only sell amber and blue /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused1.gif.I don't plan on using blue but. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused1.gif I thought red, amber, I even thought green. because I have seen the page on predator eyes.
Quote:
Ok I just wondered I use red but the owner of the one of the local shops said hes been dealing with Burnham Brothers for 20 years and they recommend a blue lense for coyotes I looked it up on their website it did not recommend blue but they only sell amber and blue /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused1.gif.
Don't they also have Jack Brittingham in there videos?? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smiliesmack.gif
HMMMMMM!!
Stick with the red.
Ok I just wondered I use red but the owner of the one of the local shops said hes been dealing with Burnham Brothers for 20 years and they recommend a blue lense for coyotes I looked it up on their website it did not recommend blue but they only sell amber and blue /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused1.gif.
Don't they also have Jack Brittingham in there videos?? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smiliesmack.gif
HMMMMMM!!
Stick with the red.
Todd Woodall
New member
Its the intesity of the light that matters, not the color. Blue will work just as well as the others. Do you really think a coyote who is blinded by a light really cares what color it is? Wearing blue jeans and using a blue light have little to do with each other in my book. One you are blinding him with the other he just is looking for something different. We have hunted using Red, Amber, Blue, Pink, and White and they all worked. If you want to use it, use it and find out the hard facts.
I know someone who uses a marine light on those foggy nights and does well. I dont know if blue will have the same affect as the marine, but it might. A marine light is not completely blue, but does have quite a bit around the edges and center. I dont recall ever using one on a foggy night, one thing for sure red is poor in fog.
Everyone is quick to jump on the bandwagon and say red is #1, the only thing that will work is red, red, blah, blah, blah. If years ago someone painted their light blue and preached blue to everyone that is all you would hear. Get off the bandwagon and in the field and try it for yourself, its a cheap experiment. A guy I know felt the same way about white last year. I told him to go out one night, use white, and just expect not to call anything. He called me the next week and told me he felt naked not using red, but he killed 4 coyotes and a bobcat before midnight. He said none of the animals acted any different and nothing spooked. Hmmmmmmm Just because you have had really good luck with red doesnt mean nothing else will work. If you havent tried other colors then you really dont have all the facts and shouldnt make comments on them.
Coyotes arent blind to any color, they see them differently than we do, but they are not blind to them. I think of it as black and white and shades of grey. They see them, but it is a shade of grey. I dont think that grey #2 will work any better than grey #8,4,6, or 20. If that shade of grey is burning their hair they probably wont like it. Again intesity is the key not color.
If you want to use blue go right ahead. I will bet you wont be able to tell a difference when watching the animals. Take it from a guy who has used them all. Have fun and tell us how you do.
Todd
I know someone who uses a marine light on those foggy nights and does well. I dont know if blue will have the same affect as the marine, but it might. A marine light is not completely blue, but does have quite a bit around the edges and center. I dont recall ever using one on a foggy night, one thing for sure red is poor in fog.
Everyone is quick to jump on the bandwagon and say red is #1, the only thing that will work is red, red, blah, blah, blah. If years ago someone painted their light blue and preached blue to everyone that is all you would hear. Get off the bandwagon and in the field and try it for yourself, its a cheap experiment. A guy I know felt the same way about white last year. I told him to go out one night, use white, and just expect not to call anything. He called me the next week and told me he felt naked not using red, but he killed 4 coyotes and a bobcat before midnight. He said none of the animals acted any different and nothing spooked. Hmmmmmmm Just because you have had really good luck with red doesnt mean nothing else will work. If you havent tried other colors then you really dont have all the facts and shouldnt make comments on them.
Coyotes arent blind to any color, they see them differently than we do, but they are not blind to them. I think of it as black and white and shades of grey. They see them, but it is a shade of grey. I dont think that grey #2 will work any better than grey #8,4,6, or 20. If that shade of grey is burning their hair they probably wont like it. Again intesity is the key not color.
If you want to use blue go right ahead. I will bet you wont be able to tell a difference when watching the animals. Take it from a guy who has used them all. Have fun and tell us how you do.
Todd
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Randy Watson
New member
I still think it has to do with the comfort zone. If a coyote feels he is masked by the darkness, he will move around, and come in to your call. I have shined lights for over 40 years, I've seen them bug out with all colors,BUT I feel like they are more "at ease" with a red lens. I've seen them look around at their surroundings, and using a white light, they can see the surrounding area very well, and feel unprotected by the darkness, which had been taken away by the light. If you keep the light high, like you are supposed to, the color will not matter as much, but after many many years of experience, I'll just use a red lens. Besides, why would a white light be better anyway,I can see and kill just fine with a red light, so why chance it??
R Buker
New member
While all colors may work including white light, there's scientific evidence that red is not easily visible to canines (and most animals).
Based on that, I'll stick with red.
Saying that they'll come all colors is like saying you don't need to wear camo while hunting. It's true that you don't need to and you'll still kill predators even if wearing a bright green t-shirt and blue jeans. But, will you kill more while wearing full camo? I think so.
If red light gives you a slight edge, why not stick with it?
Based on that, I'll stick with red.
Saying that they'll come all colors is like saying you don't need to wear camo while hunting. It's true that you don't need to and you'll still kill predators even if wearing a bright green t-shirt and blue jeans. But, will you kill more while wearing full camo? I think so.
If red light gives you a slight edge, why not stick with it?
Todd Woodall
New member
Randy,
I can see what you are saying with lighting up the surroundings. It makes sense to me. The way I think about it is with the same intensity different colors will look virtually the same. If you were to take your red filter off and use white, the white light would be much more intense. However if you dim the same light down you can bring the intensity level down to reds level, same with virtually any color.
I think the thing that gets people is they imagine some 2 mil CP white light that looks like a landing light in the distance. This is not what we use. We used to use lower powered lights to do this. More recently we use a dimmer so we can bring it way down on those close stands and up on the far ones. I know you have experience with them so you know what I mean. If you turn the light way down you dont "light up the world" so to speak, but you can see better and not spook em. The dimmer from Lightforce works very well.
Randy,
Even if they cant see red its not like it is invisible to them. It will become a different shade of intensity. Long ago that was everyones answer "coyotes cant see red, so use a red light so they cant see it". Now everyone knows that way of thinking was not all together true. If it was, then they could see past the light and see you. It has long been known animals are color blind at best and see in black and white for the most part. Experience and first hand knowledge means more to me than what some book worm saw in a microscope. It all seems very simple to me, of course we have done extensive testing with different colors to prove our work. We call our experiments Vol. 1,2, and 3. Our findings are published for all to see.
Your final paragragh makes no sense to me. We are talking apples and oranges. I believe I talked about that in one of my above posts. They are not linked to each other at all in my book. Just for the record, Wear camo and watch your movement. Jeez, now not using red at night makes me a non-beleiver in camo, come on!
Guys I am not trying to replace red as the "predator hunting color". What I am try to do is explain that other colors can be used. I am not selling lights, filters, or any other product that would make my position on this a moneymaker. I am just sharing our findings with others that may have questions about night hunting.
Take care,
Todd
I can see what you are saying with lighting up the surroundings. It makes sense to me. The way I think about it is with the same intensity different colors will look virtually the same. If you were to take your red filter off and use white, the white light would be much more intense. However if you dim the same light down you can bring the intensity level down to reds level, same with virtually any color.
I think the thing that gets people is they imagine some 2 mil CP white light that looks like a landing light in the distance. This is not what we use. We used to use lower powered lights to do this. More recently we use a dimmer so we can bring it way down on those close stands and up on the far ones. I know you have experience with them so you know what I mean. If you turn the light way down you dont "light up the world" so to speak, but you can see better and not spook em. The dimmer from Lightforce works very well.
Randy,
Even if they cant see red its not like it is invisible to them. It will become a different shade of intensity. Long ago that was everyones answer "coyotes cant see red, so use a red light so they cant see it". Now everyone knows that way of thinking was not all together true. If it was, then they could see past the light and see you. It has long been known animals are color blind at best and see in black and white for the most part. Experience and first hand knowledge means more to me than what some book worm saw in a microscope. It all seems very simple to me, of course we have done extensive testing with different colors to prove our work. We call our experiments Vol. 1,2, and 3. Our findings are published for all to see.
Your final paragragh makes no sense to me. We are talking apples and oranges. I believe I talked about that in one of my above posts. They are not linked to each other at all in my book. Just for the record, Wear camo and watch your movement. Jeez, now not using red at night makes me a non-beleiver in camo, come on!
Guys I am not trying to replace red as the "predator hunting color". What I am try to do is explain that other colors can be used. I am not selling lights, filters, or any other product that would make my position on this a moneymaker. I am just sharing our findings with others that may have questions about night hunting.
Take care,
Todd
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R Buker
New member
Quote:
Your final paragragh makes no sense to me. We are talking apples and oranges. I believe I talked about that in one of my above posts. They are not linked to each other at all in my book. Just for the record, Wear camo and watch your movement. Jeez, now not using red at night makes me a non-beleiver in camo, come on!
Todd,
I think maybe I wasn't clear enough. Sorry about that. I'll try to explain myself:
What I'm saying is that due to the fact that they don't see red as well as they see blues or greens, it makes sense to me that if using a red light helps even a little bit then it makes sense to use it.
The camo comment was in relationship to the "idea" that if it helps even a little bit then why not use it? That's my point with the camo and the light. I was by no means suggesting that you didn't believe in camo or were advocating that. Sorry for the misunderstanding.
Your final paragragh makes no sense to me. We are talking apples and oranges. I believe I talked about that in one of my above posts. They are not linked to each other at all in my book. Just for the record, Wear camo and watch your movement. Jeez, now not using red at night makes me a non-beleiver in camo, come on!
Todd,
I think maybe I wasn't clear enough. Sorry about that. I'll try to explain myself:
What I'm saying is that due to the fact that they don't see red as well as they see blues or greens, it makes sense to me that if using a red light helps even a little bit then it makes sense to use it.
The camo comment was in relationship to the "idea" that if it helps even a little bit then why not use it? That's my point with the camo and the light. I was by no means suggesting that you didn't believe in camo or were advocating that. Sorry for the misunderstanding.
rowney
New member
Even though you guys know a helluva lot more on this that me, i will say one thing that most people who are just getting started need to know above any light color or whatever else. These were mentioned, but I think they should be highlighted
#1. Keep the light up and out of their eyes so that the center of the beam doesnt shine on them directly.
#2. Dont use a 2 mill CP light! keep one just in case, but while calling you dont need anything more than 500K CP, and even that is a little much. The "comfort zone" Randy said is very important, and like Todd said, red or blue wont matter if its kept dim.
Its my opinion that for a new hunter, they should worry about these two things before what color light they use.
P.S. I am not saying any of the above posts are made by beginners! Just want to help those reading this who might be!
#1. Keep the light up and out of their eyes so that the center of the beam doesnt shine on them directly.
#2. Dont use a 2 mill CP light! keep one just in case, but while calling you dont need anything more than 500K CP, and even that is a little much. The "comfort zone" Randy said is very important, and like Todd said, red or blue wont matter if its kept dim.
Its my opinion that for a new hunter, they should worry about these two things before what color light they use.
P.S. I am not saying any of the above posts are made by beginners! Just want to help those reading this who might be!
If we would have used any kind of colored filter on the light in this photo, we wouldn't have been able to see much past 50 yards. I've killed a number of animals with that and one other hand-held 6 volt light. They were low intensity white lights. I think that's what Todd is saying works just as well. When I traded up and got a "real" spotlight it was a $6.99 special from Pep Boys. I added an oil can as a hood. We used those lights without a filter and they worked great. Then I got a landing light. That thing would light up a hillside like daylight. That's when I saw the advantage of a colored lens. I think it helped as it cut the intensity of the light somewhat. We tried many colors, but red seemed to work the best on that big high powered light.
Todd Woodall
New member
Good input guys,
Randy, I understood you post, but the two subjects still fall into different catagories with me. Its like night and day /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif.
WeaselUT, You seem to have grasped what I was saying very well. I guess I dont write as well as I think sometimes, it seems really simple to me. I agree that the reason filters were ever used in the first place was to cut down on intensity. I dont know who the first person to use red was, but it works well. There have been many myths about the red lights since thats what everyone used back then and now. One of the worst in my book is "coyotes cant see red, so they wont be able to see the light, but I can see him" I would be ya the first person to use one had no scientific experiment in mind. It was probably more like "hey this doenst make the light so harsh, so lets use it". We are all creatures of habit and sometimes something different is not accepted very well, even though it will work just as good or better.
Rowney,
I am glad you brought the "halo" subject up. That in itself is dropping the intesity of the light that the animals sees. The center of the beam is the most intense and the outer "halo" is the least. What if you used a light that had a center beam about the same intesity of the halo of your light. No more holding over, just hold on em. If you watch our videos count how many times you see us hold the animal in the halo, I'll give you a hint its 0. We "burn" or hold dead on any animal we have coming to the call. We started doing this in order to get better video footage. Over the years we have noticed no difference in how animals react to the "halo" and the "burn". Again its an intesity issue. With the dimmer you can control what intensity level will work best for the particular animal responding. On hard chargers we crank it up pretty high, on slow methodic responses we dim it down quite a bit. I wont hesitate to use any color you can think of. Intensity is the key.
Take care,
Todd
Randy, I understood you post, but the two subjects still fall into different catagories with me. Its like night and day /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif.
WeaselUT, You seem to have grasped what I was saying very well. I guess I dont write as well as I think sometimes, it seems really simple to me. I agree that the reason filters were ever used in the first place was to cut down on intensity. I dont know who the first person to use red was, but it works well. There have been many myths about the red lights since thats what everyone used back then and now. One of the worst in my book is "coyotes cant see red, so they wont be able to see the light, but I can see him" I would be ya the first person to use one had no scientific experiment in mind. It was probably more like "hey this doenst make the light so harsh, so lets use it". We are all creatures of habit and sometimes something different is not accepted very well, even though it will work just as good or better.
Rowney,
I am glad you brought the "halo" subject up. That in itself is dropping the intesity of the light that the animals sees. The center of the beam is the most intense and the outer "halo" is the least. What if you used a light that had a center beam about the same intesity of the halo of your light. No more holding over, just hold on em. If you watch our videos count how many times you see us hold the animal in the halo, I'll give you a hint its 0. We "burn" or hold dead on any animal we have coming to the call. We started doing this in order to get better video footage. Over the years we have noticed no difference in how animals react to the "halo" and the "burn". Again its an intesity issue. With the dimmer you can control what intensity level will work best for the particular animal responding. On hard chargers we crank it up pretty high, on slow methodic responses we dim it down quite a bit. I wont hesitate to use any color you can think of. Intensity is the key.
Take care,
Todd
rowney
New member
exactly Todd, my 2 points go hand and hand with each other. If you have a light thats too bright, you have to hold it over, and you would need something like that for filming. But, if you use a lower CP or dimmer light, you dont have to worry about that. A dim light is better than a certain color. BTW, i need to get one of your videos! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smiliesmack.gif
Once or twice before we have taken black tape and actually blacked out the "corona" (think of the sun) and only used the halo to see with. Much the same effect as a solar eclipse. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif
Once or twice before we have taken black tape and actually blacked out the "corona" (think of the sun) and only used the halo to see with. Much the same effect as a solar eclipse. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif
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Does anyone beleive that some of this issue may be how much coyotes are exposed to spot lights, car lights etc? I sometimes call in some area that are hevily hunted for just about every thing. I started out calling with white light years ago but always had to shoot at running coyotes. On the other hand I have used red plastic over a lens and to diffrent "Night Blasters" and have not had any problems with coyotes running off. Not that I am not willing to try other colors either, this green lens talk has got me intrested.
Hi Charon,
Last year I had a Hunter from Texas who said he had tried the red lens out where it was Hunted all the time, and the Coyotes would not respond to the Red lens. They would come up to about 200 yards but in the dense brush it was hard to get off a shot and Identify what it was......got no responce at all with the white light,He wanted to try a green one that was Recomended by Lightforce (Austrlaia)....
The following week he recived his Green Cover, he went out and called in several Coyotes using the green lens were the Red would not.......he said within 75 yards....
Mabye a change of color within the Eye spectrum lessons the Jetters of the Coyote.......under constant hunting of 1 color /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused1.gif
Good Hunting.............RickH2
Last year I had a Hunter from Texas who said he had tried the red lens out where it was Hunted all the time, and the Coyotes would not respond to the Red lens. They would come up to about 200 yards but in the dense brush it was hard to get off a shot and Identify what it was......got no responce at all with the white light,He wanted to try a green one that was Recomended by Lightforce (Austrlaia)....
The following week he recived his Green Cover, he went out and called in several Coyotes using the green lens were the Red would not.......he said within 75 yards....
Mabye a change of color within the Eye spectrum lessons the Jetters of the Coyote.......under constant hunting of 1 color /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused1.gif
Good Hunting.............RickH2