Can Deer See Green Light? What About Red? Let’s Find Out

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Can deer see green light? What about red light? These are important questions to ask yourself when choosing light for deer hunting. Choosing the spotlight with the wrong color and you’ll spook the deer.

Deer’s wide set of eyes, wider pupils, and a tapetum sense even the smallest movements. But because they have a lower concentration of cone cells over a wider horizontal area, they don’t see details well.

If you ever notice that they stare at you for several minutes, that’s because they can’t tell you apart from the rest of the environment.

Before you learn if deer see a green or red light, you should definitely check tip below, to make sure you don’t jeopardize your position.

So, Can Deer See Green Light Or Not?

Can deer see green light? The short answer is no. Deer have more rods in their eyes and can see the light of a short wavelength to moderate wavelength.

Throughout substantial research, it has been found that deer are suffering from protanopia. Protanopia is a form of color-blindness which makes the deer dichromatic, meaning they are blind to the color green (among others).

This reason makes them sensitive to short to moderate wavelengths of light in the visible spectrum.

So, can deer see green light? The answer is a hard negative. Deer are practically blind to green light.

Can Deer See Red Light?

It was just discussed above that deer are dichromatic. So apart from being blind to the color green, there is a second color that deer are blind to as well. The fact that deer have protanopia makes them unable to see the red light as well.

The reason for deer to suffer from protanopia is because of the fact that they have only green and blue cones and as a result makes them red-green colorblind.

Basically, both green and red hunting light is a good choice for deer hunting.

How To Choose Best Flashlight For Deer Hunting?

Now that we know what light color flashlights to get, it is time to move on to the next step of finding that perfect flashlight.

Keep in mind that the flashlight that you will be using for hunting will be exposed outdoors for long durations. This means that the light output is not the only thing that you should be looking for.

An exceptional hunting flashlight would have these following characteristics:

• DURABILITY:
  Fragile flashlights are a big no-no. Make sure that the hunting flashlights are sturdy and are made of durable materials. Also, they should be able to withstand drops in rough terrain. It would also be preferable if a hunting flashlight is waterproof too.
• EASE OF USE:
  Remember that the flashlight that you are purchasing will be used at night. Most of them have a lot of buttons and switches and sometimes its difficult to operate them in the absence of light. Unless you want to waste time fiddling the flashlight, do get one which is easy to use and operate.
• INTENSITY:
  This is, of course, one of the most important characteristics of a hunting flashlight. A good hunting flashlight will provide an intensity that offers clear visibility and focus.
• POWER:
  Some people go hunting for days and some for a shorter period of time. But all in all, the lack of power in a flashlight can be the source of an unsuccessful hunt. Make sure that the flashlights have long battery life.

Let Me Summarize

A lot of good hunting flashlights are available, and they have all been designed according to the type of game. Now that we are clear on how which colors deer can and can’t see, you shouldn’t have any problems choosing the right one.

In case you still have any questions or need help with packing light, you can contact me or write a question below.