NZGAC Hunter Education. Enabling better education and safer hunting practices.
NZ Hunter Education Course:
Module 9: BE SAFE BE SEEN
The safety issue here is the need to be clearly seen by other hunters so you do not become a target!
The key is to wear clothing that contrasts with your environment. Traditionally NZ hunters have worn plain or camouflage clothing that contrasts little with the environment around them. However, as hunter pressure has increased and with a number of hunting fatalities in recent years, hunters and the public are demanding safer hunting. Accordingly, there has been a move to blaze orange, generally used with a background of darker camouflage. More recently there has been a move towards blue. So what should the hunter choose and why?
When carrying out deer:
This can be potentially dangerous, so you need to make sure you use the safest method.
1. Pikau method.
Using this method you carry the deer neck up on your back (See below). Unfortunately, when you bend over, especially when you are tired and stop for a rest using your unloaded rifle to rest on, you see the outline of a deer’s body, correct colour and all. Numbers of people have been shot at while carrying out deer this way.
One person said a bullet went right through the shoulder of the deer he was carrying. Our advice is to not use this method, but if you do, make sure you have something orange or blue tied around the deer.
2. Carry belt method.
Not only is this method easier on your back and your legs (See right), you cannot be mistaken for a deer, nor can the deer be positioned in a way that is inviting a shot. We recommend this method.
1. Camouflage clothing.
Camouflage clothing means the hunter is less able to be seen by game and by other hunters.
Wearing camo may be ideal and even desirable when hunting game birds such as ducks or Canada geese, where you may be sitting stationary in a mai-mai or blind. The issue of correctly identifying your target is not as important here because it’s quite difficult to mistake a human being for a bird that’s flying, but game bird shooters have other challenges such as rapidly changing firing zones and the potential for ricochets off rocks or water. If a hunter were to wear some orange or blue on their head it would make them easier to be seen.
However, wearing camo may mean other hunters may not be able to clearly identify what they see, thus putting the hunter at risk. Camouflage clothing may be okay on private property, but given that most deer hunters are shot by someone they know or someone in their own party, wearing camouflage clothing may put you at risk.
If there is more than one person hunting in an area or on a property it is much safer if all hunters can be clearly seen, and, you have no guarantee that you are the only shooter in the area!
2. Blaze orange with camouflage pattern background.
Deer and other game animals don't see hunter orange.
Deer do not have red-sensitive cone cells in their eyes, and can't tell red or orange from green and brown.
Deer have different sensitivity to various wavelengths of light than humans. Deer see short wavelength colours such as blue (and even ultra-violet, which humans cannot even see) brighter than humans do, but deer are less sensitive to longer wavelengths such as orange and red, so these colours look darker to deer.
One concern with the use of orange is the prevalence of colour blindness, or dichromatic vision, which in the human male population is estimated at around 8%. There are a substantial number of hunters who are unable to distinguish red and green from the natural background environment, or see red and green differently from people with normal tri-chromatic vision.
Many of these colour blind hunters are also unable to recognise colours such as blaze or hunters orange and would perceive them as shades of yellow or tan against the natural background. As well, some of the orange used on vests and hats may fade over time and in certain light conditions may look very similar in colour to parts of a deer.
However, studies have shown that a solid orange, which simulates a stationary hunter, is significantly more detectable and visible than a camouflage pattern. If deer and other game animals do indeed have a limited range of colour vision, bright orange would not likely stand out to these animals as it does to humans.
3. Blue
Very few men (< 1%) are unable to see the colour blue. Therefore, blue would be a logical choice to increase the visibility of the hunter’s profile.
However, studies have indicated that deer see blue colours best and red colours the worst. Deer can also see greens, yellows and UV light, but they can’t differentiate colour shades to the extent that humans can. So blue is great for being seen, but you may also alert deer to your presence.
What about hunting in open country or bush?
All the above comments apply. We have found it invaluable to use blaze orange in the bush and especially a blaze orange hat as is enables hunters to spot each other easily. In our opinion, if a hunter was wearing a solid blaze top or vest and a solid blaze orange hat it would be very difficult for someone else to mistake him for a deer. The same applies when hunting on the tops. Blue would also be good, but the downside is that deer may spot you.
4. Other issues:
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Camo clothing.
Because hunters now know high viz clothing is worn by more and more people, they may be subconsciously tempted to think that any shape or movement not highlighted by blue or orange is definitely a deer. Extra caution is always needed because a number of hunters still wear camo, and because the responsibility always lies with the hunter considering taking a shot.
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Faded orange hats.
As you can see from the photo, faded orange hats look less like orange the more faded they become, and in certain light conditions may give the impression of being a part of a deer. While all hunters have a responsibility to correctly identify their target, hunters also have a responsibility to make certain they do not become a target!
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Black bands around hats.
These seem to be added to hats more for marketing and looks, rather than for safety. In fact they may make a high visibility hat less effective than otherwise (See photo taken at approx 40 metres). If a hat is tilted slightly then the colour of the hat may be slightly obscured. In field tests we have done, the consensus was that black bands around a hat are not helpful – a hat with the total colour of blue or orange is far more likely to be seen from all angles.
5. Our recommendation:
While we have not extensively tested blue, we feel that a blue beanie with a solid orange band as illustrated in the photo is the best compromise and would give a hunter the best of both worlds – high visibility, and yet not be seen by deer.
Also, given that a number of hunters have been shot in the head in recent years from close range, the wearing of a blue hat with a solid orange band as a compliment to an orange vest or top, may be a wise safety measure. (as shown here)
Alternatively you could wear a completely orange hat with no black band.
Please note that we STRONGLY recommend that you also wear other contrasting colours on your body such as a blue or solid blaze orange vest or top.
A short story, then take the next quiz.
“You are a part of a three person hunting party on a private block where you have little chance of seeing other hunters because of its location and have agreed on areas you will hunt. You are wearing blaze orange clothing so you can be seen, but your mate wears camouflage because he feels it is safer not to be seen.This day you are hunting in your designated area, which is well defined by ridges. The country is mainly manuka covered, with other types of scrub, trees and some semi open areas.
It’s later in the day and you haven’t seen any deer. In fact you haven’t had much luck on this trip and your mates are giving you a bit of a hard time about it. You are down the bottom of a gully and suddenly you notice a movement above you in a gap in the manuka about 70 metres away. You get all excited and are certain it must be a deer because you are so far away from your mates hunting areas. Then it moves a little again and so you decide to have a look through your rifle scope (You have left your binos at home). The more you look the more it seems like a deer. The shape looks like a deer and the colour seems right too.”
Based on a true story where the hunter made the wrong choice and shot his mate – if his mate had been wearing coloured safety clothing, he’d be alive.
Check out the following hunter clothing scenarios...click the arrows to start slideshow.
