Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game Hiking in and out in the dark

What color head lamp do you guys run? Red, green, or white? Thinking of investing in a good headlamp but wonder if the color of the light really matters or not?

Depends on what you are hunting, I guess. I use red for entry and exit, because whitetail deer can not see reds. Thier eyes do not have the rods and cones that respond to reds. Hunters used to wear red for safety, but hunters orange is much easier for us to see. Thier eyes are much like cattle, and gather in a lot more light than ours, but they see poor detail, so movement is what they see best. White and green would be no real advantage.

I prefer a green light and have had good luck with it.

This is a good question. As it starts to get dark, our pupils start to dilate "expand" to let more light in and enhances our ability to see. Granted not great, but anything you get is better than none at all.
Yellow and white light will cause your pupil to constrict. A normal person will take 22-25 minutes to get their natural night vision back. When you use red light or red filter lens to produce the red light. Your eyes will constrict, but much less than other light colors. Meaning, you should have your natural night vision in 8-12 minutes.
Basically when you are up before the morning dawn and stealthily enter your games territory, you don't want to be blind because your eyes constricted more than necessary and by the time you get your normal vision, it is too late and you have missed your games last important movement. I have seen many use regular yellow/white light and when they reach their destination they are so blind that they start to light up the area with their flashlight to see what's going on. Game will bust you and disappear. Many will say there is nothing out here, when someone else shoots a nice animal, they reply, he got lucky!
Other colors such as blue, help in seeing blood easier .
Always have at least two forms of light with you, such as a head lamp and pen light. Try to coordinate them to use the same type of batteries. Keep a couple of extra fresh set of batteries with you in an insulated compartment. Such as neopreme case. Cold will kill your batteries. Get in the habit of putting your equipment in the same place always. No fiddling in the dark to find reserves etc...
Best of luck to you.

I use white since I can see best with it and I don't want to trip over anything in the dark. Since you said "hiking" and not "walking a short distance to your deer stand" I avoid hiking in the dark where I think I might bump animals. If I'm hiking in the dark I'm covering ground to get from one place to another and the noise is most likely what will spook the animals, not the light. I use the red option (if my headlamp has it) for finding stuff in the dark in camp when I don't want to ruin my night vision.

I think I hike more in the dark than in the light....

I use a white light...

I'm here ^^^^^ I use the brightest light I can find. Really like the Black Diamond Icon. I don't go in 'at daylight'. I'm where I want to be significantly before daylight whether it be deer stand or elk hunting. I've tripped/fallen way too many times trying to be stealth. Over the years I've noticed animals move a short distance away when approached in the dark. I've walked to within 20 feet of deer in heavily hunted PA woods - in the dark. At daylight or close to it - gone. I've done the same thing with elk and bears - even ran into a mountain lion one night on the way out. I guarantee you'll want a bright light when a kitty is playing games. At the end of the day, I'm not walking off a cliff, falling into a creek, walking into barbed wire, or any other such hazard trying to be stealthy.

HIKING IN THE DARK: Get used to it. Tonight drive away from lights of your home town and take a short walk into the woods. Sit down and wait for your eyes to become accustomed to the darkness. You might be surprised by how well you can see in the dark. It's rarely pitch-black at night. Starlight, moonlight and light pollution from cities/towns all make it easier to see. I carry a flashlight and a head lamp but I try to avoid using them except in an emergency because every time you turn the light on, you ruin your night vision. I don’t buy into the red lens theory. I think elk can see a point of light that's brighter than everything else no matter what color it is. After leaving the truck, I don't start hiking immediately. I sit and wait for my eyes to become accustomed to the dim light. Then if I can, I walk without any supplementary light. When there's snow on the ground and a little moonlight, things are pretty bright. But if there's no snow and it's overcast, then the hiking can be very slow. I like to hike a route in the day time so that I can become familiar with it, then I know what I will encounter when I hike it in the dark. It's also easier to hike in the dark if you pick a route with some kind of reference like a fence line, trail, ridge line, sandy creek bed or old logging road. It’s also a good idea to use a small straight stick or a trekking pole, like a blind man’s cane, to feel the ground in front of you when you can’t see it. BTW that trekking pole can make a passable rifle rest that’s better than taking an off-hand shot. I like to sit and listen to the sounds of the night because my ears pickup so much life that I don't see in the day time.

KC

Do you paint your poles or sticks white?

White light for to and from stand

Remember also products like "bright eyes " reflective tacks. Very little light needed to follow a path so marked.

I use bread crumbs......

Hiking in before daylight and hiking out after dark are standard if you hunt an ideal spot at first and last light. My exception is that once in awhile I bivvy out a few steps from a good spot, maybe just over a ridge crest.

As to light, KC nailed it. Hike without any artificial light if possible. I grew up in desert and we would hike all night sometimes without any flashlight. However, in our rain forest timber with overcast, often I can't see well enough to walk without a light. Red light for heading in before daylight, for two reasons already stated: preserve my low light vision in dim morning light, and avoid spooking game.

A cougar kept me company one morning on a pre-dawn hike on the Olympic Peninsula and I tried calling it. It seemed to have no fear at all of my puny red light but it would retreat the instant I turned on a white light that was brighter. Whether they see it or not animals usually pay little attention to red light but they usually avoid white light.

When hiking with a headlamp, hold it low in your hand and you will stumble less than if you wear it on your head. The low angle shows bumps and roots by their shadow that you do not see if the source of the light is near your eyes.

Well, there is one more reason to use a bright white light that no one has mentioned. Hunting public land and not wanting to be mistaken for game, especially in low light situations at dawn and dusk. Your fluorescent orange won't help in low light. Lots of times there's enough light for me to find my way but not enough to make out anything other than shapes. Even when I don't need it I'll keep the light on in those situations.

This is just one reason I use a brite white light.

Walked up on this guy Saturday night between the stand and the truck.

All of you no light guys or low light guys can walk in the dark any way you wish

You and me on the same page.................

I've run into a enough weird things and situations in the dark trying to be stealth. Get in early, stay late, use lights to get in/out after dark. You can use all the red, green, purple, pink lights all you want but you still aren't covering your noise or scent. Animals might be multi-sensed. <G>

Yowza! that's no fun!

Beautiful snake. I like to keep my distance but think the coloring on copperheads is incredible.

I ride in to about a 1/4 mile of my hunting spot using a white light.Red when I am actually walking in close. Got to be careful I use the white light so I don' t get a stick in the eye.The mule learns to follow it and you don't go turning your head to the side off the trail. Damn mule will follow it.

Thanks for all the input guys! I'm thinking the white light will be the way to go!