If you are new to hunting, there is a lot of information that you need to learn and plan and prepare yourself accordingly before heading out into the woods. If you want to be successful in your expedition, you not only need to understand your prey, including its habits and traits, but you must also learn about all the requisite measures to ensure you capture your prey successfully.
In this regard, your choice of clothing for hunting plays an important role, and you may have been advised to wear orange-colored or camouflage clothing for this purpose. If you are wondering why hunters wear camo and orange clothing, read this article to find the answers you are looking for.
Why Do Hunters Wear Camo and Orange?
Clothing for hunting may not always need to be orange or camouflaged. What you choose to wear depends on various factors, like where you will be hunting and how close you will need to be to the animal to get an ethical shot.
However, the idea behind camouflage clothing is that when used correctly, it can help you blend in better with the environment by breaking up your outline and helping you to look like a part of the surroundings. As for the orange colors, it is mainly intended for the hunter’s safety. It is also a legal requirement in certain states. Moreover, some game animals cannot see orange color. Let’s understand this in more detail.
Why do hunters wear camouflage?
Many hunters choose to wear camouflage clothing under their orange hunting blazers or jackets. As mentioned earlier, although orange is a bright color, it is not distinguishable for animals, but since it’s a solid color, the hunter may be identified upon movement. While the color does not stand out for the animals, the hunter’s movement makes them detectable. Camouflage clothing can help break the body’s silhouette and shape and reduce the risk of detection of movements when you are out hunting in the woods.
Hence camouflage clothing with patterns of colors similar to the surroundings will help you blend in the natural environment of the woods and make you less detectable, making it easy for you to hunt the prey.
However, it is important that you wear the right camouflage clothing. Therefore, when choosing camo for hunting, you must ensure that the colors match the terrain where you will be hunting. You can also opt for seasonal additions to further replicate your surroundings, like light snow coloring, autumn tones, etc. It is better to opt for earth-tone or conventional neutral-colored camouflage clothing and avoid wearing colors that are not suitable for hunting or do not match the surroundings, like blue patterns.
Why do hunters wear orange?
One may wonder why wearing a bright color like orange is recommended when hunting, as it will only make the hunter more conspicuous. However, the purpose of orange clothing or gear is to make the hunter visible to other hunters and prevent shooting incidents. If the hunter is not visible or the other hunters mistake them for animals, they may shoot the hunter.
The fluorescent orange that hunters usually wear does not occur on animals, and rather, it stands out in the wild so other hunters will surely not mistake the wearer for a game animal. As for the animals, they do not perceive colors like humans, and the hues do not stand out for them in the manner they do for humans.
Game animals usually rely on their sense of hearing and smell rather than their sight to detect danger. Moreover, like humans, many game animals see in a full-color spectrum and have more dark and light perceptions. Hence they will see the fluorescent orange hunter gear as a light yellowish-grey color and not register the hunter as a danger. Moreover, animals like pigs or deer have blurry visions, making it difficult for them to detect the hunter. Deer, for instance, have a dichromatic vision and see more of blue and hardly any red. They are unable to distinguish the orange color, making it easy for the hunters.
However, you must be careful not to move too much as your presence will be detected in that case. Since orange is a solid color, it does not break your outline or body shape, making it easy for the animal to recognize your movement rather than the color you are wearing. Similarly, when it comes to hunting birds, wearing orange may not be the best idea. For instance, waterfowls can easily recognize the orange and instantly locate your position.
You can infer an animal’s color perception from its appearance. If the animal is colorful, its color plays an important role in mating rituals so it can perceive color, as males display their color to attract the females.
Hunters’ safety is an important concern, and it is why in some regions, wearing orange is a legal requirement, particularly when hunting animals like deer, squirrels, or pigs.