Camo or gentleman stalker ?

[John Gryphon]

I love northern WA and into the northern territories.

But there are no deer there lol.
Actually there are remnant Sambar deer on the Cobourg Peninsular NT, poor trophy value due one suspects to be inbreeding with no new blood since release. There are Rusa up there also.
None in the top of WA though and very few in the bottom either.

 

[Pete6.5]

But there are no deer there lol.
Actually there are remnant Sambar deer on the Cobourg Peninsular NT, poor trophy value due one suspects to be inbreeding with no new blood since release. There are Rusa up there also.
None in the top of WA though and very few in the bottom either.

I remember a few fallow south of Perth but I can't exactly remember where. Did see camels and buffalo up north.

 

[Pete6.5]

I must stop talking about Australia. I've got in trouble before for changing the subject and I promised not to do it again

 

[KimE]

Some good tips on snow camo depending on the snow coverage here - The basics of snow camouflage

The first Swedish desert camo were the m39 snow suit used in UN mission in the sinai desert. Way better than forest green uniforms.

 

[KimE]

You can - but anything that contrasts strongly with the background shows up movement much more clearly

Deer doesn`t see color in the same way we do, for some people its a fashion garment.

https://media.viskanassets.com/v2/engelsonsprod/large/1617_2010_M_004.jpg

 

[Mungo]

Deer doesn`t see color in the same way we do, for some people its a fashion garment.

https://media.viskanassets.com/v2/engelsonsprod/large/1617_2010_M_004.jpg

Given that I give lectures on sensory ecology, I feel I have a reasonably good understanding of deer vision.

From our perspective, they’re effectively red/green colour blind. This means they can’t easily distinguish between things like pink and olive green.

Contrast is a different thing. Contrast is largely independent of colour. It’s why black and white photographs are still actually quite easy to view and make sense of. In very simple terms, different colours and different textures reflect different amounts of light.

So it really doesn’t matter what colour you wear if it contrasts strongly with the background. Something pale (like bare hands or a coyote tee shirt) will show up against a dark background (like wet moorland or spruce plantation). Or something dark (like a wet green cotton jacket or temperate camouflage) will stand out against a pale background (like autumn grass or semi desert).

 

[Utectok]

Given that I give lectures on sensory ecology, I feel I have a reasonably good understanding of deer vision.

From our perspective, they’re effectively red/green colour blind. This means they can’t easily distinguish between things like pink and olive green.

Contrast is a different thing. Contrast is largely independent of colour. It’s why black and white photographs are still actually quite easy to view and make sense of. In very simple terms, different colours and different textures reflect different amounts of light.

So it really doesn’t matter what colour you wear if it contrasts strongly with the background. Something pale (like bare hands or a coyote tee shirt) will show up against a dark background (like wet moorland or spruce plantation). Or something dark (like a wet green cotton jacket or temperate camouflage) will stand out against a pale background (like autumn grass or semi desert).

Very interesting.. as ever for the less enlightened what’s sensory ecology ?

 

[Mungo]

Very interesting.. as ever for the less enlightened what’s sensory ecology ?

Sensory ecology is the study of how different organisms use their senses to obtain information from their environment, and how and why that varies across different environments.

In simple terms, it asks questions like ‘what’s the best way to find food if you’re nocturnal’ or ‘why do some primates have colour vision while most mammals don’t’ or ‘why do humans have such rubbish sense of smell’ or ‘why do some taxa have things like IR reception (many snakes), UV vision (many insects), electroreception (many fish), magnetic sensors (some birds) but many others don’t’?

Closer to home, it asks things like ‘how do salmon find their way back to their spawning streams’ or ‘how do calves and hinds identify each other in herds’.

 

[Utectok]

Sensory ecology is the study of how different organisms use their senses to obtain information from their environment, and how and why that varies across different environments.

In simple terms, it asks questions like ‘what’s the best way to find food if you’re nocturnal’ or ‘why do some primates have colour vision while most mammals don’t’ or ‘why do humans have such rubbish sense of smell’ or ‘why do some taxa have things like IR reception (many snakes), UV vision (many insects), electroreception (many fish), magnetic sensors (some birds) but many others don’t’?

Closer to home, it asks things like ‘how do salmon find their way back to their spawning streams’ or ‘how do calves and hinds identify each other in herds’.

That’s fascinating

 

[Mungo]

That’s fascinating

It is!

Fearsomely complex though. Rather a lot of physics…

I shared a corridor for a while with a guy who developed a whole camera and software package to enable us to both work out what exactly birds were seeing, and then accurately set up different visual scenes to test how well different camo patterns worked on moths.

He literally wrote the book on animal camouflage (chap called Martin Stevens - well worth looking up). So I’ve had a lot of exposure to the very cutting edge on what we know about how camo works and what different animals actually see.

This is Martin’s book - well worth reading.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Life-Colour-How-Animals-World-ebook/dp/B08W8KKCY4?ref_=ast_author_mpb

 

[Utectok]

It is!

Fearsomely complex though. Rather a lot of physics…

I shared a corridor for a while with a guy who developed a whole camera and software package to enable us to both work out what exactly birds were seeing, and then accurately set up different visual scenes to test how well different camo patterns worked on moths.

He literally wrote the book on animal camouflage (chap called Martin Stevens - well worth looking up). So I’ve had a lot of exposure to the very cutting edge on what we know about how camo works and what different animals actually see.

This is Martin’s book - well worth reading.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Life-Colour-How-Animals-World-ebook/dp/B08W8KKCY4?ref_=ast_author_mpb

I image lots of evolutionary biology to? Or is it all maths these days? Anyway thanks for sharing really appreciate that.

 

[Mungo]

I image lots of evolutionary biology to? Or is it all maths these days? Anyway thanks for sharing really appreciate that.

The evolutionary biology goes without saying

 

[Basil H]

Thanks for the link Mungo. One to order,

 

[Eddie P]

Green trousers, camo long sleeved T-Shirt because it was cheap and the long sleeves keep midges off and covers my arms. If that's not enough, a green jumper.

 

[Ronin]

Usually wear crocodile (light tan) arcteryx jacket and some kind of light od darn quick drying trouser (craghopper nosi life) type things

Can’t say I’ve noticed any observational changes to clothing from the deer

They do associate vehicles very very quickly

 

[Mungo]

They do associate vehicles very very quickly

In areas with a lot of forestry activity, I’ve noticed that they’re not so bothered by vehicles, especially if the vehicles use the same roads at roughly the same times as the forestry people.

 

[Spear Chucker]

In areas with a lot of forestry activity, I’ve noticed that they’re not so bothered by vehicles, especially if the vehicles use the same roads at roughly the same times as the forestry people.

I think they are a good deal cannier than many think and will make a judgement based on a broad range of factors including the way people move and where they are moving. What people wear is (within reason) probably mostly down to contrast. In moorland I have seen people in yellow cagoules marching through a mob of deer barely raising an eye. The moment they stop, or step off the footpath, the demeanor of the deer changes immediately from overtly relaxed to definitely "on point". They seem to react badly to the sound of quads and ATVs in the areas I stalk. The gait of a hunter, slow, deliberate and stop-start gets them on their mettle. I have a friend who reckons that if he does into a wood dressed in blue jeans and a tshirt as if he were walking, he will see deer and get far closer to them than if he were cammed up and creeping about.
I know the sound of my car engine is recognised, as is the sound of my car door closing. If I forgetfully close the car door noisily, I have to alter my plans for the stalk.
I think if you stalk as if you were pursuing humans that have the senses, reactions and speed of deer and cats, you'll probably do ok!

 

[Moose67]

A long time ago ...

- Shape
- Shine (texture)
- Shadow
- Spacing
- Silhouette
- Sound
- Movement

 

[Mungo]

A long time ago ...

- Shape
- Shine (texture)
- Shadow
- Spacing
- Silhouette
- Sound
- Movement

Shine catches a lot of people out. I think people are often unaware when the sun is glinting off binos and scope lenses.

 

[willie_gunn]

Shine catches a lot of people out. I think people are often unaware when the sun is glinting off binos and scope lenses.

You must have had a better Summer up there than we have down South