red light vs white light?

White light will light things up more and "clearer" but will blind you for a minute sometimes, especially with a real bright one. Red let's you keep your night vision better and you can see eyes a lot further out with less of a chance of spooking animals. I used an Amber cover for years without spooking game and killed tons of animals. I used a white light for the last half of last year and killed about 30 Fox, some coyotes and called in cats with no problem. I did it just to prove to people on another site that white didn't bother them either if done right. This year Jeremiah from boondock turned me into a huge red fan though and I don't think I will ever go back now. It is amazing how far away you can see the eyes coming with red. And when I light em up with the red kill light it doesn't bother my eyes at all. I have noticed that it does bother the reds if you hit them right on with the kill light right when you turn it on, just like white does.

So after all of that babble, I would go with red.
 
I agree with Mr. Knapp. when i first started calling at night I scanned with a red light and shot with a white light. When i would turn on the white light my eyes almost felt temp. blinded. it was defenately hard on the eyes on those pitch dark nights. I prefer red and red now with these new powerfull red LED lights.
 
Until just the other night I didn't really know what color I preferred so I have been using a green scan light and a red kill light on my gun. This is my first year calling, and I finally called in a coyote on Tuesday night. I caught his eyes at about 150 yards with the green scan light, and when I switched to the red light, WOW what a difference. The eyes were so much easier to see with the red light. I didn't get to shoot because I think he heard me walking in and he never came through the patch of trees on the edge of the field but at least I finally got to see something. Needless to say, the green light is getting mounted on my shotgun for a close range light and I will be getting me another red scan light.
 
Originally Posted By: DfabsUntil just the other night I didn't really know what color I preferred so I have been using a green scan light and a red kill light on my gun. This is my first year calling, and I finally called in a coyote on Tuesday night. I caught his eyes at about 150 yards with the green scan light, and when I switched to the red light, WOW what a difference. The eyes were so much easier to see with the red light. I didn't get to shoot because I think he heard me walking in and he never came through the patch of trees on the edge of the field but at least I finally got to see something. Needless to say, the green light is getting mounted on my shotgun for a close range light and I will be getting me another red scan light.

One thing I have learned for sure here in the east is that to never mix colors. We have tested it many times and and will spook predators more than not. They do not like the wavelength change when switching from the scanning light to the gun light.

I use red for both the scan light and the gun light.
 
White. Predators can see colored lights just fine, and you can better see what you're shooting at, and, more importantly, what's BEHIND it, with a white light. I've used red, green, amber and white, and it makes absolutely no difference.

Edit-9 out of 10 "pros" use a white light.
The Pros Use White Lights
 
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IMO I don't think its the light in the animals eyes that matters as far as the color of light used as animals c white & red lights a lot IMO....i think its the ability of the animal to easier c movement past the light halo when using white...just as everyone knows white lights let us c better so then its gonna let the animal c better as well to a point and I don't mean directly into the light but around it as before u spot them they may c u scanning and with white I feel that may be easier for them to a point......is white gonna have a brighter halo using the same light diff color say red or green yes it is ......in other words a good halo shield with little movement and as Kizmo says the light the animal sees probably makes little to no diff more often than not but using white the hunter himself may need to take more care even though its dark outside the minute u light the torch its as though its daylight around u to an extent with a white light ILO dusk with say a green or red.......good luck.
 
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If these links hold any truth I believe red is the safest bet to hunt canines.

Looks like a tree hugger site but pictures are worth a thousand words.
http://dog-vision.com/

An excerpt below from the following link

http://www.vetinfo.com/canine-vision.html

Limited Color Perception

Like human eyes, canine eyes consist of cones and rods; however, there is an emphasis on their rods, while we have an emphasis on cones. Their emphasis allows them to see in the dark and dim light four times better than we can. The emphasis on human cones allows us to have a greater spectrum of colors in bright light. We have three cones, while dogs have only two. Contrary to popular belief, they are not color blind, but able to determine various shades of violet, indigo, and blue, and possibly red. They have difficulty distinguishing colors between green, yellow, orange and red. The color blue-green appears white or a shade of gray to them. Though our canine companions seem to have less ability determining colors, they are actually much better at differentiating subtler shades of gray than humans are.


White light is a combination of red green and blue, everything we see is based on these additive colors or the subtractive colors cyan, magenta and yellow. Ever wonder why you can find lights in red, green and blue this is the reason?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RGB_color_model

IMO I'd use the light you want and works for you, guys kill em with red green and white.

General questions on the forum lead to a lot of generalizations.

005% of the members on here actually are successful consistently. If I really wanted to know what works I'd PM the guys on here killing the critters. Snowshoes, BHW, Caninekilla, Beagler etc....... those are the guys to ask.


 
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Read what you linked to, pmack.

Quote:This does not mean that dogs can't see green or red objects! It only means that they can't distinguish green, yellow or red objects based on their color. However they can still distinguish a red ball from a green one if there is a difference in the perceived brightness of the two.

You should also watch the video in the thread I linked to.

They can see colored light just fine, they just don't perceive the colors as we do. Whether it be by filter or colored LED, colored lights aren't generally as bright as white ones. The only thing you accomplish by colored lights is to diminish intensity, which you can do with a white light that has variable settings.

You can't kill what you can't see, and they can see better in low light conditions than you. Why stack the deck against yourself?
 
Originally Posted By: old catDfabs are there many coyotes in your area.


We hear them a good bit at night, and I find a lot of tracks in the snow when it snows. They just came down into the neighbors yard 2 nights ago and killed a doe 10 yards from his driveway. There is a lot of land around here to hunt though, and a lot of it is thick. I also do some hunting on public land. There are not many people around this area that know the Johnson's Hollow side of Coopers Rock State Forest like I do. Aside from that, I have probably 2000 acres+ of private land that I am allowed to hunt in Mon and Preston counties. If you want to do some hunting some time, let me know.

Back to the original topic, I took the green light back and traded it for a red one so I have all red lights now. That could also be the reason the yote hung up when I switched to red. I'm new to night hunting so you live and learn I guess.
 
Originally Posted By: KizmoRead what you linked to, pmack.

Quote:This does not mean that dogs can't see green or red objects! It only means that they can't distinguish green, yellow or red objects based on their color. However they can still distinguish a red ball from a green one if there is a difference in the perceived brightness of the two.

You should also watch the video in the thread I linked to.

They can see colored light just fine, they just don't perceive the colors as we do. Whether it be by filter or colored LED, colored lights aren't generally as bright as white ones. The only thing you accomplish by colored lights is to diminish intensity, which you can do with a white light that has variable settings.

You can't kill what you can't see, and they can see better in low light conditions than you. Why stack the deck against yourself?

I agree with you, Kizmo, I never said they couldn't see colored light, the links explained what they see. I just posted what's been documented. I use red because that's what I've had success with. Bottom line find a system and do what works for you.



 
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