Does blaze orange scare late season pheasants?

U

Upland Hunter

New member
In my opinion the answer is yes.
In the states I hunt orange is not required, and I have found that as the season progresses the birds seem to learn that orange means hunters.
I use the stealth approach as much as possible and try to be as unobtrusive and quiet as possible and it works for me.
What are your thoughts?

Upland Hunter
 
Good question...

IMO, I doubt the birds have learned that blaze orange means hunters. I don't think they have the cognitive powers to differentiate hunters from non-hunters. They've just been educated to avoid humans at all cost. But I do agree that blaze hats and vests aid pheasants, particularly birds in flight, in locating hunters in the field.
 
JMBZ71,
OK, OK....I think you are over analyzing my comments just a bit. I'm not suggesting that pheasants might have cognitive powers that allow them to differentiate between hunters and other humans in the area.
From your comments I believe you agree with my premise that wearing orange makes you more visible to wary pheasants and that it can result in avoidance tactics......you know, like running of flying away.
Pardon me for making an assumption but I think most of us who hunt late season birds know that they avoid us in order to survive because they are conditioned to do so by the efforts of humans to kill them...and that many of those humans are wearing orange.
The original purpose of my post was to generate a civil discussion about the topic and to determine if others had experienced similar situations in the field.
Thanks for your comments.

Upland Hunter
 
Sorta Yes, I know they just start takeing off later on even when they are a half a mile down the road and you come over a hill they bolt like they associate cars to window blasters, so when you are walking and they see you also they can be getting up at the other end of the field. so YES. More so out in the Dakota's and open areas like that. There they use posters and we have herd the term blockers. that is to combat that behavior of the ringneck. In MN we,well I don't see people ever doing that. Even late season we get to get right up on some birds. There is always birds here that have not seen Orange or people for the year because there is so many places we just can't go till late freez up. But in open areas here we see the same. So I think Orange , People, Dogs,shiny barrels in the sun, whistles, yelling at a dog whatever they definately pick up on and GITT.
 
IMO they are more conditioned to the sound of the gun than the orange. I hunt the same spots over and over all year long and the more times I miss those wily buggers, the faster they get up the next time. generally by the end of the season I have missed every one of them 10 or 20 times so they know just how long to hang around before taking exit stage right.:D

But seriously no, I don't believe it is the color at all but if anything the sound of footsteps, occasional voices and the sound of the dogs passing through the cover that get them nervous. When we get into late season patches where they bolt right away, they have been dug in deep and didn't have a line of sight to us, but they probably did hear the footsteps.
 
Upland Hunter said:
JMBZ71,
OK, OK....I think you are over analyzing my comments just a bit.
Upland Hunter
Click to expand...

Upland Hunter, I don't see where JMB is doing anything other than offering his opinion which is what you were looking for.

IMO, I give pheasants a lot of credit. I assume their eyes are like turkeys and they can see color.

I was sitting next to a dugout bow hunting deer before pheasant season on my farm. I was in full camo and sitting on a bucket in a bush next to waters edge. I was astounded by how adapt the pheasants coming to water were at busting me, a completely motionless soul. If they can bust a person sitting in a bush in camo motiionless, sound less then how much more so can they intecept a threat from 1/2 mile away or better.

Regardless, what's the point of the question? Because you'd better have orange on as much of your body as you can for safety anyway. (Unless you're hunting alone of course.)

PS. I did manage to waylay 2 whitetail does at the waterhole that day. They could not detect me at 10 yards if that tells you anything about difference in eyesight fo deer vs. pheasant.
 
Agreed they are wiley buggers....no argument from me that there are many things that put pheasants on high alert and into flee or flight mode. Car doors, human voices, shiny guns, gun shots, and many other things as well as bright orange hunters.
 
Chris,

Congrats on bagging the deer.
Pheasants are indeed worthy of credit and admiration for their wariness and eyesight.
That's the point of my post.
As far as my reply to JMB....I did ask for opinions, and I clarified my post in order to address his comments and how I perceived them.
I even thanked him for his opinion.
As far as what I better do.....I'll do what the law allows to safely keep from getting busted by those roosters. There are no laws requiring blaze orange for upland hunting where I usually hunt.
Pheasants can indeed see color, and I'm not sure how comparing their eyesight to a deer is valid in any case.
I rarely hunt public land and always hunt alone with my dog....that is my preference and style...perhaps I should have clarified that too.
I am here to exchange ideas and share opinions with courtesy and respect for others. As a brand new member here, and considering this is only my second post, I'm not quite sure that's what I'm finding.
That being said, I really don't have to post here.

Upland Hunter

:confused:
 
Turthfully, I submit that I don't care if the pheasants see me and my pertner or not I want all the orange the law requires. I want to see him/her as soon as possible and I don't weant accidents. In the tall weeds of the fields I hunt. That orange hat is must in my book. I can keep good track of someone just by seeing it.

As for the birds I don't really think so. They hear you and your dog long before they see you. You can be quiet as all get out. But they still know you are there. They cannot see you in those tall weeds. I think it is hearing more than anything.---Bob
 
I agree; wear what's legal in your state and keep yourself safe. Besides, IMHO, I really don't think color has anything to do with late season birds and quick getaways. I believe that they got their butts shot at the first week or so and they associate the sound of my Chevy 4x4 coming down the road with the fact that some strange creature gets out of it with a canon and that damn old dog with the short tail. Just me, but I'm betting their flying away from lead, not color. Remember, only an opinion. :p
 
I dont know if it is harmful to hunting pheasants or not or if its a state law or not. Im wearing a hat and solid vest regardless.
Ever had a spray of 7.5 shot over your head??
Not fun at all.
 
I don't disagree that birds have some keen senses. I suspect that as the season gets later that this year's hatch continues to develop the same instincts on how to use these keen senses as the older birds. That's why it seems more birds are bailing early.

I really don't believe that a bird is capable of learning that the sounds of a truck, voices and a gun blasts means to the bird "I'm getting shot at!" I don't think any bird would be lucky enough to get hit by lead enough times and not fatally shot to finally associate that - HUNTER > DOG > GUN > GUNBLAST > LEAD > FLIGHT ENDS.

There's no danger to the bird when a deer runs through a field yet instincts will cause the pheasant to either run or flush from a harmless deer.
 
By and large, the bird is not going to see you aka the blaze orange until he is airborne. He possibly associates blaze orange with some sense of danger, but he flushed from noise or some other sense of danger.
________
AZ-OFFROAD
 
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OUCH...that hurts...don't be 'doggin' my truck now :mad: Can't we all just get along :D :cheers:

Found
On
Road
Dead

Fix
Or
Repair
Daily

and my personal favorite...

F&!@#!^
Old
Rebuilt
Dodge
 
I don't know how you would differentiate between the possibility of pheasants seeing and reacting to orange, or getting more sensitive the the noise we make afield or more apt to put their heads up and look for us. That would take some statistically sound scientific tests that would be very hard to set up. It's just fact that they get harder to take late in the season and, whatever the reason, one has to change their tactics or start being more cognizant of the problems in order to keep some in the skillet. With the number of folks in the field some days I wouldn't be without my orange.
 
Upland Hunterâ?¦ Believe me when I say I appreciate anyone raising an interesting thread topic.

My only disagreement with your original post is that I believe youâ??re projecting cognitive reasoning capabilities on pheasants that I donâ??t believe theyâ??re capable of, when you say that â??birds seem to learn that orange means huntersâ?�.

So please donâ??t take offense to my comments. All of us here enjoy a good discussion topic. If we didnâ??t, we probably wouldnâ??t be here.
 
I think I have it figured out:
Wear orange for safety regardless of what the bird can or can't see. Use improved chokes for week 1, modified for week 2, and full for week three; that should take care of it. Just a reminder; I'm a high school principal and this is my way of using humor to calm me down after getting berated by the head cheerleaders mom :p.

An interesting topic that unfortunately we will never know the answer yet will never stop pursuing one.
 
JMc said:
I think I have it figured out:
Wear orange for safety regardless of what the bird can or can't see. Use improved chokes for week 1, modified for week 2, and full for week three; that should take care of it. Just a reminder; I'm a high school principal and this is my way of using humor to calm me down after getting berated by the head cheerleaders mom :p.

An interesting topic that unfortunately we will never know the answer yet will never stop pursuing one.
Click to expand...

Jim,

I start off using improved cylinder and move on to improved modified when the birds start getting up further in front of you. I have never used full choke on pheasants. Just me two cents. Yes, orange is always a good idea, even if the roosters figure out we are "hunters".
 
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