headlamps

[dapper]

I imagine most people use headlamps as they move about before dawn. Does yours have the option for a red light, allowing you to move less detected by the elk? The reason I ask, is I have a couple and the one that offers the red light isn't as bright as the one that is soley a white light. Is the red light option that important?

Thanks for any input

[Whitetail180]

I think it helps a bunch, I use my white light until I get close then I use the red light and when I get real close, I go in dark, but slowly.

[Swede]

I have never used red light. Of coarse I have spooked elk in the dark, but I never thought the color of the light was the reason. The elk see well in the dark. They hear well too, and the dark doesn't effect their sense of smell. I would prefer to see where I am going, and a little better light is more important to me.

[bnsafe]

i agree with swede, ive spooked alot of whitetails goin in and comin out, but i dont think the light was a reason.

[JoeH2o]

I think the red and green lights are ment for looking at maps or digging through packs, not travel. They don't dilate the eyes as much as the white light.

[Swede]

I just went back and studied some of the pictures I have from trail cameras that use a white flash. There are multiple pictures of elk that were photographed looking into the camera. The flash does not seem to disturb them in the least.

[mtnmutt]

I am so glad someone posted this question.

I have tried hard to walk in using the red light and I just make more noise kicking rocks because I can't see where I am going. I just can't see as well in the dark as I used to.

This year, I am ditching the red light in favor of safety and less travel noise.

[easeup]

lots of light is a good thing in that it will assist you to see the ground and weird mountain obstacles.
your chances of falling or twisting a leg are much reduced when you can see where you are going.
and who wants to ruin a hunt over a silly stumbling accident?

[Trophyhill]

Guys that move in the dark typically have somewhere they want to get to by the time the sun is coming up. If an elk or 3 go "bump in the night" then so be it

[ElkNut1]

I only use the white light as well, if I feel I'm getting too close to elk I heard talking & I'm slipping in before light to get as close as possible I do not let the light shine to where they can see it. I'll cover it with my hand to direct it towards the ground or leave it off. Red, green, yellow or white I don't want elk seeing it if I know I'm close.

If trying to get to a specific location as Trophyill mentions then if I bump something, so be it, it's not a big deal!

ElkNut1

[cnelk]

I have walked up on elk and had my headlamp shine on them [white light].
They were not alarmed at all. They just moved off into the timber

[Indian Summer]

Paul you and I have talked about this before. I only use white lights and if I think I'm in a hot spot I'll take the light off of my head and cup it in my hand aiming downward just to see where I'm walking but without shining light horizontally around me. Those colored lights cause more trouble than they solve.

The only time I use them is when saddling horses. They don't care for a bunch of blinding light flashing back & forth past their eyes.

[POk3s]

I guess I'm completely opposite. I almost always use the red or green setting when walking in. I see pretty good at night anyways but my thought process was that those colors are the ones lost to PREDATORS when people are night hunting for coyotes....or so I've seen. I figure it can't hurt as I walk in for elk. I hate hearing thundering hooves in the darkness! Again, I doubt its the color of my light that spooked them but I still do it.

[Swede]

Deer and elk see yard lights at the ranches where they feed at night. They see vehicle lights. They can see the moon on the horizon, etc. etc. etc. Those lights don't bother them. I don't think they are smart enough to tell the difference between a head lamp moving and a car light. The problem comes if they see, hear or smell you.

[Da White Shoe]

The only time I use them is when saddling horses.

That's what I use the red light for the most when elk hunting.
Horses don't mind the red light in their eyes nearly as much.
I have used the red in the pre-dawn darkness when getting close to a bugler... I think it helps a lot.
I don't think deer and elk see red light nearly as well as they do white light.
Even when only pointing it at the ground, red doesn't light up the trees like a white light does.
The red bulb really gets used a lot when I'm whitetail hunting.

[slim9300]

Deer and elk see yard lights at the ranches where they feed at night. They see vehicle lights. They can see the moon on the horizon, etc. etc. etc. Those lights don't bother them. I don't think they are smart enough to tell the difference between a head lamp moving and a car light. The problem comes if they see, hear or smell you.

This is how I see it too.

[slim9300]

I only use the white light as well, if I feel I'm getting too close to elk I heard talking & I'm slipping in before light to get as close as possible I do not let the light shine to where they can see it. I'll cover it with my hand to direct it towards the ground or leave it off. Red, green, yellow or white I don't want elk seeing it if I know I'm close.

If trying to get to a specific location as Trophyill mentions then if I bump something, so be it, it's not a big deal!

ElkNut1

Very sound advice.

[slim9300]

Guys that move in the dark typically have somewhere they want to get to by the time the sun is coming up. If an elk or 3 go "bump in the night" then so be it

^^^This.