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Originally posted by Aaron Neilson:

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Originally posted by shakari:
Bearing in mind what yesterday was, it's probably best not to mention tea to the colonials old chap!

Forever a smart-ass!

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Originally posted by ledvm:

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I wonder if Lane can (pardon the pun ) shed any light on it?

I'll get back with you on this.

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Originally posted by SteveGl:
[QUOTE]Please hit him with the banned stick.QUOTE]

... in lieu of a knobkerrie.

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Originally posted by drwes:
Animals,, all of them,, have the ability to see all color's of the visible spectrum, red ,,green, blue,, all of it. We as hunters have been sold a bill of goods when they sell us red lights saying varmits and such do not see the light. They see it better than we do! They may not associate it with danger because it isn't something they are exposed to in nature unless we expose them to it,, they learn it very quickly by the way. If you have any doubts, Scientifically there are years of research on it,, many done by Dr. Earl Smith O.D. PhD. , Dean of University of Houston ,, College of Optometry. I hunt with him a great deal and when we break out the red lights he just giggles and shakes his head. Now,, hunting with 3rd and 4th generation night vision equipment and thermal imaging gear,, which we do for feral pigs here in Texas is a whole different game.

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Originally posted by shakari:
So in layman's terms, would it be more correct to say that they see it and normally react to it less?

Unless of course they've been previously red lamped and probably shot at and escaped?

Certainly, I've never had one react other than as mentioned previously.

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Originally posted by drwes:
Gee, I must of missed that lecture on rods and cones in college, probably out hunting or fishing, but my instructor, and fellow hunter was in the lab doing the research,, look up www.opt.uh.edu/faculty/esmith if you think I am blowing smoke. I will bet everyone some zim dollars that animals see the red light better than we do. It is really simple,, if we can see it,, they see it just as well if not better,, Do I use it hunting,, sure I do,,,like I said before, it has a great deal more to do with it being dim illumination,, not 1 million candles or lumens like our spot lights and it is something they do not immediately associate with danger because it is not something they encounter in the wild. You bet I will use that to my advantage,, The first few times you use it on a group of feral pigs it works pretty good,,, but they educated very quickly and run like hell around here with any presence of light, red, blue, etc.. I take an aspirin without thinking about the exact bio-physio-medical reason on why it works,, it works. We some times over think things.

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Originally posted by Nakihunter:
This thread has brought back one great aspect of hunting....the fear, thrill and excitement of hunting in the dark.

Some of you may know that I was born in India and hence carry the stories and tradition with nostalgia. I hunted there from the early 70's as a teenager until the late 80's. I hunted wild boar & deer - both at night and during the day. Some of it was stalking, some was in beats & some by spot lights. Most of it was on private land but some was also in public land.

I can remember sitting up for wild boar in elephant country and not hearing a thing the whole night. Next morning we walked around the water hole / stream and saw fresh elephant tracks! We saw leopard pug marks further along the track! Yet we heard nothing because we were hidden at the base of a huge bamboo clump in a hole dug into the mud bank.

The excitement & fear of seeing a deadly poisonous snake (banded krait) on the track is spine tingling even now after 30+ years. But all this does not compare with hunting the big cats ....my dad's stores still give me goose bumps.

He shot tigers & leopards in the 50s. His experience of a tiger being hit with a 12 bore lethal ball in the lungs and roaring repeatedly... that the trees and the machan shook! He is now 85 and still says that was the most terrifying experience of his life - a wounded tiger roaring at 30 yards.

On another occasion, he was asked to shoot a cattle killing leopard. The leopard had taken a young bullock in relatively open country and there were no trees or suitable bushes to hide in. This was at the edge of a village / fallow land where the leopard came regularly to take dogs, goats & cattle. So dad got a "kraal" basket - a big bamboo dome shaped basket of about 4 feet height & diameter. These baskets are used to hold young goats at night. He cut a slot in the bamboo and sat inside the basket. Later at night dad could hear the leopard walking outside the basket and huffing / sniffing. As he tried to get a shot he realised that the leopard was only about a meter away & he could not position properly his 10.75X68 rifle in the cramped environment. When he tried to move a bit the leopard heard him and with a loud growl it disappeared!

I have heard these stories for about 50 years and I still get a buzz out of it....my stomach churns, my heart races and my eyes water. Yes it was my dad and it was my India...and it was hunting the big cats at night.