The Science Behind Eyedeal Camouflage

When I started to design this new pattern, I took into consideration how deer see us as hunters in a tree stand. I tried to visualize it from their perspective. I asked myself what they see when approaching a deer hunter in a deer stand. If you consider this or even try it yourself, when you walk within 40-50 yards of any tree and look 20 feet up into it, you will notice there is a great deal of sky showing through the branches and leaves. Now consider how dark most other camouflage patterns look at a distance of greater than 20 yards. Envision that dark pattern in a tree with a very light background. As you will see, any movement by the dark blob will be very obvious against the light sky background.

Next I considered a deer’s real visual abilities. I researched numerous articles. One I found very insightful; Brian P. Murphy, Karl Miller, R. Larry Marchinton, Jess Deegan II, Jay Neitz, Gerald H. Jacobs: How Whitetail Deer View Their World (1992). They go into great detail describing how deer see. I also consulted with a Retinal Surgeon at the Marshfield Clinic, in Marshfield, WI. With this information, I was able to identify that deer see much differently than humans. Their eyes are designed to see only two colors during daylight, some shades of green and blues, including ultra-violet (UV) blue. All other colors that we see, deer see as shades of gray. Deer have the ability to see blue much more vividly than we do as humans. They also see those (UV) blues, those harmful invisible light waves. Taking that into consideration, when a deer looks up towards a hunter in a tree the dark blob and any movement really sticks out against a blue-gray sky background. The (UV) blue waves are even more vivid to deer than the other blues they see. Any clothing with brighteners is very reflective and shines like a flashlight to them. Our product is produced without these whiteners, thus eliminating the (UV) blue reflection that deer see.  

Consider this too, when the light intensity is low (similar to early mornings, late evenings and/or very cloudy days), deer start to lose the ability to see color. They now see in black and white or shades of gray. Our pattern takes advantage of this natural process. Our light-colored outside edges blend perfectly into the light horizon. We are much more effective than our competitors in this area.

Deer do not have the ability to see crisp clear objects. Their vision acuity is similar to what we see in our periphery, our vision to the sides outside the center of our gaze. They see blurred objects. Try this example; hold your hand off to the side of your face and look straight forward. How you see that hand is how deer see everything, not very clear. However, they do see movement incredibly well. Now take a white piece of paper and wave something dark colored in front of it in your periphery. I bet it jumps out at you!  Compare that to taking a light blue-gray piece of paper and wave another piece of light blue-gray paper in front of it. You can see some movement, but not really well. The blue gray color in Eyedeal Camouflage against the color of the sky relates to this example -- the movement is obviously less noticable!

I have created a vertical illusion to fool a deer’s eyesight to counter the blob affect that you see with other camo patterns. The tree running up the center of the clothing along with the light sky outside edges will camouflage you perfectly. This pattern also has a 360 degree effectiveness. Compare our profile to any other pattern against the sky background. 

Consider all the above information before choosing your next camouflage. It is all in the science of the eye. That is why we call it the Eyedeal Camouflage!