UV Killer?

[RC]

I wash my hunting clothes in baking soda. always have. Killed deer on the ground at less than 10 yards several times and had birds land on my boot.A squirrel ran down my back once and just the other day I had 3 mature Gobblers undr 15 yards and I wasnt in a blind and was in front of cover. I think thats more important than being behind it. Anyway I`m not gonna spend a lot of money on stuff when what I got seems to work.RC

[arrowlauncherdj]

Also agree with Zradix and swampthing.  You want no UV fluorescence in your clothes, use wool.  UV killers I have found have a temporary effect at most... (kinda like other scent blockers, ahem...).  I believe it was the Univ of Georgia that did the studies on the way deer see.  I hear a lot of hunters really bellyache about wearing hunter orange, when deer are really neutral to it compared to blue or white.  

I have been in situations where I wore my orange vest the whole hunt stuck up in a pine tree, where my buddy could see me from 500yds away, and the deer walk right by me and never look up, and I wasnt that high, maybe 20ft. That aint high in the piney woods of South Alabama considering what little cover we have down here.  That is why I love ground blinds now... but anyway, that fluorescence Zradix is talking about is the main reason hunters get busted now. Like when the deer suddenly look up for no reason and you are thinking, "I barely moved at all".

[Zbone]

Zradix - Have read where UV fluorescence in your clothes can be tested in the dark ith a black light, is this true?

[Zradix]

Sure is.

It's a good idea to get something with a true "UV" light.

Many black lights aren't truly UV lights.

But even most of the cheap black lights will give you enough UV to test with....they just don't work as well.

Basically the brighter the black light looks to you the worse it is....people can't see UV light.

So if there is a high amount of visible brightness to the bulb, that bulb is putting out wave lengths longer than 400nm.

Most brighteners get excited by UV light in the 350 nm range. Then re-emit it in the blue portion of the visible spectrum.

So if you were really looking to do it right find a bulb that emits in about the 340-370 nm range.

It's fun to look around at stuff with a black light..you can see which papers have brighteners, which clothes...double check to see how much UV brighteners are present in your laundry detergent.

Also, I recommend checking your dryer if you dry your clothes. It's amazing how much brightener can accumulate in the drum.

have fun!

[Hoyt]

If I was on an extremely tight budget, UV Killer would be at the bottom of my list..right next to the scent killing spray.

[Zradix]

Originally posted by Hoyt:
If I was on an extremely tight budget, UV Killer would be at the bottom of my list..right next to the scent killing spray.

yep  X2

[Tree Rat]

I test all of my hunting clothes against a black light. If it glows it goes....

Years ago there were no UV brighteners in the dyes or soaps used. Then the brighteners started showing up (remember  Burlingtons "ten mile cloth"?) and they started using it on/in everything.

In the early or mid 80's it was discovered deer could see UV reflections. The hunting community started paying attention. I personally dumped all my "quality" camo from that era because it glowed so much. Camo that had UV dies was getting slammed. The mfrs listened to their wallets.

Now there are virtually no quality companies using UV dye in their camo. Soaps are a different story but it's easy to bypass that issue.

[K.S.TRAPPER]

Originally posted by Tree Rat:
[QB] I test all of my hunting clothes against a black light. If it glows it goes....

Man your wasting alot of good camo!    

If you have a IR trailcam walk in front of it in the dark and it will tell you the same thing as a blacklight. Atleast some of them  

Some of my best camo like Sitka Gear and leafy suits show up the very brightest and we still kill turkeys and deer under 10yds every year on the ground and in tree stands. We wash all of are camo in baking soda like RC and have been doing that longer then I can remember.

Good luck

Tracy

[Zbone]

Zradix - Interesting stuff, thanx for sharing.

[Tree Rat]

Not sure how I waste it if I don't buy it.    

I had two consecutive bad seasons wearing my "latest and greatest" camo back in the mid 80's. Barely seeing any deer, nothing in range. Found out it glowed. Might as well have been bleached white type glow. Replaced it and had immediate good results the last two weeks of the seocnd season.

Same farm, same stands, same tactics, same equipment, same deer, different clothes. You do the math.

Say what you want, but almost 30 yrs of following this method hasn't failed me. Never had a season like those since.

I don't think UV is an issue in daylight. Dawn and twilight yes, but not well lit daylight. YMMV

[Zradix]

yep..

Dawn and twilight are the worst times to have UV brighteners in your clothes.

On a side note..I've been using sportwash and baking soda for some time to clean wash my stuff.

I was just checking a new laundry detergent my wife bought recently.
It's Dynamo free and clear.
I checked it under my black light and NO UV brighteners.
It also has minimal scent.
Heck of a lot cheaper than the sportwash.

[Iowabowhunter]

I think I am eventually just going to get the paintball sale camo from asat's website. I can get bdu pants for only $30.00. I already use the scent free detergent etc, will just put some baking soda in there to help with any "uv brighteners" just in case.

[lpcjon2]

You can get military BDU pants and shirts from Colemans Military Surplus a little cheaper.

[Iowabowhunter]

Lpcjon2 -does Colemans have a website by chance?

[lpcjon2]

Jacob, sent you an email