edhruz
New member
A long-throw RED light is used for coyote hunting for a couple of reasons. 1) Due to the eye structure of a coyote, any amount of red light really makes their eyes glow fire red, so it is easy for the hunter to spot them. The spill of the light is sufficient to spot eyes from a long distance away. 2) The higher intensity red of the main beam of light doesn't spook the coyote, while the hunter is making positive identification of the animal before shooting.
Has nothing to do with preserving night vision.
A different situation is deer hunting. A deer hunter likes to use a low intensity red to walk to the deer stand in the dark before sunrise. This low intensity red preserves night vision and the light doesn't spook the deer.
Another situation is feral hog hunting. Although their eyes don't glow nearly as much as coyotes, the high intensity red doesn't spook them.
A white light can be used for hunting. But it is the objective of the user to spot the animal in the spill of the light (e.g. by shining the main beam above the horizon). When ready to shoot, the main light beam is put on the animal. The startled animal will "freeze" for a split second while the shooter makes the shot. If the shooter takes too long, chances are that the animal will be startled and run. Many hunters using white light have a dial rheostat in the circuit to gradually adjust the intensity per the situation. When the shooter is ready, the rheostat is turned to give maximum lighting (called "burning" the animal).
So red is more forgiving, and doesn't spook the animal. No need for a rheostat on a red led flashlight/spotlight.I've been using the Elusive Wildlife Technologies KillLight XLR250 RED LED for a hand held scanning light out to 250 yards to light up retinas and the Olight M-20 Crimson RED LED 6 Best Predator Hunting Lights [217-218] - BestOutdoorItems as a weapon mounted kill light.
Has nothing to do with preserving night vision.
A different situation is deer hunting. A deer hunter likes to use a low intensity red to walk to the deer stand in the dark before sunrise. This low intensity red preserves night vision and the light doesn't spook the deer.
Another situation is feral hog hunting. Although their eyes don't glow nearly as much as coyotes, the high intensity red doesn't spook them.
A white light can be used for hunting. But it is the objective of the user to spot the animal in the spill of the light (e.g. by shining the main beam above the horizon). When ready to shoot, the main light beam is put on the animal. The startled animal will "freeze" for a split second while the shooter makes the shot. If the shooter takes too long, chances are that the animal will be startled and run. Many hunters using white light have a dial rheostat in the circuit to gradually adjust the intensity per the situation. When the shooter is ready, the rheostat is turned to give maximum lighting (called "burning" the animal).
So red is more forgiving, and doesn't spook the animal. No need for a rheostat on a red led flashlight/spotlight.I've been using the Elusive Wildlife Technologies KillLight XLR250 RED LED for a hand held scanning light out to 250 yards to light up retinas and the Olight M-20 Crimson RED LED 6 Best Predator Hunting Lights [217-218] - BestOutdoorItems as a weapon mounted kill light.
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