Need flashlight advice from hunters

Have you used blue and read to that conclusion or you were simply satisfied with warm white?

I have tried to use blue, but not much. I didn’t find it to help, and actually made it a little harder for me to see. I have also seen cool whites not display blood well, I assume since there is not enough red in the beam. A warm white seems to work best for me, but YMMV.

@pilotdog68: I prefer some throw with some spill as well. I would think an XM-L2 or equivalent in warm white, and maybe an XP-E2 in red for a secondary color. Based on your friends hunting as described, I don’t think a true thrower would be advantageous. Unless he is also night hunting, the super-duper thrower will be a waste of light, if that’s possible!!

Thanks. It is a bit funny, cool white does not have enough red (which is of course perfectly correct), but has lots of blue and purple or lots of green, yet we see a lot of talk about using blue color for blood tracking which of course does not have anything else but blue.

For the past ~4 years when I helped a friend track deer we used a neutral/warm light with secondary red+blue mix light (the little leds are side by side creating an overlap like a venn diagram). For me, I’d say it’s a toss up on whether or not the red/blue worked better. He does really believe it’s helpful though. Last trip out I just used a CW C8 and it worked just fine.

I think a large hotspot (MTG2 perhaps) with some throw maybe 15kcd would be ideal for tracking in the woods. High - Med for cooldown - LowLow (~10lm) for walking in to the stand in the morning.

IMO Cool white in all situations, and it is best tint for blood tracking which react especially well in green grass environment and woods.

In my environment game reacts absolutely same on green(green led or ND3 laser) & red if I compare them to cool white and since they are way underpowered to cool white I am not using them. But I did sold a lot of red/greens to hunters and they were very happy with them :) because they heard that game does not react on green or red so they want to be mind free.

I would wish this is a true. Than no one would buy night vision devices.

Some stories from lats say "experienced hunters" that say hog will not react on red or green does not hold watter in my case. Sometimes(rare) They even react on night vision IR light (850/940nm).

My vote to cool white as all rounder.

I know in Michigan a flashlight while hunting is of limited use:

You cannot go afield with a loaded firearm except during legal hunting hours during deer seasons. You can use artificial lights (flashlight) to go to and from your hunting location one hour before and one hour after legal hunting hours, while in possession of an unloaded firearm or crossbow or a bow

It’s cool to think of running around tracking a bleeding bear in the dark, but it doesn’t happen. I use a plain old sk68 or sk98 in the woods. I can zoom, I can flood, and I can see way further than I need to. At least in the woods of Michigan.

  • Joe

Hmm not sure I understand those rules, but whatever.

I’ll admit, I expected more votes for red or green beams

I’ll simplify Michigan rules. You can have one of these:

1. Loaded gun, bow, whatever.
2. Turned on flashlight

You can’t have both at the same time. Flashlight is ok for finding dead stuff, but if you find something still alive you need to turn off your flashlight to shoot it, and you can’t even do that if it’s over an hour from dusk. That can be a problem…:slight_smile: Better to mark your location and go back early in the morning to find the animal.

You’re Avatar is a lot more hi-tech than mine. But the last season I went deer hunting I shot 5 :stuck_out_tongue:

  • Joe

I don’t like using cool white to track. You lose color with CW. I tend to use NW or WW as it doesn’t wash out the colors and provides better definition. Remember, that time tested light for tracking is an old Coleman lantern. I’m pretty sure they didn’t come in CW :wink: I’ve tried blue with no luck. I’m going to be using a MT-G2 for tracking this year. Lots of flood, nice color, should work great.

As a side note, last year I shot a big old nanny doe and knew I made a good shot. I waited til dark to look for her. I broke out whatever CW light I had at the time and found blood where I hit her but lost it after 3-4 yards. Frustrated, I went back to the truck and was about to go get my dogs when I decided to give it one more go with the WW BLF X6. I immediately could find the blood trail and tracked it to where she piled up at the bottom of a gulley 40 yards away. The blood was a fine mist on brown Jap grass for about 15 yards then she started pouring out. I never saw the fine mist blood with the CW light, but I immediately found it with the WW. The color of the grass wasn’t washed out with the WW and I could see the color differences with it.

N10 If you dedome cool white you'll get NW tint right? So both should work but cool white reflects blood better to my eyes. Blood shines more with CW. Please put one CW light in backpack and try direct comparison. Cool white does have a tiny bit of bluish tint so maybe that helps out since some guys made a fortune by selling blue lights for blood tracking so maybe blue helps a bit :)

Put CW on the middle or low and nothing will be washed out :)

It seems that I am not the only one that prefers it so I will quote some guy from other forum:

Skeeterbait:

"I have tried a couple of the blood tracker lights on the market, and tried blue filters, and I have found nothing that works better than a cool white LED light with a diffuser to break up the hot spot and even out the beam."

Thanks for all the suggestions guys! I just wish you all agreed, it would make the decision much easier. :stuck_out_tongue:

For me, the most useful light for hunting is a good floody NW headlamp. In addition, I just carry a lightweight pocketable 18650-anything with a bit of throw like a P60 and a backup in the form of a 1-AA light. I also keep a Nitecore headband in my pack, so the 1-AA or the P60 could also become a headlamp.

I’ve done a lot of skinning, butchering and packing moose out after dark, and that’s when the headlamp really has value. My favorite to date is a Crelant CH-10; the second favorite is a simple 4-AA Energizer Hardcase off the rack at Canadian Tire. Neither one cost more than $30. I can’t honestly say I’ve ever found a use for the red/green/blue lights.

That whole colored tracking light phenomenon was so overplayed. A naturally colored light with a good CRI will do MUCH better for tracking. It will pick up the blood better, AND it will allow you to pick up other cues like leaves out of place, broken branches, etc. PLUS, it won’t fatigue the eyes.

C8 is a great idea, i think they like and use it most, its reflector can easy give a 250+ meters clear view( i mean clear, can distinguish a dog from a jackal)
U2-3 1A dedomed- arround 4500k- the best hunting light for nearly everything( exept maybe hogs, but only maybe)
SMO reflector
upgraded , at least 3.6amps 105c driver( ot DD one) with 1 mode or several but offtime memory one
copper DTP
spring bypass( on both)

I am sure he will be very pleased
Most hunters dont shoot above 250m especialy at night

Most of the animals we hunt are daltonists( not like hunam daltonism ofc) but most of them can “see” blue and UV light, respectively CW is the worst possible option either for gun mounting …and nearly everything considering hunting
They react on high intense lazer FL too, EVEN IR ones

Bears can see every damn colour though :wink:

IMO, if you are planning on a flashlight to use for tracking AND for varmint hunting, it needs to be two different lights. A varmint light needs a bigger, smooth reflector for plenty of throw. For tracking I like something with a good even, floody projection.

So a zoomie might be in order? like the uf-1505 maybe. It will make any secondary beam pretty ugly though… hmm

I never heard someone hunt with blue or UV light. I got to try that :)

The real truth is that UV light is best for finding blood trace in closed spaces if you use luminol spray(which is forensic stuff). Blood glows in combination with luminol and UV light. So if you got enough money for spray it can be done outdoors :)

It looks just like this:

But for scope hunting you would got to have ultra mega UV light to hunt up to 100 meters, and they could see it as any other color IMO.

And I would not say that most of game are daltonists. Camo wear is not just for hunters cool looks it obviously helps in fields.

I really admire to scientist who manage to find out on which color certain animal reacts and on which does not react. I think no one can be 100% sure? Or I am wrong? I would like to see list of game and list of color they see or not see.

Edit: Stihl sprayer with luminol and I am 100% sure no game would be lost to the end of our lives :) (joke but it can be done)

If we have experienced chemist here I would like to know how to make cheap diy luminol. It would impress some hunters that never heard about that.

Another edit: I managed to find hunting video with luminol and UV light here:

I’ve given my stepson (who is an avid hunter of everything) several lights—one of his favorites is an S6 XP-G2 1A dedome with a true moonlight—walking to the stand in total darkness doesn’t take much light —the little light driven at 3amps smooth reflector also gives pretty nice throw 30k and spill—fits right in his side pocket comfortably

I can see your friend benefiting from a NW or WW C8, with L-M-H mode.

However keep in mind, IMO the most light used on a hunting trip is a headlamp while in camp after dark or a pocket EDC sized torch. We don't hunt at night. Chances of us shooting each other increases as light decreases and alcohol consumption increases. However in bear country you always have a torch close by in case one of them decides to pay you a visit at night.

I made a video testing all of the different options here if you guys are interested. TEST of Blood Tracking Flashlights!