Game Eye -you got it ?

[ol mike]

Have you ever went hunting with someone who just couldn't seem to see game animals ?

I use to go hunting w/a good friend once in a while who couldn't see a deer standing right in front of him.

We were sitting in a big shooting stand on a powerline one day back in mississippi and there were six deer scattered out within 200yds -he couldn't see any of them.

He thought i was acting a fool and horsing around -saying there were deer --RIGHT THERE ---.

Finally he spotted a doe at about 90-100 yds and immediately got ready to shoot ,i told him to wait there's a nice six point buck right there.
Well couldn't see it and then lost track of the doe he wanted to take .
I was completely baffled but could tell he was getting irritated because he couldn't see them.

Finally after a good 4-5 minutes he spotted another doe flicking its tail and nailed her w/a 7mm mag.

The doe was like his second or third deer -so he was happy and i was to.

Anyway i've been around other folks that you could not even point out a game animal to and have just thought it was odd they couldn't see them.

[blackco]

ABSOLUTLY!!! I have always been very interested in this phenominon(sp) I think when we are young our eyes are trianed to see what is important in our lives (Psych 101). My dad talks about taking me hunting when he had to carry me in a pack; now I see animals others couldn't find with a GPS and a guide. On the other hand, I have had mechanics point out cracks in engines I couldn't see with a magnifying glass.

Another thing I have seen on many occasions is people who do not know their eyes are not focused(?) correctly. My daughter had glasses that were "perfect" for her eyes and she told me she could see GREAT. She couldn't hardly see deer in the bed of the truck. Then she got contacts. The first thing she told me was, "I didn't know you could see BLADES of grass!" That was profound to me. Previously she had only seen a carpet of green. She "thought" she could see fine with her glasses but didn't relaize what she was missing. It's hard to figure out the problem when "you don't know what you don't know."

I have always relied on my vision, but now I am getting to an age that if small things are close enough to make out, they are too close to see clearly. I needed to get glasses for some close-up stuff at work but I was still fine reading. I got some glasses and WOW!!! What I thought was fine was so blurry I don't know how I could read before.

I guess in a nutshell I believe it is a two fold problem; if your eyes are not trained to see something when we are young we will never really be able to see it AND some people need correction but don't relize it.

Just my thoughts on the subject after asking the same question lots of times.

[Bigcat_hunter]

I have noticed this with myself. It takes time for your eyes to look for movement or the outlines of deer etc. I can spot deer and elk easy but have a hell of a time spotting bear. I have to retrain my eyes!

[HeskethPritchard]

Is it "seeing" them or getting into (or back into) the groove?

I find that if I have not been hunting for a while I lose the knack of knowing what to look for but thankfully it is only a matter of minutes before I find the groove again and all is well with the world.

In my peak I saw the caudal patch of a deer whilst out hunting with Brown Dog, I pointed it out, it wasn't that he couldn't see it, he was looking the other way but when he turned and clocked it he was amazed it was close to 1k away!!! At that range it was just a small white dot on the other side of the valley and more but it was a deer.

I got hunting with other colleagues and they see far more than me e.g. just an ear in the long grass, could I see it, no way, put the bino's up and bingo there it was and we both see using glasses. I'm not tuned to seeing them (ears) and its hellish hard (for me) to tune into them but I will keep working on it.

I think they just don't know "what" to look for but if your putting a buddy in front of full grown deer at under 200m and there is nothing obstructing the outline profile DONT HUNT BEAR WITH THEM LOL!!

Seriously, if they cant see at that range then something is completely wrong. Has he had his eyes checked? Is he realllllly into hunting or just making you happy, I'm not critiscising but if I took my girl hunting she wouldn't see them not because she cant but because she doesn't want to, she thinks hunting is boring and so wouldn't be interested in seeing them. Just a thought.

It would be interesting to see (no pun intended) what the other guys have to say on their experiences of this.

[ss7mm]

For me at least, the definition of "game eye" is not my eye/s as much as what I do with them and how I use them.

I never look for a whole animal although there are times, under ideal conditions, when you will actually see a whole animal. I look for vertical lines that look out of place......I look for horizontal lines that look out of place.....I look for color patches that look out of place......I look for shapes and forms that look out of place. Then, usually, I will see the animal. Most people I've questioned that have trouble "seeing game" usually admit they are looking for a whole animal.


One time my son, a friend, and I were hunting blacktail deer. I spotted a nice 3 point buck at just under 100 yards standing up against a bunch of brush and trees. Even though I explained exactly where he was standing, as I wanted my son to shoot him, they couldn't see him. After about 3 minutes of the deer co-operating but with them unable to see him, they saw him move, as he fell to my well placed shot. When I initially saw the deer I saw the horizontal line of his back as an out of place line among everything else. Closer inspection saw the light patch on his neck and then I could see the "whole deer". I don't think they ever looked for anything except the "WHOLE DEER". The did however get to see the whole deer laying on the ground.

[bwaites]

Several years ago some friends went Elk scouting, these guys, 3 of them, were all experienced, and from their success in the past, good hunters.

They were going the last weekend that they could scout to their assigned block.

They had a great weekend, saw lots of sign, but no elk. They filmed the area, mostly to help them remember where they planned to camp, etc.

They got home and told their wives they knew there were lots of elk there from the sign, but that they must have scared them off.

As the couples sat there watching the video, one of the wives said, "Isn't that an elk?" and pointed at a spot on the screen. It was, of course! They then started CLOSELY watching the video, and spotted more than a dozen elk on camera!

Needless to say, the wives had a great time with my buddies and their "hunting and scouting" expedition. It still gets told every elk season!

Bill

[ol mike]

quote- ""Needless to say, the wives had a great time with my buddies and their "hunting and scouting" expedition. It still gets told every elk season ! ""

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Interesting and very funny..

My friend did wear glasses but wasn't wearing them to hunt -said he only needed them to read.

I will add that the deer did blend into the dead january grass unbelievably well.I myself lost track of some of them while pointing out others to him ,sometimes i'd sit and look for a bit before i could relocate one.
Also there was a mild wind blowing so the slight movements of their heads -legs and such didn't stick out a lot.

And i think being right out in the open -maybe your brain tells you ? if there was a deer --right there--- i'd see it -gives you a mental block or something.

We went to the Nitrous Nationals in Gainsville .Fla. back around 1992 ,two cars blasted off the starting line on the back wheels.
The nearest car got out of shape -clipped the wall -flipped over and went by us on its roof =he didn't see it...lol