What Is the Best Flashlight for Hunting at Night?
A great flashlight is an essential tool for hunting at night, but you can’t just use any old flashlight. There are a few features that you should look for when picking a hunting flashlight that can help make your night hunting easier and more successful.
A flashlight with higher lumens provides more illumination for seeing through dense terrain at night, and a narrow spotlight lets you pinpoint your prey in the dark. Also, a hands-free flashlight, which attaches to your weapon or your head is more practical for hunting at night.
Different game will sometimes require slightly different forms of light and different features for the most effective hunting. Read on to find out what makes a great night-hunting flashlight, for all different game:
How powerful should my hunting light be?
All lights operate on a scale of lumens, which refers to how bright a light is, on a scale of around 100 to 5000. For hunting at night, the terrain that you are operating in will make a difference in the number of lumens that will work best.
If you are hunting deer or wild boars in dense forest, you will need something which can provide a high level of illumination. If, however, you are hunting rabbits or coyotes in more open spaces, you may get away with a lower level of light depending on how far off you want to pinpoint your vision.
The B.A.M.F.F. 10.0 provides 1000 lumens, which is great in both dense forest and more sparse terrain. Another option is the FLEXIT Headlamp PRO, which provides 650 lumens.
The advantage of a light with fewer lumens is that it is less energy-intensive, and will be able to remain illuminated for longer with battery power. Lower lumens may also work better to prevent the game from spooking, but you need to balance this against your visibility of the area. For this reason, any more than 1000 lumens may prove more detrimental to your hunt than advantageous.
What other light features should I consider?
One of the other considerations when picking the correct hunting light for you is choosing a flood light or a spot light. A spotlight is a narrow beam of light that allows you to see far into the distance, but only in a very narrow area. A flood light, by contrast, doesn’t provide the same length of visibility but provides instead a wider view of your immediate area. If you are in a dense forest, a wide light, will illuminate all the trees near you and reflect back too much light into your eyes. A narrow beam will aim most of your light directly at your focal point off in the distance and not reflect as much light back at you from nearby objects.
A spot light is an essential type of light for effective hunting. It allows you to see game at a distance and may help you aim better in the dark. The problem is that spot lighting can be disorientating, and if you are trying to move quickly and quietly over unknown terrain, you need to be able to see your more immediate surroundings as well. A wide light will light up the areas in your peripheral vision allowing you to negotiate through unknown areas, avoid trip hazards, and see what is to your sides, below and above you.
The B.A.M.F.F. 10.0 is a great light to meet both of these needs, because its design seamlessly combines a powerful spot light for long-distance visibility, with a wide-angle flood light for close range area lighting. You can use both of these lights separately or together, to greatly increase your overall field of vision.
The FLEXIT Headlamp PRO is another great option for which combines spot and flood lighting. This headlamp operates with a “halo” style light, which creates a 240-degree field of vision, that means your peripheral vision is also fully illuminated. You can also use the spotlight to spot items in the distance as well. The spot and flood lights can be used independently or together so you can set this headlamp to the exact lighting needs at the time.
What is the best color light to not spook deer?
If you are plugged into the hunting community, you may have seen the debate raging about whether red or green light is a better choice to keep game, and deer in particular, from getting spooked. A white light will sometimes spook deer, causing them to run, but these more mild and more natural shades can both keep deer calmer. But which is better?
Deer have very little natural ability to see the color red. This means that pointing a red light at them will very rarely spark any response at all. It is also a great light to outline the deer in your vision and provide good enough visibility to take a clear shot. For these reasons, most hunters will choose red over green light.
In contrast to this, green is one of the colors deer can pick out most clearly. This means that when you shine green light onto a deer, they are likely to immediately pick up that danger is near, and become far more alert, if not make a run for it. A green light is also more challenging to work with in dense forests because it can create a wash of green when reflecting all of the green plants and undergrowth. In this light, everything looks green, and game can be more challenging to see clearly.
White light is possibly the worst light you can use around deer because they are immediately able to see this light and sense danger. It is also among the brightest light sources available, which makes it even more visible to deer. Deer are particularly susceptible to bright lights, which is why they so commonly freeze or jump wildly when the headlights of a car approach them on the roads, causing frequent accidents.
Great hunters know when to use their brighter, white lights when stalking prey, and when to switch to their more subtle light shades. The FLEXIT Headlamp PRO allows you to do this seamlessly. It contains two panels of red lights, one on each side of the head, providing a high level of red illumination, allowing you to see clearly while deer remain none the wiser of your presence.
The red light will also preserve the “night vision” in your own eyes. The red light dilated your pupils less than a bright white light. That way if you are trying to hunt with no light or little light, but need just enough light to check your weapon, pack, or map, you can use red light to preserve your vision. The FLEXIT Headlamp PRO not only features red lighting, it is also dimmable so the user can set this red light to the perfect brightness.
It is important to note that this light sensitivity is specific for deer. The type of light that works with them will not necessarily work for all game, as each animal’s retina works a little differently and has different sight capabilities. For example, if you are hunting wild boar, you may opt for green light.
What type of light works best for coyote hunting?
Hunting predators like coyotes at night comes with its own set of unique challenges. They are small, agile, and have fantastic night vision, but what kind of light will let you hunt them effectively? They can also be spooked by bright light, but you will often need a brighter light to see them well.
The best light that you can use, therefore, is one that has a range of features that you can easily swap between as you need. A spot light like the one provided by the B.A.M.F.F. 10.0 and the FLEXIT Headlamp PRO is critical, as is a flood light which provides a more diffused and broader light, less likely to spook coyote. You may also choose to use red light for coyotes as well because it is a less harsh light that they will be less likely to respond to or notice.
Hunting game in the dark can be as challenging as it is rewarding. Using the right light can help make your task a lot easier, allowing you to see the terrain and game clearly without scaring them off when you get close. A flashlight that allows you hands-free illumination is invaluable as a hunter, as is a light that gives you the option to use a spotlight, or flood light, or both. Check out the FLEXIT Headlamp PRO for a great headlamp that gives you a range of lighting options, including red light, and the B.A.M.F.F. 10.0, which attaches to your weapon for a seamless flashlight option.