Here is my latest video.. Be sure to check it out...
Wednesday 18 November 2015
Wednesday 30 September 2015
Episode 1
The first episode of my new Airgun hunting series looks at tackling problem grey squirrels
Sunday 27 September 2015
Sneak peak...
Trailer for series one of my new Airgun hunting channel 'Hunting with Hardman'
Thursday 24 September 2015
Hunting with Hardman the series...
A couple of weeks ago I began filming my new YouTube video series Hunting with Hardman. I'll be posting videos here, on Facebook and on Twitter to make sure people don't miss out.. Feel free to connect with me on either for more up to date news...
Twitter@hardmanhunting
Time for a change
After 7 years with Daystate I decided I needed a new challenge, something to reinvigorate me and love for hunting which had become a little stale, my enthusiasm suppressed during my daughters illness. I owned an Weihrauch HW100 previously and got on exceptionally well with it, so when it came to choosing what to use next, it'll there was only one choice really.
Sat on top of the rifle is a Hawke sidewinder Tac30 3-12x50 and its already proved to be a lethal combination!!
Phil
It's been a while...
After a long and hard period in my life where my daughter had to battle a rare form of cancer, I'm finally back! New rifle, scope, a new drive and determination..
I'm due to launch a new YouTube series 'Hunting with Hardman' and I plan to also keep this up to date with what I've been up to, both behind the scenes and in front of the camera. Stay tuned for some updates of my future plans, as well as some of the things I've been doing recently.
Phil Hardman.
Thursday 6 October 2011
Camouflage.....How effective?
I recently got my hands on the latest camouflage pattern from Jack Pyke. Called 'Wild Trees Grassland' it's mainly designed for use around the waters edge, in amongst reeds and rushes. Being a wetlands pattern will probably put alot of Airguners off, we don't often have a need to hunt in that sort of environment, and, apart from the edge of golden crop fields even I couldn't see much of a use for it. I stubbornly wore it however, mainly because I think it looks really good in all of it's high definition glory, and boy am I glad I did.
I noticed right away that, while it looks like it stands out massively in green areas, rabbits seemed totally fooled by it. That's nothing too impressive really, rabbits aren't the wisest of quarry but it did get me thinking. Then I went over to visit my pals, the 'Red Squirrel Rangers' in Cumbria and I again noticed just how much it seemed to stand out in certain areas, yet the squirrels, both Red and Grey, couldn't seem to see it at all.
The reason is very simple, both rabbits and squirrels are monochromats, that is, they don't see colours, instead they see in greyscale. It's estimated that humans can see 1 million different hues, and monochromats can only see 100, and because they cannot see actual colours, their vision is made up of 100 different shades of grey, from practically pitch black, to white.
I decided to experiment with the pattern by simply taking a picture and then using editing software to make it appear greyscale. That way we'd be able to see exactly, or as close as possible, what they can see when they look at a hunter wearing it. I added a slight blur to the image in an effort to show what the pattern might look like if the animal was scanning around looking for danger, instead of focused directly on you.
As you can see, in the first picture the pattern doesn't do a particularly good job, at least to our eyes, which can distinguish the colour differences and make it impossible for the lines and shades of the pattern to effectively break up my outline.
In the second picture, however, the tones and hues look very similar and suddenly the patterns disruptive lines do an excellent job of tricking the brain, which usually relies on recognisable shapes and patterns to spot objects in a highly detailed environments. In greyscale at least, it blends very well.
Unfortunatly non of this applies to avian species because they not only see in colour, but they can actually see far into the UV end of the spectrum. This means that not only do we need a good colour match, but washing our clothes in UV reflective soap powder (added to make colours seem brighter and clothes cleaner) could actually make us glow!!
Now, how do you take pictures in UV..............
I noticed right away that, while it looks like it stands out massively in green areas, rabbits seemed totally fooled by it. That's nothing too impressive really, rabbits aren't the wisest of quarry but it did get me thinking. Then I went over to visit my pals, the 'Red Squirrel Rangers' in Cumbria and I again noticed just how much it seemed to stand out in certain areas, yet the squirrels, both Red and Grey, couldn't seem to see it at all.
The reason is very simple, both rabbits and squirrels are monochromats, that is, they don't see colours, instead they see in greyscale. It's estimated that humans can see 1 million different hues, and monochromats can only see 100, and because they cannot see actual colours, their vision is made up of 100 different shades of grey, from practically pitch black, to white.
I decided to experiment with the pattern by simply taking a picture and then using editing software to make it appear greyscale. That way we'd be able to see exactly, or as close as possible, what they can see when they look at a hunter wearing it. I added a slight blur to the image in an effort to show what the pattern might look like if the animal was scanning around looking for danger, instead of focused directly on you.
In the second picture, however, the tones and hues look very similar and suddenly the patterns disruptive lines do an excellent job of tricking the brain, which usually relies on recognisable shapes and patterns to spot objects in a highly detailed environments. In greyscale at least, it blends very well.
Unfortunatly non of this applies to avian species because they not only see in colour, but they can actually see far into the UV end of the spectrum. This means that not only do we need a good colour match, but washing our clothes in UV reflective soap powder (added to make colours seem brighter and clothes cleaner) could actually make us glow!!
Now, how do you take pictures in UV..............
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