cats, dogs, livestock don't fear manscent

The dark hides things that you can't see, like holes to twist your ankle in, poisonous snakes, predatory animals, sharp sticks that can puncture your skin ... and ... and the people who are hunting you. You are not nearly as smart as you think. Beware of the dark. They're coming to get you.

RIKA

Hence, another problem with being an intruder.

The defender puts out manned and armed listening posts at night.

You're moving and making a stunning amount of noise, they are not. They also have a base with lots of batteries for their NV gear.

Even if they eventually run out of batteries, you have to survive until they do.

Then there are those nasty, monofilament trip wires that you cannot see at night. You know, the ones connected to the mousetrap, pipe, and 12ga shotgun shell arrangements.

They don't even need to get that fancy, just a few old coke cans with pebbles in them connected by monofilament.

Gunkid, are you deaf? I bet everything else in the woods will HEAR you move in this 'thick cover'. Come to think of it, with no map or compass how are you going to know where the thick cover ends or where the water is or where dangerious drop offs are, or thermal inclines, or.... oh, you don't have a clue, do you?