Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Does Camo really work?

I have noticed more and more that by watching a few of the TV hunting shows,that the Camo worn seems to stand out instead of blend in? Are we seeing a product promotion? I don't use it,I'm old school and still take my share of game,including Africa...
What have you guys found to be true?

Camo is now mostly designed to catch the eye of the hunters/purchasers, and not to escape the eye of the hunted.

I agree it's a crock for animals. I'm amused to see camo plus blaze orange vest and caps all worn at once. My experence is animals don't see you if you don't MOVE. If they see a piece of forest walking along, their off.

I still like the old woodland bdu stuff.

I still love Trebark...

I focus more on sound and smell now.

Smoke very little and put my cell on vibrate!

To me camo is mostly to 'look the part'. Of course I have some & wear it but movement & scent are MUCH more important.

Really wish there were warm, dry and functional stuff available in just woodland colors instead of camo but the camo stuff I have is comfortable and functional and I regard any "camo" properties way down in the requirements list.

Biggest buck I ever killed walked up to me while I was sitting in a clearing on a dead tree stump. Broad daylight, full sunlight, nothing around me but autumn air. There's no way he could have missed seeing me if I'd have moved. I was wearing full orange from the tops of my boots to the hat on my head and there wasn't a camo pattern on it.

Cammo is worthless for animals...except maybe turkey. For them, I use my cloaking device!

Dan

Pugs, I share your thoughts on wanting hunting clothes, with all the high tech advantages, but in muted colors.
I still use my old, old wool clothes, in grey, dark green, and in the black/red checked pattern.
I can't find replacement gear today that is not camo.

Much hype to Camo. It's made to fool humans. $xxx scent eliminating camo will not fool a deers nose. Just my opinion --- Web

The old timers at camp wear earth tone flannel and work clothes. They do just fine. I still toss on surplus BDUs, but it's more out of habit.

Those can work fine, when combined with modern poly-pro undergarments in good weather but in bad you won't catch me in cotton based stuff. I don't get to hunt as much as I'd like so when I get to go weather is not going to stop me.

I hunted for years in bluejeans(brownjeans doesn't sound right) and a light shirt.It worked in Africa as well.I learned to hunt from my Dad,who liked to sneak up close.Watch the wind and the movement,kill game...Cold weather clothing is getting a little to find,but it can be bought in Europe.
I am surprassed more people don't lose the flashlites,knives and their guns..

I don't hunt out of a tree stand or over bait so I need every break. Still/hunting ambushing deer in mixed fields and heavy cover is a lot different than sniping them from 20-25 yards up a tree where wind currents don't matter as much and lots of deer never look.

There's a strong case to be made for the no-need-for-camo idea. Deer do see well enough but do not rely on sight as a first line of defense. Some of the best traditional bow hunters/stalkers do not use camo but their clothing is non-reflective, quiet, and subdued in color --lots of plaids. They focus most on noise and scent control.

That said, I'm way out of their class and I need the camo edge.

Camo colors/patterns don't mean much to me. But I flat believe that breaking up my silhouette makes a big difference to deer that use the area more than I do and know when there is a new 'blob' out of place. I have watched them at a woods edge migration/feeding route poke their heads out and sniff, listen and LOOK in all directions prior to coming out or easing back into the thickery.

I also act and move like I'm hunting while in camos -- a mental thing associated with other camo ritual preparations. I wear a head net and gloves to break up the light off my face and hands. I can tell some of you that your flesh lights up like a lighthouse in some light angles early and late in the day and that is going to spook any deer around. I wash my mandatroy in rifle season orange cap with the non-fluorescing soaps. And then for good measure, I use fox urine as a scent masking aid on my boots. It works -- on foxes at least. I have had half a dozen come in right to within a few yards of my boots.

Just MO and I'm too old to change now. Maybe the next generation will even hunt in gaudy garb and sequins like the Vegas show folk wear and bom boxes that match the new flashy stocks and SS in vogue now... But not in my patch of the woods.

1B

Depending on what kind of natural background is available I sometimes like to wear leafy camo to break up my outline.

Otherwise, I agree with others here that movement or lack therof is more important than camo color.

However, here's an another view on the matter:

http://whitetail.com/camo1.html

Pugs, Texas' worst weather is better than many places best weather as far as a human is concerned. The deer on the other hand...

I keep a ski bib any polys ready for the teens, but odds are we will be above the frost point.

It doesn't hurt.

I've had a lot of close encounters with whitetail deer when dressed in street clothes. I am sure not a believer in all the hype about this year's gimmick camo versus last years. Most of my camo is from patterns that were introduced in the last ten years, but that is only because the stuff from 25 years ago was starting to wear out. I would never go out of my way to go looking for a particular camo pattern, except maybe to match something I already had.

One thing I don't see is getting all worked up over camo when most of my body gets covered up with a orange vest or poncho and an orange hat.

With turkey, it's something else entirely, but I'm still not a fashion maven. I keep myself covered head-to-toe, and I try to put brown stuff on the bottoms and green stuff on top. Some of the stuff is still 20 years old, but I at least pay attention to what I'm wearing.


Here's a tip: go to the fabric store and buy camo fabric by the yard. 2 yards will do. Take it home and cut a hole in the middle just big enough for your head and then wear it over whatever else you're wearing. It really breaks up your form, and it works soooo much better. Rather than a man wearing camo coat, the deer are presented with an amorphous blob.