Trad Gang
Main Boards => PowWow => Topic started by: Wednesday Caste on March 20, 2008, 05:24:00 AM
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I had a chance last year to pick up some excellent condition ECWCS military pattern camo parka and pants for a steal. How many of you use military pattern camo rather than the commercial patterns ie mossy etc. for hunting? Is it just as effective as the commercial patterns?
Thanks.Quinn
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I shot my first deer with a bow back in the late 80's wearing military woodland camo from head to foot. She was all of 10-12 yards and never knew what hit her.
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The classic military camo is what I have always used too...had some left over from the CAP days that I still wear and always seemed to be the most effective breakup in all our ground hunting which is how we hunt most, on the ground.
Worked extremely well in both wooded and in more open situations.
Surplus military stores are a great place to get them also for a great price. :thumbsup:
Going to look into the ECWCS for the colder weather now that you mentioned it...Thanks!
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We do have other styled camo brands as well and does work great too, but think the breakup of this military pattern has just been a winner for us as any other and my all time favorite for our mainly woodland hunting areas.
And successful too like Brian mentioned :)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v83/fishrofmen1/2941.jpg)
(I would be interested to hear about others as well, good post!)
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The older style brown black tan green blobby stuff works great.... older style, that's funny because thats what I wore in boot camp and now nobody wears it. Anyway, the newer digital USMC camp works well too. Not as sure about the army stuff....
Works well, but my only caveat would be a lot of it has cotton in it. Obviously not the ECWCS stuff, but a lot does have cotton content so be carefull in the back 40 or the backcountry not to get wet and catch hypothermia.
Mike
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The Viet Nam pattern works extremly well in our early deer season here in CT. when the woods are still thick and green and I do most of my hunting on the ground from natural blinds. Works pretty well in the spring turkey season also.
The pattern I really liked the best was the old brown, black and green pattern for the early fall. Similar to the stuff you see in so many of Fred Bear's photos. wish I still had some. :bigsmyl:
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I used Tiger Stripe in the early 70's. Very effective in the areas I use to hunt back then.
I then switched to the old Brown Woodland camo when I started still hunting more, my buddy back then the Tiger Stripe made me look sorta "black" easing through the hardwoods.
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Altthough there are now some great commercial patterns, after all the years of hunting our Badlands in North Dakota, my favorite pattern out there is the now obsolete 6 Color Desert Camo. I have several sets of BDU's, boonie hats, and a field jacket in this pattern.
Not only is "chocaloate chip" great in the brown grass/rocks of the Badlands, it's great anywhere that has prairie when the grass turns brown...
I have to say the Army's new green/grey digital pattern is amazing. We have the big state National Guard base just outside of town, so we see a lot of it. I swear, those guys disappear when they stand still in a parking lot!
That pattern & color would be unreal out in the Badlands!!!!
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Jon you're right, I remember watching a special on the digital camo when they came out with it...it is amazing stuff!
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I have a digital camo rain suit I picked up cheap. It works excellent.
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I use the cammo that Shell posted a photo of. Its cheap at yard sales and second hand stores. Big side pockets make it nice to carry stuff.
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i shot a 130 inch 10 point from the ground this year wearing military camo... never had a clue
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i have done most of my hunting in old military cammo the best iv found is the old german cammo very good cammo for lots of different areas, its tough and comfortable.
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that extreme cold weather stuff is pretty pricey.
wow
Caleb
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Yeh, I know! Got it at a thrift store in Los Angeles area (the only place in the country where this stuff wouldn't be picked up in a blink of an eye). Get this, $12 for the parka and pants and another $6 for 3 cotton pants out ta door and no tax!!! I figure a 95% discount is a good deal- glad to know I didn't waste 18 bucks though (man I'm cheap). Hardly worn if ever. They'll be good gear for some cold weather up here in the Sierras/high desert. The visor on the hood and face protection on the jacket just pretty much covers my face and I'm invisible.
Sometimes visiting family and weddings can be a very good thing. LOL
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I've got lots of woodland camo. I've been in the USAF for 24 years. I modified a set for last season. I added two leg pockets to the back of the shirt and created a game bag inside the back with buttoned side slits for access. I added sleeve pockets too. One sleeve pockets fits a thermacell. I got lots of room to carry everything I need and it did not cost anything but time at the sewing machine. I even added a tiny pocket at the knee to hold the tip of my bow when resting.
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I have the Swiss Camo for small game hunting but the old Desert Storm camo seems like it would be comparable to Predator camo if you added some black branch lines to it.
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I am a fan of the newer MARPAT (Marine Pattern) Its like the old woodland but digital. I also have found that the 3 color desert camo the USAF still uses is excellent for grassy or badland type areas. Its the color of my hydration unit which seems to fit hand in hand. I still use the commercial patterns but almost always have something on that is MilSpec. I love the parachute silk scarves used as a bandana. Brings me back to my military days...
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I started out with green and brown woodland and worked very well. I use the old night time desert camo for early spring turkeys and groundhoggin'. I like the new digitals but haven't bought any yet. I unfortuanlty have jumped on the new age commercial train.
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Here in the Texas Panhandle the past few years, if you can look like dead, dry grass you got it made. Desert camo is great. You can even move as long as you lean from southwest to northeast and back in 25-35 mph gusts.
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I really like the Desert Camo pattern for hunts in the sage brush out west here.--works great and is light wt enough to be used when it gets warm out.
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My old Master Sgt. (himself a trad shooter), used to wear his old 6 color desert cammies when we went paintballing. He modified them a little though,... if I remember right he used "edge dressing" to put in branches, somewhat like the predator camo uses. Boy, the sneaky fella could absolutely DISAPEAR!! Didn't matter too much the terrain either, he would just cease to exist.
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Will the woodland colors be a problem since it's high desert terrain (sage and evergreens) out here? If deer are color blind (not sure where I got this info) will the pattern be enough camouflage or do I need to get desert-camo colors?
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Not necessarily a color deal it's that the woodland camo in desert or sagebrush terrain looks like a dark lump. Those animals live there and they pretty much know when there is a new lump and get curious. Curious is not good if at some point you wish to make a movement like drawing a bow. Camo is not so much of a color issue as it is breaking up an image and blending in. Gray and subtle white or lighter colored browns with white and gray have been used very efficiently for years and still work well. Secret is if you move, it don't matter what you wear.
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Rufus,
Secret is if you move, it don't matter what you wear.
Amen.
I hope to shoot a deer with a powder blue tuxedo someday just to put all the camo discussions in perspective... LOL
Paul
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"I hope to shoot a deer with a powder blue tuxedo someday just to put all the camo discussions in perspective... LOL"
:readit:
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It's pretty much all I use. Early season, it's the old VN-era black and green tiger stripe, and the USMC digi-cam knockoff for the rest of the season. Both work great in the Maine woods, until it snows, at least.
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I did a search for NV muleys and found this yutoob video of the terrain I hope to hunt. My woodland colors look to be close to the terrain. Note the lack of cover (I grew up in Westmoreland county PA to compare)! Now I just need to learn to groundstalk, make no unnecessary movements, don't smell, make no sound, blend and not breathe for about 5 hours- may be I'll be able to get as close as 150 yards!
:pray: Not sure how I'm going to make up the 135 yards to get to my shooting range. I guess it's called hunting and not shooting for a reason.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sAJ0Z1sZS40
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I used my choclate chip camo while I still fit in it to hunt elk and it worked really good. If they saw some movement through the trees and it was elk colored they didn't get alarmed. Joseph
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I'm very tempted to use the chocolate chip camo this fall instead of woodland camo. Anyone have any experiences using it in open (as in very overbrowsed by deer) hardwoods?
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I love the military camo, if it is miltary surplus and not a knock off, its of a good quality, I pick it up at the goodwill store for 8 bucks or so for pants and usually just wear plaid or something for a shirt. I mostly have the woodland pattern
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Thanks for all of your confirmation that my purchasing the military camo wasn't a stupid one. Being a total newbie and seeing so much of the commercial patterns that I was worried I made a huge mistake. :thumbsup:
There are bird guys in my neighborhood but have not met any deer hunters yet so you guys are my go to. Ironically, the kid next door thinks I'm the milk on cereal with what I've been teaching him (not sure if I want to let the secret out about the "gang" to him yet- gotta feed my ego a little LOL).
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Has anybody ever seen this stuff? It kind of looks like tiger stipe in gray and then turned vertical. I Have two sets.
(http://i138.photobucket.com/albums/q265/ehank2254/camo.jpg)
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I always wondered why guys go out and spend big buck on those fancy camoes, when you can get the military stuff for cheap at surpluss stores, and I'm sure it works just as good