to camo or not to camo ... that is thequestion.

[Bill Carlsen]

Leafy suits and ghillies are great to have on hand. I have many stories of deer being so close....well, once what scared them off was my heavy breathing. They were less than 10 yards away and the wind was right. I was too excited and my breathing was too much for them.They never made me out but knew something was there that shouldn't be. I fooled their eyes but not their ears.

[Don Stokes]

"Camo" is in the eye of the beholder. The key to not being noticed by game is to break up hard outlines, however you do it. That's why ghillie suits work so well. The tassles all over break up the hunter's outline so that it's hard for game to recognize that the hunter is a solid object. Plaid and commercial camo do the same thing, just not quite as well. I'll wear almost anything except solid colors when I hunt.

One of my fondest memories is Dan Quillian wearing a fake fur coat in multiple colors that he picked up at a yard sale. The coat was hideous, but he recognized that it was good camo, and hunted in it. It was quite a sight!

[Bowwild]

I do stay away from the "Scent-Crock" stuff though.

[KyStickbow]

Its camo for me!!

[deaddoc4444]

AN "Old timer" TOM COLE ( one of the Founders of ETAR) and   that was the name of his company when he was making bows "OLD TIMER LONG BOWS"  once on a bet  went out with a red plaid shirt on , red bandana "dew rag " on his head and blue jeans . Hunted on the ground and then shot TWO deer on the ground in that outfit!
   Its movement and placement on the ground and makng sure you have a good back grond .
 I use camo too but  also use Plaids when the colors and patterns are creating "Camo "

[Bob B.]

Thanks for all the replies trad gang.  These are the comments I was looking for.  I appreciate the posts.

Bob.

[Mint]

To me plaid is "camo". I like camo since it is made in all the materials I like and has the needed functions like extra pockets etc. When I am not hunting I am not going to be wearing a plaid shirt or camo shirt. Also it really depends on where you hunt. When I went on a hunt is kansas those deer were so unpressured I could huntthem in a white t shirt and blue jeans but on long island the seer are so pressured you better be in camo or you will be spotted.

[Lee Viv]

any clothing you wear to try to blend in is camo..whether it be plaids or earth tones, or commercial camo..to camoflauge is to try to hide or blend.....i sometimes wear commercial camo...sometimes homemade like plaid shirts and brown cargo pants..it's all camo....use what works!

[Pete McMiller]

I believe that all camo works to some extent and I do wear it most of the time.  IMO the biggest part of concealment is to camo your face and hands.  Just like we key into certain things when looking for animals ie. an ear, eye, nose or general body shape, I believe animals have learned to key into what is distinctive about humans and that is our skin color and shine.  I do a lot of waterfowl hunting and it is amazing how far away I can spot another hunter if his face is uncovered.  If all you can do is camo your face you will be way ahead of the game.

[Bill Carlsen]

My only other comment about camo is this. We can hunt turkeys where I live during the Fall bow season.  Coyote sightings are not uncommon and shots sometimes present themselves. I have fooled the eyes of both with good camo. I figure if I can fool them why take a chance on using anything else? I don't know anyone who would think of hunting turkeys or coyotes with a bow that wouldn't use camo unless they were in a Double Bull blind or something similar.

[KentuckyTJ]

Good point Bill

[LeeNY]

When I would hunt in my early 20's Woolrich red plaid was my choice, I still own it and wear it and as of yesterday I turned 59.

I've experimented with plaid, camo and solids for archery season. All are good and some have major drawbacks. IMOW I feel that the store bought camo's are to dark. I've been out and out busted in a tree stand wearing these.
Plaids of the newer less wool content variety are a good camo substitute but I've gotten cold way to quickly with some of the blends. I hate to travel with a pile of clothes when I go hunting.

My latest find has proved to be my personal best, Winona! I have both old and the new made in California. They keep me warm and are whisper quiet. They seem to disguise my movements. But as mentioned before wind and smell are our enemies. Control those and  animal skins and loin cloths would be the new camo.

[Bobaru]

Whitetail deer have poor eyes, and a small brain.  They can look right at you and not be able to intrepret what they see.  

But, I wear camo.  And, I mix - match my camo.  Plus, I try to stay away from any thing shinny.  Lastly, I try to get some trees in front and behind me to assist in breaking up my outline.

My buddy talked me into ASAT.  I bought a 3XL ASAT short sleeve Tee Shirt (cotton) and use it overtop whatever other camo I happen to be wearing.  It seems to work okay.  

The ASAT is similiar to the Preditor in that it breaks up a person's outline.  The best example of how to use camo is to look at WWII pictures of how they applied camo to war ships.  That type of camo was very effective, even in the wide open ocean.

[Ray Borbon]

Killed every critter without camo.

[Lost Arra]

Fit, material weight for the weather and usable non-velcro pockets are what I look for in hunting clothes. I don't care if the color is an earth tone or camo but most usable clothing for hunting happens to come in camo.

[park]

If im on the ground im wearing orange no matter what.If I was to talk to half the hunters in the woods with me I probably wouldn't agree with what they consider safe.I can't find them to ask them because they're wearing camo.

[Matthew Bolton]

My camo wearing is pretty much weather based. I wear a green plaid shirt until I need to wear something warmer or waterproof which is where camo comes into play. I had deer and turkey both look right at me wearing the plaid while on the ground hunting and just keep on walking the direction they were headed in.

[PaddyMac]

I wear camo (but only when I'm hunting). I first saw Predator in the LL Bean catalog back in the 80s and have worn nothing else since. The new Evolution stuff is just awesome, but I don't think deer can focus tightly enough that it matters that much. It is more important to not look like a human (or a bear or a lion) than it is to look like a tree or a bush. I mean, you could probably get by just fine looking like a rusty old farm implement.

Ungulates have more rods than cones. That means they can see well in the dark and are especially sensitive to movement, which they can catch something like 300° (don't quote me). But it also means they can't focus very well on detail. (Birds? Just the opposite. For them you need blending not disruption. Many of the things they eat rely on camo.) Deer supposedly can see blue and a bit into the UV range ... according to people who sell products designed to block UV enhancers in laundry detergent. I'm not sure they know what it means, tho.

I have a friend who wears a t-shirt (whatever's laying around) and blue jeans. He does very well. And he hunts from the ground, hunting almost totally by ambush.

He thinks camo is all in my head. He might be right but it's in there and isn't going anywhere. I think camo gives you a bit of breathing room when you screw up and make a noise or something.

I agree totally with the "don't stink" advice. I camo there, too. I am a firm believer in HS Specialties Scent Wafers and in scent free soap and ... water and not smoking or making fires or chewing and keeping my camo in bags with scent wafers. Still, there's the wind wheeling around and yup, there's that barking doe... pretty sure that bush over there ain't what it doesn't appear to be...

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