The "concept" of camoflage?????

[SteveMcD]

I think that most camo pattern are made to decieve hunters more than to decieve game. If it looks good then you want to buy it because you think it looks good. LA Bowhunter

Yup.. I couldn't agree more. I have some camo from the ugly WWII camo from the late 60's and 70's to Mossy Oak Breakup today. From time to time I use it. But, I prefer wools, in plaids and earthtones. The main thing is to keep your clothing as clean and odor free as possible.  
 
Good Thread, Chuck!

[Brian Krebs]

I agree that the most noticible thing to game is not our bodies - its our faces. I have used camo grease paint; and netting; and I have noticed a lot of people use netting. It does not allow the animal to focus on our human features.

 and it works for the rest of the body too.

[woodchucker]

Thank You Steve!!!!! How have you been My Friend?????

[Arwin]

Here is a short video explaining why ASAT works so well. I thought it was interesting.

 http://www.huntingcircle.com/asat_camo.php

[woodchucker]

ttt,  

[KentuckyTJ]

Originally posted by rbbhunt:
Food for thought:  Deer have walked within feet of me (I hunt on the ground)while wearing blaze orange and just walked by. Maybe look for a minute and then move on.  If I had moved or they scented me though, the jig would be up!!!

rbbhunt has it. You don't move they wont see you. The reason I wear camoflage is because we have to move to draw our bow on a deer sitting just feet or a few yards away. They catch that movement. Around here something dark works much better than something light. I've found over the years the Mossy Oak stuff works great for me in our trees and foliage.

I had a long sleeve shirt on just like the pattern of the short sleeve when I shot this deer. He was 12 yards away from me with his right eye on my side when I drew. He never saw it coming.

 

[onewhohasfun]

Coming in late on this. Deer are not camo but they are light reflecting neutral. This is why wool and knits work better than hard or smooth fabrics, regardless of camo pattern. I think KOM website will give a good perspective on what you should try to acheive to remain undetected. Realtree, Mossy Oak etc, etc. makes you look like a tree. ASAT looks like the space between two trees.  the animals eye is not drawn to the object but seems to look thru or past it. Tom

[SS Snuffer]

This work for me.

[Pepper]

"Why is it that most big game animals can "dissapear" into nothing.....and they are solid colored?????"

Movement is probably more critical than the type of camo used.

Most big game animals, move very slowly and deliberatly, other than when they are startled.

I would say going slow is just as important as camo.

[Guru]

Here we go again......          

[mikeineugene]

Lots of opinions here.I have found that keeping your face and hands covered is the most important thing.What has worked best for me is wearing different patterns for shirt,pants,hat,gloves and face mask.Overall the ability to remain motionless when game is close seems to be the biggest factor.

[Sam McMichael]

My son, an artist who has studied these things, thinks that colors and contrasts that best aid in camouflage are those that create the impression of space rather than solidity. For example, a deer is generally darker on the upper part of his body than the lower, which from a distance in cover does not create so much of a blob, but rather creates an expanse of color/shade that doesn't draw attention. When seen from a distance many animals are thus more or less invisible. How many times has a deer walked behind a small bush and vanished? You simply don't notice the shape unless there is movement. Perhaps a good ghillie works the same way. The idea is not so much to look like a bush as it is to not look like much of anything at all. I feel that midrange colors and shades that match well with your background genrally work best, and this does not necessarily have to mean a commercial camo pattern. In fact, I think some of the commercial patterns are designed for marketing related eye appeal to human buyers as much as the actual camo effect. But, as has been already stated, lack of un-natural movement is just as important a facor in camo as the clothing itself. I'm certainly no expert, but this concept seems reasonable to me.

[Burnsie]

Skyline apparition has always been my favorite pattern,  hard to find anymore these days.

[woodchucker]

Now Curt, You know it's just not fair comparing ANYONE to you!!!!!

You're a killing machine My Friend!!!!! You could kill things wearing nothing but a pink loincloth!!!!!   :eek:      

[Guru]

Com'on Chuck....this is three threads you've brought TTT today....

What I'm saying is that you make it sound like camo doesn't work....maybe we don't need it to kill stuff, but the concept of blending in with your surroundings is sound and proven!

 Camoflage works!!!  Some works a lot better the others....

For you guys that are wearing plaid thinking,"I'm not wearing camo"..not so, you are. Your still wearing contrasting colors that help break up the human silhouette.....

For guy wearing earth tone solid clothing...your still wearing those colors because you're trying to blend in...again,camouflage!

If you guys really want to go "no camo", go hunt in solid color bright clothing. Then you're really not wearing anything that blends. To me that's  a "no camo challenge"....

I don't see too many wearing yellow, orange, chartreuse solid colored clothing during bow season....how's that for a "no camo challenge"?    

[Liquid Amber]

Some observations:

Dark blobs in the woods are natural and plentiful.

Reflected light is natural and plentiful and that includes UV.

It is hard to pick out stuff in one dimension; relatively easy in three-dimension.  A guy in a shaggy suit stands out like a sore thumb in 3-D.  These photo commercials showing hidden hunters in camo is a sham.  They are easily picked out in real life “if” you are looking for them.

In the mid 1960s I was in the artillery [forward observer] and trained in the art of observation.  That’s not to say I’m any better at it than the next guy, but I did get some good lessons in how poor at it the average person is.  Without going into a lot of detail, it is amazing how easy it is to fool one’s ability to observe what is sitting in plain sight.

Within the past couple of years I’ve attended some driving courses.  Besides getting to power slide around wet parking lots and running courses at high speed, a couple of classroom presentations were provided.  One in particular, which all participants flunked [including this highly trained and experienced observer], kinda’ explains how an animal the size of a deer can just appear.    

We were shown a video clip of a group of folks dribbling and passing basketballs around.  It was a test to determine how observant we were and the object was to count the number of times a basketball was passed to another person.  When the video finished, the class was asked for the count.  Most got it correct.  Next, the instructor asked if anyone saw the person in the gorilla suit.  Silence.  We thought he was pulling our leg, but when he rewound the video and played it back, this time wilh all looking for the guy in the gorilla suit, we were dumbfounded as there he was, even waving at the camera.  Now, how in the heck do you not see a man in a gorilla suit??

Several of us who attended the course were “not” convinced the deal was kosher.  It just happened that one of our group recently attended another course where the same video was used.  Having once been duped this fellow was not paying attention to basketballs being passed, but looking for the man in the gorilla suit.  He was there, so we are now convinced of its authenticity.

Attempting to be unobtrusive in the wild is an exercise in the “art of illusion.”  What you wear is only one piece of the puzzle.

[Guru]

Good stuff L A...

[ChuckC]

If deer, a camo man and a bright red silhouette of a tree are in that field which would you see first ?  Which would spook something ?

Camo is of the type that makes you dissapear and of the type that makes you "not look like a human" while in plain sight.  

A ghillie suit in brown and green does both (if of course the background is a similar brown and green.  What if it is blue ?)  A ghillie suit in blaze orange is certainly plainly seen, but doesn't look like anything  dangerous and is overlooked.

A black silhouette of a man would likely tend to scare deer.
ChuckC

[joe skipp]

I could write a book here...but I'll just listen.
  :eek:    :cool:

[SteveB]

Didn't read all the posts, but enough to see that many still look at hunting camo's effectiveness thru human hunters eye's vs the animal they are hunting. ASAT and some of the open patterns are effective because they are designed to fool the prey, not the hunter.