How much camo?

[NorthernCaliforniaHunter]

Enjoy a good bottle of wine the night before your hunt. Save the cork. Burn the end of it with a lighter, apply the coal to your face. Cheapest face "outline break-up" you can buy (unless you like REALLY good wine...)

[lpcjon2]

If you can break up your outline,and use drab colors, keep it cheep and simple.The most expensive camo can't replace poor hunting skills.IMO

[ChuckC]

There is much more to it than is being discussed here.

There are no hard fast rules.  I have had deer walk right up to me while wearing a ghillie suit, I have also had them walk right past me while I was leaning against a tree with blue jeans and a tan short sleeve.

Movement they will catch.  Scent they will catch.  The rest. .  well  it absolutely . .  depends.

Part of what is happening with a lot of folks is the ideal that  they don't need to do all those things,  a technical rebellion if you will.  

I don't want to have to purchase a $1,500 bow,  I don't need $120/dz arrow shafts and $30 a pop broadheads.  I don't need fart proof clothing, or magnetic aura proof clothing or all of that.  

A Fred Bear hat, a plaid shirt, a pair of soft pants and let me have my time in the woods.

I also don't NEED to kill something.  Oh I want to. . .   really.  But if I don't get the opportunity I'm not gonna cry.  

I'm also not gonna have to run out and buy more technology so I can get closer no matter the wind and shoot farther to reach out so that big one can't get away, etc etc.

There is a line in the sand that each of us draws.  Each does this based upon their needs, their wants, and some peer pressure, but all these things at THAT time.  THAT time changes all the time with new experiences, with age, with increased skills or abilities.

Yeah.. camo works.   Yeah Ghillies REALLY work (for now).  Those new (not) mirror blinds that reflect what is around you will probably work. A well tuned compound with pins out to 80 yards will work, as will a scoped .270.

In the end. . . you will decide what is right for you, and what is enough.
ChuckC

[Cyclic-Rivers]

I've had deer practically kiss me while wearing my "Pumpkin Suit" Many times over.

I second what every one else says Movement and wind are more critical.

Break up your outline as much as possible.

[Don Stokes]

Wearing gray and white in deer season, even bow season, is NOT a good idea. Deer are gray and white. Some hunters are stupid, too inexperienced, or too eager. And people DO get shot with arrows. You never know for sure who's out there, and what state of mind they're in.

[Thumper Dunker]

Movement is what gets you . If your like me and have bright pink face and hands it helps to cover them up.Camo plaid it all works.

[Bear]

Any given deer, at any given time, can be very jumpy, relaxed, highly educated, or dumb. You just never know what's gonna happen if they see you.

I'd like to have a good set of Predator, ASAT, or Sitka, but until I can afford it I'll just keep killing deer in my Carhart's and flannel.

[Ground Hunter]

Ghillie + Public Hunting Land = Natural Selection.  H

[Daddy Bear]

Every single thing you take with you into the woods can reduce your odds of going undetected when hunting wild game, including your camo.  

One can get very close to wild game wearing nothing but a loin cloth with one's exposed skin covered in soot and mud.  Anything else can add bulk, can reduce mobility, can hold scent, can make noise, can catch and snag, etc.  Whatever else you take needs to have added value and benefit greater than that of its liability.  As an example, carrying and maneuvering a weapon reduces your chances of going undetected, but you must have a weapon to cleanly dispatch the game.  

Everything you wear and carry will have a give and take as to benefit vs liability.  This includes the wearing of excessive camo beyond that of what it takes to merely break up your outline and to keep you comfortable.  Bulky ghillies and leafy suits as an example may very well fit the bill for a dedicated sniper 200 to 300 meters away from the intended target, but they may prove an absolute disaster for someone trying to move through the woods while within 50yards of wild game as they can hinder movement, snag, and they are a scent sponge.  Having super sharp contrasting camo that clearly breaks up your outline while motionless, may also be a complete disaster during movement as the sharp contrast is easily spotted while moving.  Some light and comfortable wonder synthetics may prove a greater liability in low light due to the presence of UV.  The list goes on and on.  You should consider this when selecting your gear to include camo if your decisions are based upon more than hype and a placebo effect.

It is difficult to best natural materials when it comes to blending into nature while remaining silent and comfortable with reduced scent.  I think it incredible how well an animal of solid bland color can nearly disappear when within stone throwing distance.  I also think it incredible how well such animals can easily follow and find each other over great distances by using their sense of smell.  This makes it clear to me that a hunters proper use of the sun, winds, and thermals in combination with a well disciplined use of minimal movement trumps that of any and every camo pattern ever developed by modern man to be sold through Cabelas.  This includes when hunting large mature whitetail bucks.

Best:)

[GingivitisKahn]

Just wear whatever makes you feel sneaky and sit still ( or move very very carefully ).

[wollelybugger]

I like the colors gray, olive and dark brown and buy polar fleeces and wool pants and shirts when I find them on sale. I like the wool because of the noise factor, you can rub a tree or have brush hit you and it doesn't make any sounds.

[Shedrock]

I quit wearing "camo" a couple years ago. I really got tired of seeing the stuff, trucks, flashlights, boots, ect. That camo stuff is way too spendy for me also. The patterns fade out way faster than any of my plaid shirts.

I do most of my hunting spot and stalk. My success rate has not gone down since I started wearing Carharts and plaids. The landowners that allow me to hunt say that I look presentable now.

I think it's funny when a guy wears full camo in a blind. What's the point?

Move very slow and keep the wind in your face.

[Ken Taylor]

I was never a camo fanatic but the older I get, the less important camo is to me. My harvest rate hasn't declined any either through the years.

I have nothing against camo, and wear it (getting harder to buy certain items not camo) along with plaids, and solid earth tone hunting clothing I happen to have. Material is much more important to me than color.

I have to admit though that I'm not crazy about looking like I just stepped out of a catalogue or a T.V. hunting show. That I try to avoid at all cost!

[K. Mogensen]

Interesting, read a chapter in a book about this recently. Seems like it's divided. Me personally, hunting in the rifle season, I'm stuck with orange, and have been in bow range. I don't see a problem if you do or if you don't. But I would advise that you go with what makes you confident. If wearing camo from head to toe makes it so you believe that you can get close to a deer, than wear it by all means. If you can go out in levis, a t shirt, and a blaze orange vest (my general hunting attire) and believe that you can get close to a deer, than that's all you need. To me, a lot of it is confidence in yourself.

[amar911]

My experience is that camo works and good camo matched to the surroundings works very well. The effect is most noticeable when hunting deer that are hunted regularly or with turkeys who have incredible eyesight and see in color. Plaids can be a form of camo too, but they are often not as effective as something with more contrast and a less structured pattern. Movement and smell are definitely the two things that will give us away first, but that does not mean camo doesn't work. If you want to see how nature protects animals, look at the natural camo patterns on many animals. Fawns are better camouflaged that adult deer because the adults have better senses and can run and jump faster to escape. Leopards have spots to disguise them when they are stalking prey. Same with bobcats and various other cat species. Zebra, kudu, and other prey animals have striped coats. Fish and birds are often camouflaged with intricate patterns. Even many insects and reptiles are camouflaged. I can see a deer fairly easily in the woods, but a bobcat is far more difficult to spot.

I am all for those who choose not to use camo, but that does not diminish its effectiveness in the proper situations. I do agree that the use of camo does not excuse a hunter from exercising good hunting skills if he expects to be able to arrow a deer with traditional archery equipment.

Allan

[Mojostick]

Again, it all depends on hunting pressure. If out west, I think you could sometimes wear solid hot pink and kill mature animals. When in B.C. and Alberta, we all wore bluejeans and colored T shirts. The moose and elk out there couldn't have cared less.
But extremely pressured whitetails in select area's of select states...it's night and day.

Of course movement is very important, but in heavy pressured area's, you often get busted even if you don't twitch a hair and the wind is 100% perfect, but your pattern doesn't match the background.

Michigan has over 300,000 bowhunters. And if you're in an area where they are centered, you'll never understand that kind of pressure until you see it for yourself.

[Daddy Bear]

Keep in mind that many of the natural "camo" patterns that have evolved on wild prey animals is not that of something to hide the animal from detection, but it is a natural result of what makes it difficult for a predator to single out a specific animal from the herd.  Also many high contrast natural patterns on young is a natural result of what is effective when the animal instinctively drops to the ground and remains absolutely motionless.  High contrast of stripes on a zebra will greatly aid detection if that zebra is alone from the herd as it would stand out like a sore thumb.  High contrast on young would also aid detection if the animal moved instead of remained motionless.  Same goes for the reasoning and testing data that supported the military change to a digital camo pattern to reduce the chance of detection during movement.

A trained human will have a far easier time spotting a hunter moving through natural surrounds wearing a high contrast pattern such as ASAT in comparision to a lower contrast of digital patterns.  The characteristics that makes it difficult to pick out ASAT when motionless gives an easily referenced point of focus during times of movement.  Animals through their very survival in nature have developed a greater ability to detect such movement than that of the most highly trained human observer.

As noted previously, choose what gives you the greatest confidence.   But, if your choice is to be based on more than hype and a placebo effect, take into consideration the realities of camo and weigh your choices to give you the biggest bang for the buck when it comes to your overall package as to comfort, mobility, quietness, reduced scent retention, the ability to blend, and the ability to mask well disciplined movement.  If you scramble, have gear that allows you to scramble.  If you bushwack, have gear that allows you to bushwack.  If you need to maximize use of your natural 180degree field of vision, have gear that does not restrict your field of vision.  Do not allow a particular marketed camo pattern trump all the other variables of the overall package.

Best:)

[getstonedprimitivebowhunt]

You need about the same as a "DEER". You can't see them much when there still.

[outdoorsmanchad123]

in my experience its about breaking up your human form outline and minimizing or eliminating movement at the right time ungulates dontsee in true color like you or i so any thing that breaks up your form will work.I once read a study done by a guy who had black and white pics in various clothing to try and find the best cammo,and the one pic that changed my wat of thinkink was the bright red Hawian shirt with florecent flowers all over it,in his situation where he was,worked better than the cammo pants he was wearing (in the black and white photo)Do i wear cammo? yes, but i try and pick the best one to break up my outline for where im hunting

Unless you are planning on shooting deer in the dark I would stay away from camo that looks dark. For deer  I am not so sure how important exact camo patterns are, but turkeys they can see so good that they can tell if you are carrying a turkey tag in the fall.  If you don't have a fall turkey tag camo is not required to get in easy bow range, in the spring nothing beats a blind or a gillie suit.  I do have a constant fear of being too invisible to some of the young over anxious turkey gun hunters, they think everything they see is a turkey.