This years turkey challange..."Ghillie up"! (video up with finished product P.4)

[Guru]

Installment one...

 The last few years a real urge to start killing turkeys without my Double Bull has been brewing. Not that there's anything at all "wrong" with killing them out of a blind, heck I really enjoy it! But this urge has grown to the point that this year I'm gonna try to make it happen if I get the opportunity.

I'm still going to hunt out of my blind when I have Cade with me as I still haven't killed a bird while he's been hunting with me. So when he's coming with me, we'll be hunting with the DB. And as much as I want to kill one without the blind this spring, as long as Cade wants to come, he's the priority!  So the opportunity to kill one without a blind may not even happen.

But I know that it probably will because of Cade's other commitments to baseball and such. I can't be getting him up at 4:00 on mornings he has a game....he'll be flat wore out!

So anyway, I started researching making my own ghillie suit.  You-tube is an almost endless source of ghillie suit information. I looked at a lot of different ways to make them.

I wanted something that was light, not super hot, and something I could slip over my Sitka Gear easy and quickly when setting up, and also a suit that would slip off easily and carry nicely when not in use.

I settled on making it out of just netting for the "base" and would tie my materials to it.

As far as material to make it, I settled in burlap and jute. I know there are "lighter" materials out there, but the burlap was readily available, so I went with it.


The netting base. Fishnet folded over and cut out to the size I wanted then bound on the edges with jute rope pieces. "Head-hole" also cut out of the top...
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With rit dye, it was easy to get all the colors and shades I wanted in the suit.
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I wanted a lot of "texture" in the suit, so that meant using different materials to give it a real "confusing look"...
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"strung" burlap...
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"stripped" burlap...
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jute rope...
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Starting to tie in material. Started on the back side...
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More later...

[tradtusker]

Great stuff
nice looking work bud
i made one a few years ago but used a light weight jump suit then put the netting on.
worked great only trouble i had has getting rid of the smell of the dye and burlap.

keep it coming

[glenbo]

Looks great Curt.

[Stone Knife]

This is going to be good  

[Rob DiStefano]

Originally posted by Stone Knife:
This is going to be good      

whoa, yeah - this IS gonna be good, curt's a top notch craftsman in everything he touches!  

been thinking hard about '3d' camo as well ...

[ckanous]

Man I told myself I was going to build one over the winter and still haven't started, now you got me jacked up about it again Guru!!

[highpoint forge]

Looks good Guru. Let us know how you handle the bowstring and left arm relationship. I have not used an armguard with my RS Shaggie, but then I've not taken any shots on game with it yet.

[timmy c]

hey curt looks good i'll bring mine in on mon to show you how its going still can't figure out how to post pics

[trad_bowhunter1965]

Curt you are the man looking good  

[Chris Surtees]

Looking good Curt...this brings back memories of sitting around in the barracks building these for all our guys in the sniper section. We each had one for all the environments we operated in. All I can say is very effective!

[steadman]

 Very nice Curt! Been thinkin about makin one myself. Lookin forward to more.

[joevan125]

This is great and i can't wait to see the finished product.

I have been thinking about buying one of these suits because i have always hunted from a stand but would like to try hunting off the ground.

[Dirtybird]

Sweet, interested to see the finished product.

[Guru]

Timmy, Looking forward to seeing it bud.

Chris, I saw a video about the snipers and ghillies at your base on Youtube. Pretty cool!


Installment 2:

A couple of things I wanted to mention before going too far. Getting the materials was easy, preparing it was time consuming.

I purchased the "fish netting" from Michael's craft store, along with the "Goop"(glue), and the thick 3 strand jute rope.

The burlap was purchased at Walmart. I think I bought about 5 yards and still have extra. Also bought the Rit dyes at Walmart, dark green, yellow, and brown.

"Stringing"(check youtube) the diff. colors of burlap was the most tedious part of the building.

When I started the back side, I purposely started about 15" up from the bottom of the netting because I figured I'll be sitting down on a stool when turkey hunting anyway. So didn't need it under my butt. I left the netting on though so in case I want to add some burlap at a later time I can.

The sleeves are cut so there about 3/4 sleeves. With the jute/burlap I can add additional length as I see fit.

Bow arm(for me the right arm being left handed) with be left bare netting on the inside so as not to have anything in the way of my bowstring. The chest area on the same side will get sparse jute/burlap and will be trimmed very short.


I'll be wearing my Sitka underneath, so any bare/sparse areas will still be very much "camo'd" thru the netting.


The back almost to the shoulders. I'll leave it like this for now till I see what the hat/vail will cover on the back. Don't want to overlap too much from the hat to the shoulder area(heat)...
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Starting on the front.....I started tying all the way at the bottom and the bottom most pieces were left a little longer than the rest. I want it to drape over my legs when I sit down...
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Anyone "thinking about building one", just do it, very easy, can't do it "wrong", and you can make it look anyway you like. All you need it time.

more soon....

[ishiwannabe]

Very nice start Curt. I will be watching this closely for sure!

[rastaman]

 Thanks Curt!  i hope this ends up under the "how to" section.  Good stuff!

[Guru]

Installment 3:

With the suit about done as far as tying material to it. It was time to move on the head piece.

I went to Walmart and bought a $7 "boonie type" hat. I found this type hat over a ball cap because with a brim all around, it keeps the material off my ears, and makes it easier to "round out" the head/shoulder area to hide the "human looking" silhouette.

I started by slicing the top of the hat to allow heat to escape easily. Then started tying the netting on band in a couple spots, then cut slits in several spots around the entire brim and tied the netting on there. Trim the netting around the front, leave it a little longer on the sides, and as long as you choose in the back to drape over the back/ shoulder area...
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Kinda goofy looking, but I had to tie back the brim a bit in the front for bowstring clearance. Material is kept short in the front as well so as not to interfere with my bowstring...
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Could probably add a little more to it, but it's got plenty of texture, and the more I add, I think the hotter it'll get...
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Up next...Ghillie'n up a glove for my bowhand

[Cyclic-Rivers]

Looking good Curt.  Cant wait to see the final pics!

[DeerSpotter]

Looks like you're doing a great job Curt,

 but don't forget about deer, I use my galley suit for the first time last year, and I had a deer's nose within 1 foot of the back of my neck.  I will never forget that experience, I've never been "busted" so close !, Keep up the good work


Carl

[Randy Morin]

Thats sweet Curt. You are gonna get a real kick out of sitting in that thing with a few gobblers at your feet.  I dare ya to put the dekes about 4 yards from your feet.    :eek:  
Cant wait to see a action shot when your complete.