Does Camo really make a difference?

D

dd61999

Joined
Sep 12, 2007
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I wear just plain brown or other earthy color clothes and seem to do just fine hunting as long as I stay really still.

So is Camo really worth the investment?
 
Depends on what I'm hunting - tuyrkeys, definitely. Upland - not too worried, but I don't wear bright colours. For deer, I like it when bowhunting, in gun season it doesen't seem to matter but again, I wear muted colours when possible.
 
For things with very good color vision (like turkeys), yes. For most other game, no. Otherwise no one would ever get a deer while wearing a blaze orange vest.
 
Cpl Punishment said:
For things with very good color vision (like turkeys), yes. For most other game, no. Otherwise no one would ever get a deer while wearing a blaze orange vest.
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For deer I have had several experiences where I went out after work in Blue Jeans and a Carhart for a few hours and had deer walk right up to me but they were upwind. I am more concerned about quick movements and wind and where I am hunting than camo when going for deer. In the suburbs around here where you can hunt they smell people all the time so its even less of an issue.

I agree for Turkeys its very helpful.
 
Most mammals other than primates are color blind, so blaze is not a problem. Birds, like their immediate reptilian ancestors, do see colors. In that sense, humans are birdbrains. :)

It may help to wear mottled patterns for some animals, but as others mentioned, scent and motion are the big factors.
 
Hi,

Deer, like dogs see in monochrome. And rely mostly on their sense of smell and hearing. Waterfowl can see in color like we do. Though I suspect most camo is sold to fool hunters rather than game animals.

My personal observations from 40+ years afield is, it's less about how we dress and more about how we behave. Back when I did some guide work for waterfowl, I would much prefer you showed up dressed in bluejeans and a brownish shirt/coat. And then be able to sit still and motionless. Rather than have you wearing the latest and greatest camo, but you can't sit still. Those guys always made for a long and often fruitless morning.

Is the stuff worth having? The camo that I have is very generic patterned and works for me. but, I can sit still.:D Deer hunting here in Minnesota requires blaze orange be worn. Orange is also required for upland hunting.

I honestly think that a lot of the camo worn in the field is more a fashion statement than anything else. Much like those English gentlemen and their tweeds on a driven shoot on the moors.

If what you're doing now works, why be in such a hurry to change? And if you want some camo buy some.

dalee
 
Fred Bear never used camo, He always said its more important to be Very Still .He took just about every game animal on earth with a Bow. In pics of him hes always in some sort of Plaid shirt/coat.
 
the lone gunman said:
Fred Bear never used camo, He always said its more important to be Very Still .He took just about every game animal on earth with a Bow. In pics of him hes always in some sort of Plaid shirt/coat.
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Actually every late pic I see of him, he is wearing camo
 
The eye , any creatures , is attracted by movement .Therefore the most important thing is KEEP STILL !
 
For deer anyway, your best camo is to not move much. For what little it's worth, I killed a doe this past season while I was stillhunting with my longbow on public land. At the time, I was wearing a plaid shirt and a blue backpacking poncho draped over my shoulder. She had no clue I was there.
 
The biggest mistake I see most deer hunters make is not covering their smell.

You can get away with a surprising amount of motion around deer, so long as it's quick, and they don't directly see you. You can move, and then STOP. They'll halt, look, listen and sniff around. But if you smell like aftershave, you'll never even see them.

For deer/hog hunting, I just bury a set of regular clothes in a pile of dirt and leaf litter for a few days, only shower with water, no soap, sometimes baking soda (to remove artificial smells from my work environment). Then just be careful with noise and when I move.

Birds, especialyl turkeys are a real biotch because they see so darn well.
 
Smell is usually number one. Play the wind first and foremost, or control scent. I'm not a fan of the idea of spending hundreds of dollars on scent-lock or similar, but if you've got the coin go for it. I usually just play the wind.

For most animals that you stalk or sit for (deer and turkey) stillness is another big one. I've stalked very close to tons of both these animals in t-shirt and jeans. But if you move while they're looking at you you will get busted.

Sound is big also, but as has been said before you can get away with a fair amount if the animal isn't looking at you. It will, however, put the animal on alert and then you'd better be quite and still!

Most modern hunting camo is mostly marketing BS. As long as it breaks up your outline it will work as camo. Plaid works great in my opinion. I also have shot a LOT of animals in jeans or brown pants with a brown Carhartt coat on.

I do find "camo" to be very useful when hunting skittish turkeys and doves, since they have very good eyesight.
 
Smell, for deer and elk (and probably other animals), is the only sense that they won't/don't need to verify. Every other sense they try to verify. If they think they heard you, they try to see you. If they're not sure that they saw you, they listen and look.

If they smell you, they're gone. No verification required. Pretty amazing when you think about it.
 
The thing that makes me nervous about the OP is that it sounds like you will look a bit to much like the game (i.e. a whitetail deer) that other hunters will be after. I would no sooner wear a light brown Carhart jacket into the deer woods during open season than I would dress in bright red from head to toe and walk into a known crips' neighborhood in south central Los Angeles. There's always some trigger happy hung over bone head that is just itching to shoot the first thing that looks like a deer. You go walking towards your stand or your blind, you get a little warm so you unzip your coat. Low and behold you've got a white shirt on underneath. BANG...adios dude. If you choose to dress like that be sure to wear plenty of blaze orange. I'm just sayin'.
 
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