Hunting camouflage?

[Trackerman]

What are you thinking, if you meet a person in the woods that is wearing hunting camouflage like those popular hardwoods etc? I´m not talking about military camou like DPM, woodland etc.
I´m asking just because I find it interesting with camouflage in nature, many animals have beautiful camouflage, and to get closer to some wildlife like hawks, eagles it may help wearing some kind of camouflage to get closer.

Looking forward to your replies!

 

[JohnL]

I think its called realtree english oak?
I do not like the look of it. Just me, but I think it looks minging.

I have no idea how well it works at keeping you hidden.

Hawks and eagles have amazing eyesight, however it only really picks up movement. They probably wont spot you if you stay still, but if you move they will probably spot you whatever you wear.

 

[Barn Owl]

I think that it's more to do with shape and smell.

Sit still,crouch or stand against a tree whereby you're not showing a human shape and the winds in your favour and you'll get wildlife coming close.

Of course when moving then any camo helps,but remember wildlife 'sees' differently from us and i'm sure the enzymes in washing powder can light us up something terrrible.

E.g. Kestrels and some hawks can see the urine trails of their prey.

Why the colours of some birds?

'Cos they light up in different ways to their prospective partners but not to their predators (as much).

 

[Trackerman]

They probably wont spot you if you stay still, but if you move they will probably spot you whatever you wear.

I know...
I been very close to deers and roedeers by stalking. And it´s very exciting. Just wearing brown and od coloured clothing.
But hawks and eagles are very different.

 

[RAPPLEBY2000]

Hi I am as i get older am getting more drawn to ASAT as it is designed for hunting!

You might find the following thread interesting:
http://www.bushcraftuk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=38305&highlight=asat+camo

 

[Grooveski]

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[Barn Owl]

Funny but when I meet folks in the woods they 'seem' to fall into categories.

E.g... 'Dayglo' colours = runners or cyclists or just plain skinny folk.

Red/black or blue type 'tex jackets = dog walkers,p/t birders,civil servants with week days off.

Dpm, usually with whippet,Greyhound,terrier or pit bull/mastiff type dog.

Advantage/realtree type camo,likes the hunting idea but still to obtain gun licences and proper dog.

O.D...ME! either birding,watching other wildlife or shrafting in some way..

No offence meant but OD rules and denim jeans are never comfy

 

[BOD]

Its not the cam. In a few seconds you can figure out the type of person you are facing.

Out here many use cam kit because choice is limited and it is cheap so you could be facing a real woodsman or a clueless person on their first bush trip.

 

[Chinkapin]

Trackerman
I never wore camo ever until about 10 years ago. I started turkey hunting and they are the wiliest bird in the world. There is no bagging one unless you are wearing camo or in a blind, and sit very very still. Actually, you can move as long as you move very slowly. Think Sloth. I have been out in the woods roaming around, exploring, hunting, etc. all my life, but I have seen more wildlife in the last ten years than all the years before.

If you go quietly into the woods, preferably alone, sit down on the ground with your back against a large tree, and are wearing a good camo for your area, game will walk right past you. I have had a bird attempt to land on my head; a deer pass by within no more that 5 meters. Looking straight at me but never bolting. I've had skunks and o'possums walk within a few feet of me.

To really see lots of wildlife you must bathe and wash your cloths with scent removing soaps. Also the white of your face and hands show up very well and must be covered with something. I use a turkey hunter's hat with a veil built in. and thin camo gloves. If you will do this you will be stunned what you will see and hear. You will hear birds like never before.

 

[trail2]

Heres the stuff I use.
http://www.predatorcamo.com/camo_patterns.html
Fall Grey or Evolution.
But I only wear it when hunting. Never wear it just out and about.
Use it much the same as Chinkapin. Turkey time is nearly here!!!
Jon R.

 

[Broch]

I use Realtree or Plain Olive (depends which jacket is on top!).

The Realtree is very effective, if you hang a jacket up in the woods make sure you know where you left it. Sit down quietly for ten minutes and the whole wood comes back and very close. The leaf pattern breaks up the body shape very effectively. I usedto use DPM but it is nowhere near as good.

BTW I use it for hunting with the camera mainly and staying out of sight of Jo public.

I really do not understand anyone that wears it to game fairs and such like though!

 

[Bushwhacker]

You have to know the primary senses of your quarry, most animals only see in monochrome, so you don't even need to wear cammo.
In effect you could get away with wearing a loud hawaiian shirt with the same results, just so long as you don't have large blocks of colour and your outline is broken, you should be ok.

Sound and smell are usually more important factors - get downwind, be quiet and restrict jerky movement.

I've managed to get within a few metres of deer before now on several occasions.

Concealing your face and the fact you've got 2 legs (crouch) is quite important too - bipeds with forward facing eyes signals danger to most creatures.

 

[Thijzzz]

I just use olive geen trousers and jacket, or a camo jacket - indeed whatever's on top. Face and hands are still very visible, but I stood watching a deer grazing for 5-10 minutes, the smell finally spokked him. But he stood staring at "me" (in my direction) for a few minutes before he took off.

On that same walk a fox came walking up to me. I froze and he passed me at 10 m, then smelling me probably because he wandered off, standing still now and then looking in my direction with a puzzled and cautious look on it's face.

I have also stood still on a small river's bank, standing in the middle of a grassy patch, some trees behind me, dressed green. On the other side (15 m away) cyclist were passing by, they never saw me. Good fun.

 

[HillBill]

Animals are a lot more aware of us than most people realise and even have their own watchmen. Blackbirds sound the alarm when they see you then a crow will circle overhead cawwing as a warning of your presence. Watch next time you are out. Corvids and other birds are very intelligent a lot of the time they will just sit and look at you but if you pick a stick up and point it at them then they are gone.

I think animals can sense your intentions aswell. They know if you are a threat. Nowadays i rarely go out with a gun and all sorts of creatures come and chill close by. For some reason robins and squirrels have no fear of me and come real close. I have even had robins taking food off my hands. they love biscuits fruit i can tell ya. This is without camo and with a fire lit.

The most effective camo combo i have used is Advantage Timber trousers and a DPM jacket, with face veil and AT gloves. The green above brown look is more natural than all brown or green. Yes i know they do not see colour but its the contrast between the colours that make a difference. It has to look natural. All brown resembles the floor or a tree trunk and they do not move as such where as the green does move with the wind so that shade causes less suspision.

I have crawled 100 yards accross a golf course fairway and dropped a rabbit from 50 yards a few times.

I will post some pics in a couple of days with different combos in our woodlands at different times of year. I have to find them but i have loads.

As said already in a wood movement is your biggest giveaway the wind goes all over so not much you can do about the smell just stay down wind as best you can. In the open smell is more controllable but you have to move if hunting ( unless you are laid up near a warren) In the woods the best hunting techniques involve 2 people and hides or sitting still

 

[TeeDee]

I have been looking at the New "Pencott" Material from Hyde definitions

http://www.hydedefinition.com/

I think it will/is effective as it has been designed as a Multi-Distance camouflage , similiar in concept to a mathematical 'mandelbrot' , further away you see a certain image , as you get closer you see the Image diffuse into smaller and smaller Patterns and Images as you get closer and closer.
Difficult to explain , but I think , more effective then standard DPM / U.S woodland print , Infact its probably closer to Flectarn and the new digital cams.

Worth all look, although Im not too sure what the animals will make of it?

 

[Broch]

Fractal camouflage - I like it!

 

[Chinkapin]

I neglected to mention in my previous post the the camo with which I have had the best results. I bought a piece of camo netting, such as would be placed over an artillery piece or truck, etc. This is the type that looks like fishnet with long curvy strips of vinyl. I cut out a rectangle of it and cut a hole in the center for my head and simply wear it like a poncho. I then don my cap with veil and my camo gloves. Then finally, I drape a small piece of it over my head and shoulders. This in effect gives you a ghille suit for practically no money invested. The kind that I have is multipurpose; green on one side brown on the other, so you can tailor it to your surroundings. Another nice feature is that you can carry it in your back pack into the woods, don the whole outfit, hunt, photograph, observer or whatever. Then take it all off, stow it, and walk out. Just wear something subdued underneath that won't show through. By the way, some materials that look subdued in the visual spectrum that we see in are glaringly reflective in the spectrum of many of the animals.

 

[Trackerman]

I used to own 3D leafsuits, but I sold them. They where very effective, I think I´m gonna start a new thread about this subject.

 

[sandsnakes]

Someone mentioned washing powder and 'flourescent camo'. This true, all of the washing powders that state such things as 'whiter than white' contain optical bleaches and perfumes. The optical bleaches actually make the fine whites fibres reflect like a white thread under a uv lamp. If you are a animal with B/W vision you would stand out as having a 'fuzzy white halo', every seen the effect of white threads on a black background at a disco UV light (now that dates me)now thats gonna freak out anything that see it! That 'clean' smell we have come to associate with washed clothes is a synthetic perfume, which must be like a stink bomb to wild life and shouts 'Bushcrafter at a 100yards' to anything with a sensative sense of smell.

You are better off using old style washing soda which will clean but leave no smell, has less environmental impact and can be used at low temperatures.

As a useful tip
Bung a bag of washing soda in a bucket, soak you gear overnight and then do a cold wash. Do not throw away the bucket of soda, now throw in your billy and cooking pans leave for a couple of days, then rinse off. All of the muck will be gone, works for hexy deposits as well. I have been using the same bucket for about three months now! looks like a black swamp, cleans just fine.

Sandsnakes

 

[HillBill]

Not washing my camo and rolling in the muck before i shoot hides the scent and makes you smell like the wood.

It works, better than any form of washing will do.