Thread: Camo clothing

To quote a mate of mine I often wear orange work gear and he is camod up to the eyeballs. His deer deer seem to be running when he sees them and mine are standing still (mostly). The answer is movement and outlining. More important than what you wear. Actually faces and white legs moving are the biggest offenders. As with all this stuff these days you should think more about what you are doing than what you are using. Same applies to rifles, scopes etc etc etc etc etc

If you fly over a riverbed on duckshooting opening day your would see the bits that show up the most. I believe it is the hands and faces shine like beacons??

I have found that the 'Veil' Hunters Element pattern camo makes an enormous difference but all the other patterns make no difference at all. Deer that are resident in an area memorise every tree and bush. When they scan an area if there is a 'new' bush on the hill that will cause alarm, so keep low and sit under a bush or something that breaks the human outline. Even better glass from just inside the bush. Big trout in a pool memorise their surrounds too and will cruise the pool looking for trouble

I have had a hind stare at me with the afternoon sun directly behind me, she never had to lift a hock to shade her eyes like we do, all she would have seen was the top of my head, part of my shoulder and the end on of my barrel, but she knew I was there.

Camo is good for hiding from other people with guns.

I wear gloves, even in warm conditions, movement is your enemy, swing your hands walking, reach to push vegetation out of the way, pick your nose or scratch your bum, point something out to your mate - and your hands are a semaphore to any prey animal. A proper hat that shades your face is a must. I mostly hunt open areas that mean the only way to close the gap sometimes is by crawling or slithering along in plain sight.

Saturday gone - spot two Tahr on a tussock face at 500yd with no real approach, put the dog in a down and crawl forward a few yards and flatten out again, call the dog up and put him in a down again, rinse and repeat lots, taking my time, taking a wee break in each bit of dead ground.My course was a bit random and never directly toward them. 40 minutes later sitting behind a big rock 158 yds from the Tahr with a brew on. Tahr have the best eyes in the business, but my movement type was what they would expect and unhurried, so no alarm

I'm not usually very camo ish and get a kick out of getting close as I can in the open. I don't run bright shiny stainless barrel and action rifles for the same reason.

When meat shooting in the 1970s i wore a blue and black checked Swanny as did hundreds of others. No knowledge of UV visible rays to deer back then. also when running possum poison lines in the bush in winter would often get that being watched feeling to then see a deer standing looking and not breaking in to sudden flight. Was usually movement and upright figure that was the problem. i was also told by an old timer when you're in stalking mode, you're in predator mode which can spook animals

Originally Posted by BSA270

When meat shooting in the 1970s i wore a blue and black checked Swanny as did hundreds of others. No knowledge of UV visible rays to deer back then. also when running possum poison lines in the bush in winter would often get that being watched feeling to then see a deer standing looking and not breaking in to sudden flight. Was usually movement and upright figure that was the problem. i was also told by an old timer when you're in stalking mode, you're in predator mode which can spook animals

I think that the difference back then re UV was that we did not have the 'UV brighteners' in washing powders like we do nowadays.

Originally Posted by Moa Hunter

I think that the difference back then re UV was that we did not have the 'UV brighteners' in washing powders like we do nowadays.

That's it exactly @moahunter outlining and movement are what they see, modern laundry detergent makes your clothing brighter and easier to pick up on in low light ask the Mooseguys that do the calling videos who get up close and personal they'll tell you!

the only camo I have ever worn hunting is a jacket I had to buy for duck hunting as the owner of the stand insisted that all who use the stand have to be in camo after we started using steel shot - I feel like a right dick every time i put it on. I don't feel the lack of camo has affected my success much if at all. I do wash hunting gear without uv brightners these days