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Which camo?

S

schmick

New Member
Joined
Aug 12, 2014
Messages
5
Hi!
Second post already. I have no idea where to put this one.

Having been on a hunting trip whole last week, I realized that the camo I used was probably not the best. Sometimes it seemed that I was lighting up like a Christmas tree although wearing a leafy suit.

A lot of questions coming up...
What type of camo do you use when hunting out of the saddle? Are you wearing Ghillie suits? How do these work up in the tree - or even how hard is it to get up in the tree wearing one?
Does it really matter what type of camo you are using? Is it more important to gain height?
What about the location where you are setting up? Is it on a free standing tree rather than a group of trees? Do you try to select a location where where branches shadow you?

Perhaps these things don't matter. I am hunting roe deer here in Europe and the few occasions I used a saddle, it seemed to me that they spook very easily. Perhaps its based on the fact that it is fun to swing back and forth and my swinging was detected by careful watching eyes. Using appropriate camo and shadowing branches should help to prevent being detected.

Thanks, cheers!
 

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schmick said:
What type of camo do you use when hunting out of the saddle?
Are you wearing Ghillie suits?
How do these work up in the tree - or even how hard is it to get up in the tree wearing one?
Does it really matter what type of camo you are using? Is it more important to gain height?
What about the location where you are setting up? Is it on a free standing tree rather than a group of trees? Do you try to select a location where where branches shadow you?

Perhaps these things don't matter. I am hunting roe deer here in Europe and the few occasions I used a saddle, it seemed to me that they spook very easily. Perhaps its based on the fact that it is fun to swing back and forth and my swinging was detected by careful watching eyes. Using appropriate camo and shadowing branches should help to prevent being detected.

Thanks, cheers!
Click to expand...

I use KUIU Vias camo, I believe more in "breaking up" your outline that "blending in". I will sometime use my ASAT leafy suit from time to time.
Height is not a big issue to me.
I will hunt lone trees or clusters, I really like two trees that are just far enough apart that I can fit between them.

Thanks,
Boswell
 
I have used a leafy suit in the past but I don't anymore. My go to camo pattern is realtree AP. I feel that this is a pretty good all around pattern (at least for my area). I like how it is lighter and I think that it is suited well to being in a tree. Mossy oak breakup is too dark for me and I feel like I look like a dark blob in the tree. I also have some of the scentlok savana which is lighter and I like that as well. I like the predator camo patterns but I have not used them at all.

As far as height, I like to hunt higher. My target height is usually 25 feet, but this is also very dependent on the tree and available cover. My first preference is to pick a tree that has either 2 or 3 trunks and setup between them to blend in or to find a tree that splits around the 20 foot mark so I can go above it and hang in between the split. If I am hunting a single straight tree I like to go up to just under where the first branches start to use them for some cover. Again this is all dependent on the tree that I need to be in.

I think that I also move around more than most people, but to me this is an advantage of the saddle. I use height to my advantage and I am always scanning 360 degrees in all directions so that I can spot any deer and get in position before they can spot me.

I like Boswell's wording.. my goal is definitely "breaking up" my outline.

Good luck!
 
I'm using an ASAT Leafy suit.
Works great on the ground as well as up in Trees.
I'm just getting to a height where i have good background cover and maybe a branch below me.
 
HANDS DOWN!!!!! Scentlok's vertigo tan is the best camo known to man. Deer will look right through you.
On one occasion, I was walking down a logging road and I stopped when I heard some leaves rustle. A doe, 50yds ahead had stood up from the edge and took a few steps into the road. She looked right at me and then looked the other way down the path, wondering what she heard. I drew back my bow and she turned her head around. I took my time steadying my shot because I knew she couldn't see me. SSSSSSSSWWWWWWWWHHHHOOOOOOOOPPPPP!!!!!!!! :D
 
this picture really says it all. ASAT leafy suit.
 

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Scent Lok Horizon, ASAT or Predator Fall Gray most of the time for me. I do use some scent lok real tree all purpose (or whatever it is called) brown.
 
Had the apxg2 line, sold it thinking that sport fabric wasnt a big deal to me, I was wrong.I love my core4 in max1 and ill be adding kuiu in verde at some point before fall. I hate sloppy fitting clothing in the woods.
 
Regular ASAT now, I have two encounters that cemented it for me. I have alway's been a military and mossy oak guy, well after looking at some images I bought a used wool pull over of ASAT (regular). I was hunting (on the ground) using a small split tree in the morning. I heard a noise and looked to my left and in from a field came walking a nice 8 pointer. He walked behind a tree at 14 yards and My bow came up. I tracked him in front of me. There was no brush between us, and I said "self lets see what happens", I drew back and slam, double broadside lung, found him 40 yards down the trail. After the shot I was amazed I got away with it.
The second encounter which cemented it, was I was walking toward last light to the truck, just taking the time, looking for sign and deer, this was december in Illinois after second shotgun season. When I spotted a deer cutting up the hill about 30 yards in front of me. I stopped in my tracks, with no tree or brush around me. The deer then began to quarter toward me, it was a 3.5 yeard old buck. I got and arrow on the string, as he stepped beind a tree. Now, the deer walked straight toward me, keep in mind not brush or tree around, the buck got within 10 yards, then casually, turned and quartered up the hill the rest of the way. He had no idea I was there, period.

Then another time....
 
Vertigo tan in action. 10 eyes and 10 ears all around me, within 30yds.
[youtube]ndbGVI-ocfY [/youtube]
 
Predator brown
108ec64c50c83e439c0dc75fa81e6dee.jpg



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
I'm of the opinion that camo doesn't matter that much. I wear it, but I think tree selection and being still is way more important. I know guys that kill bucks every year in mismatched military surplus and flannel stuff. I wear mossy oak treestand, but again I'm not convinced is all that necessary.
 
Fact is you can put any camo against a certain background and it will disappear but it won't in all surroundings. There is dark stand locations, light brown brush locations, and sky lit locations. Getting high helps but cover is the best option for breaking and blending in. Cover will hide your movement which no camo clothing will do. A deer will bend in better in more places, more light phases, than any camo pattern and they are just a solid color. They disappear in an open field, green briars, leafy fall ground, cut over, marsh, swamp, or grass lands, no matter if they are in the shadows or direct sunlight. The movement is what catches your eye.

Fot instance, I'm hunting a pretty pressured, 4 months of hunting season public area. Deer always look up. I sat in a pile of sticks that was washed up from the flood this summer. Not a blade of grass on the ground. Wide open under the canopy. Can see a couple hundred yards through the woods. Had a doe walk with in 3 yards of me. The sticks and logs broke me up but it was pretty open and see through. I didn't move. She didn't see me and I had army woodland camo pants (my lucky pants lol) and mossy oak shirt with a Kuiu Verde face mask and hat (wear on every hunt not so much for the pattern but the feel of the material).
Another time I was in a hackberry tree (light grey Bark). I had on Natural Gear shirt and pants (perfect blend for that tree). Area was open and no branches on trees till 25ft up. I only had enough sticks to get around 15ft. I felt like I was standing out. Wind was swirling and 3 does came in. They didn't seem to notice me but I felt if I moved I would be busted. Wind swirled and they got nervous and looked right at me and took off.
Another time I was only 12ft up in a Sycamore tree. Had small trees under me and next to me with leafy branches. Had a few holes to shoot through. 3 does came in and never knew I was there. I walked around the tree and took a shot but missed. Had realtree AP on but it wasn't the camo that hid me it was the cover.
The majority of my hunts are in a new spot. I rarely know which tree I'll be in and they all would benefit from a different camo color/pattern. If possible, I always try to pick the tree with the best cover. Sometimes you have no choice but to be in a tree that you feel like you are hanging from a light pole in the middle of a walmart parking lot. When buying clothes, I buy for the performance of the garment, not so much the camo pattern.
 
I am from the other camp and believe camo can make a big difference. I wear either the ASAT leafy wear or the light weight leafy suit/ghillie suit - called a Kill Suit by allpredators.com I know I get away with a lot more movement wearing these camos - yes the deer spot the movement but most of the time they do not equate it to danger/human
 
I'm a big believer in good camo. Predator fall gray and brown deception are my favorites. I get busted a lot less since I made the switch to silhouette breaking patterns.
 
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