• The SH Membership has gone live. Only SH Members have access to post in the classifieds. All members can view the classifieds. Starting in 2020 only SH Members will be admitted to the annual hunting contest. Current members will need to follow these steps to upgrade: 1. Click on your username 2. Click on Account upgrades 3. Choose SH Member and purchase.
  • We've been working hard the past few weeks to come up with some big changes to our vendor policies to meet the changing needs of our community. Please see the new vendor rules here: Vendor Access Area Rules

Camo is not unnecessary

PancreasBroke

Active Member
Joined
Sep 13, 2022
Messages
126
Location
Central Virginia
So not trying to make it a rant, more curious how others feel or what you believe.

Had a buddy newer to hunting say he was buying hunting clothes and trying to avoid camo. I thought it was an ironic statement…

He mentioned some random youtube guy and I watched the video and had a good laugh. can’t remember the youtuber but it was some photographer who also hunts with a trad bow and makes videos. I thought his video was actually good as he compared camo as a distance in black and white. I think his test like many over simplified things.

I will always try to wear something that breaks up my outline, and so I almost always buy/wear a camo pattern on all my tops. I get the whole the gear is so expensive I want to where it everywhere, but I think you are adding a disadvantage but not getting one of the newer camo patterns; (sitka, badlands, FL, Kuiu) all have spent good money to get a pattern that helps like never before.

I share this from just my personal anecdotal experience. Ive hunted with guys wearing solids and all dfferent kinds and brands of camo.If they arent moving, i cannot spot people camo wearing if they have a backstop. And if they move a little its hard to make out what I saw (squirrel?). But solids, too easy.

I get deer can’t see well, but big old bucks absolutely can pickout the human form. Ive found having a good pattern up top absolutely helped with both close and far encounters. I will say lighter camo seems to be better. Maybe that’s why the old realtree patterns didnt work any better than solids.

I dunno I guess I find it funny hunters are starting to bash camo… stuff was literally meant to help us. i get stuff can be so expensive you want to wear it everywhere, but I want to wear my stuff in every hunting condition (like whitetail and waterfowl or turkey).

What ya’ll have experience with? Any similar stories/examples like mine.
 
Another example:

years ago when wearing the old mossy oak one peice coverall, i have many memories of deer getting within 20-50 yards and staring at me for hours to figure out what i was. Fast forward to today, with me wearing badlands or first lite patterns, and deer get with 20-50 yards and don’t see me at all, even with a blaze cap on.

Both examples I woild have had a blaze hat, a face covering, and some kind of good brush back drop.

Again - anecdotal and I realize memories are finicky.
 
While I do agree that camo (real tree, mossy oak,etc) isnt necessary, deer do see some color better than others...blue for example. Deer vision isnt terrible, you're not invisible in camo, its about breaking up your outline. Fred Bear killed deer in red flannel.

edit*: all said, i do wear camo and choose a design\color scheme i feel helps break me up for the area i hunt...I do also wear solids of the same colors (OD green, brown,etc) neccessary,no. helpful, sure
 
Last edited:
Jason Samkowiak is the guys name. He’s got a decent amount of good content out there but I do chuckle at some of his videos. Like everyone out there, you take it all with a grain of salt.

It’s not necessary to be successful in its entirety, but it certainly helps. Just as scent control regimens do, not necessary, but it certainly helps.
 
Early season when the leafs are up. I think camo pattern is less critical. When everything is down and the woods are open, it becomes helpful. But impossible to become invisible.
$800 camo set gets you nothing if your in the wrong spot with no front or back cover. Or picked off moving.
Like every thing, better more expensive camo does not equal more deer.
 
I wear camo more to hide from other hunters than from the deer, lol. That's why I hate when gun season comes in and I have to wear that awful orange. Deer can't see the orange though. I have determined to my satisfaction they can't see it. I think any natural color that breaks up the human outline is going to fool a deer's eyes if you are stock still. I think having one pattern on top and another on the bottom and breaking up the head/neck outline important. Dan Infalt had a video talking about wearing different camos and colors just to break up the blob human shape. A good thing about the tree saddle is it doesn't matter what you are wearing if you are behind the tree trunk from the deer.
 
I wear camo to hide from other hunters and the game warden lol
While I do think camouflage can give certain advantages as far as breaking up your outline, and in some instances comfort, I don’t think it does much to assist you with deer. As mentioned above, location, wind direction and movement are the biggest areas of concern.
 
We'll agree to disagree! There's no substitute for good cover, which is ample around here. Absent good cover, I would probably lean more toward ghillie-suit type philosophy. I don't think printed camo patterns vs. muted solids do anything.
 
1.) I had a doe run straight at me after bleating with a can call. As she closed to mere feet, I dropped the call which bounced off my boot. She hit the breaks and skidded into the barrel of my shotgun.

2.) The nicest buck I've seen in PA nearly ran me over a few years ago while chasing a doe, but at 10 yards or so he made me out and turned and escaped.

I was essentially motionless and downwind both times and in open hardwoods.

During encounter #1 I was in camo top to bottom.

During encounter #2, I had a camo top on, but black baselayer bottoms (I was checking out a draw on my way out of the woods for the day).

Does camo matter, idk.

But if I could have a do-over on encounter #2, I'd be wearing camo bottoms.
 
Last edited:
The deer is brown. The rabbit is brown the coyote is brown. It’s not by happenstance the animals we chase are not covered in realtree. U don’t have to over think it nature is giving us the answer.

I easily spot these animals far off. It's especially easy once the snows come.

Humans, I typically hear them stomping about. But even now and then I'm surprised.

Those animals surely smell far better than any of us.
 
Here are my thoughts on camo, most camo patterns are to cluttered and are sold to look cool on hunters. From far away most of these patterns are just dark almost black, as you can't see the detail. The one's that I believe are the best are the more splotchy patterns that, break up your outline, under armor camo, sitka, even the old marine splotchy camo from WWII etc.. These are more effective at breaking up your outline. I don't think camo is necessary, however, I believe that when hunting pressured deer that are already spooky my leafy suit is necessary. I have had a lot of deer come in and bust me moving, but b/c of the 3D camo leaf's they cant pinpoint exactly what I am and will calm down. I have a lot of deer literally walk under my stand with a leafy suit on. I had 2-doe walk in and feed behind me during bow season 10-yards from me while, I was standing on the ground setting my one stick. I stood still and they never knew I was there. So I know it does work. Another advantage of the leafy suit is that I put it on in the woods so it doesn't come in contact with a lot of other smells. Although I don't really worry to much about that, which is a whole other debate. The best advantage is, it saves a ton of money on camo as I just wear earth tone colors under the leafy suit.
 
I have expensive camo and cheap camo and I have moved to comfortable and warm layers covered by a leafy top, sometimes bottom. I play the wind like we all should, you can’t beat a deers nose. My leafy suit was about $30 on Amazon and deer don’t care what is under it… however I wouldn’t be caught dead without camo underwear… that’s a game changer.
 
Camo ads are usually taken from the side view with the hunter perfectly silhouetted against the trunk. When I'm on the ground looking up at a treestand, i.e. from the deers perspective, everybody pretty much looks the same to me regardless of what they're wearing. Not scientific, just something I've noticed
 
The deer is brown. The rabbit is brown the coyote is brown. It’s not by happenstance the animals we chase are not covered in realtree. U don’t have to over think it nature is giving us the answer.
Ditto this. Also look at the shading of brown on these animals. The pattern is it starts out light and darkens as it goes up the body.

When stalking, outline is something you don't hear much on either, but veils are great for breaking up head, shoulders, eyes and colors. Working with the sun at your back is helpful, not always practical for the time of day and area.

I do wear camo, but I try to break up as much human outline as possible with large veils.
 
I have a lightweight leafy coat and pants that I always try to wear as the outside layer in bow season. I have found that to be more effective than any particular color or camo pattern.
 
Back
Top