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Pumpkin Ghillie for the ground

NMSbowhunter

NMSbowhunter

Well-Known Member
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Jan 3, 2022
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With 2 and a half months of uninterrupted and unrelenting high powered rifle season starting here tomorrow morning, I decided to make a "pumpkin ghillie" for those occasions when I want to hunt off the ground and not get shot in the process. It is a simple orange cotton hoodie with some strips of hunter pumpkin orange sewed on randomly. Do any of you do something similar? What are your thoughts on ground hunting/deer stalking during rifle season?
 

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Yeah, that'd cool. I had the stuff around from last fall so just decided to DIY a bit. All I really need is the top and a boonie hat.
 
NMSbowhunter said:
With 2 and a half months of uninterrupted and unrelenting high powered rifle season starting here tomorrow morning, I decided to make a "pumpkin ghillie" for those occasions when I want to hunt off the ground and not get shot in the process. It is a simple orange cotton hoodie with some strips of hunter pumpkin orange sewed on randomly. Do any of you do something similar? What are your thoughts on ground hunting/deer stalking during rifle season?
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Love the idea but wondering if orange on orange is going to have the ghillie effect you're looking for. The utility of a ghillie is in the various shades, compositions, layers, and densities of the materials used. Thinking most of that is lost if you sew one color into the same exact color. Why not sew orange strips on a dark background color?

Remember when you did the ghillie ring for your boonie hat?
 
Red Beard said:
Love the idea but wondering if orange on orange is going to have the ghillie effect you're looking for. The utility of a ghillie is in the various shades, compositions, layers, and densities of the materials used. Thinking most of that is lost if you sew one color into the same exact color. Why not sew orange strips on a dark background color?

Remember when you did the ghillie ring for your boonie hat?
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Not that I know anything about nothing but this makes sense to me.

@NMSbowhunter I like where you're heads at though!
 
I was thinking about getting some black and brown cloth and sewing it in to break it up some. You have a good point about the mono nature of it. I was just thinking of breaking up the outline and adding some depth and texture. I got a shot at a buck off the ground inside 15 yards with just the hoodie on a few years ago. I think it is really about being still and having a solid background.
 
NMSbowhunter said:
With 2 and a half months of uninterrupted and unrelenting high powered rifle season starting here tomorrow morning, I decided to make a "pumpkin ghillie" for those occasions when I want to hunt off the ground and not get shot in the process. It is a simple orange cotton hoodie with some strips of hunter pumpkin orange sewed on randomly. Do any of you do something similar? What are your thoughts on ground hunting/deer stalking during rifle season?
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I've been looking for a high quality, blaze orange leafy suit for a while. Mostly for bowhunting during our early doe seasons and such. The ones made are by "not top companies" (meaning 2.5/5 stars on amazon.com etc).

So, I think it is a great idea. I'd consider mixing in some dark colors here and there. Keeping it mostly orange for safety but enough dark to break up the color a bit.
 
For the safety factor I want the predominant color to be orange since I will likely be in thick stuff anyway. As gaudy as orange is it does tend to disappear in the woods if they are at all thick. I've noticed this having other hunters walk in or past me while I was on stand.
 
NMSbowhunter said:
With 2 and a half months of uninterrupted and unrelenting high powered rifle season starting here tomorrow morning, I decided to make a "pumpkin ghillie" for those occasions when I want to hunt off the ground and not get shot in the process. It is a simple orange cotton hoodie with some strips of hunter pumpkin orange sewed on randomly. Do any of you do something similar? What are your thoughts on ground hunting/deer stalking during rifle season?
Click to expand...

In case you haven't figured out a system yet, if you want to wear it bow hunting, a full length arm guard and a chest guard (women and heavier set men wear them in olympics, etc) keeps all that stuff out of the way of the string. I use those two items with my brown leafy suit.
 
raisins said:
In case you haven't figured out a system yet, if you want to wear it bow hunting, a full length arm guard and a chest guard (women and heavier set men wear them in olympics, etc) keeps all that stuff out of the way of the string. I use those two items with my brown leafy suit.
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Yes, I was leaving the left side chest and inner left arm bare so the sting would not get caught on anything. The main focus I think is breaking up the distinction of the head/neck area and making oneself look bloblike and not a human silhouette.
 
Two things have really gotten me fired up about hunting off the ground. One, my trad consistency and accuracy has taken a huge leap over the past few weeks. The other are the Youtube videos that Robert Carter has been posting about hunting off the ground.

I love to climb and at 50 I am in very good shape and can shimmy up a tree like a ring-tailed lemur but at some point, age and ability will catch up to me, so I want to get good at ground hunting before I NEED to get good at it, if that makes sense. Plus, it adds a level of intensity to the hunt to be at eye level with the deer.
 
One thing to keep in mind when designing this system is what states you will be hunting in and their blaze orange requirements. This is a quote from the Missouri Department of Conservation's handbook for Deer Hunting 2022-
"You must wear both a hunter-orange hat and a hunter-orange shirt, vest, or coat. The color must be visible from all sides. Camouflage orange does not satisfy this rule."

For me hunting in MO I think adding brown leafy or ghille material to the sleeves would still allow it to qualify as the orange vest needed adding a orange hat with a good facemask or facepaint. And then set up with good cover, which is probably the most important factor of all
 
Yes, here it is 500 inches of orange. A vest satisfies that requirement. No hat requirement here I am aware of.
 
NMSbowhunter said:
Yes, I was leaving the left side chest and inner left arm bare so the sting would not get caught on anything. The main focus I think is breaking up the distinction of the head/neck area and making oneself look bloblike and not a human silhouette.
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This is how the ghillies made by a famous guy named Mark something that got in trouble were made. They were bowhunter ghillie jackets and were popular until he dropped off the map.

I agree about the head/neck/shoulder area. @Red Beard 's hoods seem to be good at that. I've considered a boonie hat with stuff hanging off it. If I was younger/like long hair, I'd consider growing out a lion's mane like Zac from the hunting public.
 
This is the Ghillie ring I made a while back to go over a boonie hat. That way you can use the hat with or without the ring. It is just a rope ring with strips of orange cloth tied to it.
 

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