Camoflage/Ghillie/Stalker Suits

ikedaboy

ikedaboy

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I have been searching on the forums and i don't see alot of talk about camo. it seems simple but is so complex. if it is not blended correctly it will look like one dark, or light blob and will stand out. use the wrong fabrics/soaps and u will stand out even more to Ungulates. there are lots of great vids on YT how to make ghillie suits, bush rags, stalker suits, as well as face and hand camo.

Just a question for a topic; Who uses them, and to what success have you had stalking, and hiding from your quarry? Pics if you have any. i dont know how to upload pic on my computer (yet) but i will have some soon!
 
Those were only a fraction of the threads existent on ghillie suits.

I don't know where the rest of them are.
 
I made one waaaay back in my high school days for bow hunting. It was mostly just a pain in the ass. I found it really hard to see/hear with all the hessian around my ears and eyes. Plus the strips got tangled and hung up on EVERYTHING.

But I learned the error of my ways, and these days I just wear red plaid and a ball cap, and do a lot better, AND don't look like a knucklehead crossed with a samsquanch...
 
Unless you're hunting birds, (and to a much lesser extend bears) then camo is largely overrated.

Ungulates lack the 'red' receptor that we have - so items that have red in them just look like a different shade of green. They have blue tho - so no blue items.

Ungulates also have limited abilities to see in the UV spectrum, so if you wash your clothes with any detergent that contains a UV 'brightener' (which is about all of the regular ones these days), then at dawn and dusk you will stand out more than the surrounding forest, camo or not. Use baking soda or other specially made non-brightener soap to wash your hunting clothes.

Deer have very poor depth perception for most of their vision range, and they lack 'detail'. In other words, everythings a little blurry. They DO track movement quite well tho.

So - no blue, sit very still, Don't wash in 'all temp-a-cheer' with brighteners. And control your scent, preferably by being downwind.

For years my dad wore a red fleece jacket and ballcap that he'd spray painted a couple of 'tiger stripes' on (which faded pretty quick) and deer would walk within 20 yards of him and not see him.

Maybe bow hunters would benefit slightly, but i think that knowing how deer see and taking those basic steps above are more important than any camo. Sure - it's fun to have some and i do have a camo jacket, but i know it's more for 'me' than it is for the 'deer'.

Learn to sit still and you're 90 percent of the way there :)
 
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I prefer the ghillie. I use this o9ne everywhere including in the snow. It has no burlap or jute to soak up moisture. It is all cotton camo strips sewn on to a mesh base. Lightweight and comfortable so it gets used instead of left at home.
My supplier got burned out in the California wildfires but is back in production.

These things are scary effective.

I have had coyotes within arms length and had a magpie land on my buddy's boot while he was sitting.:eek:
 
I bought a roll of loose knit burlap at home depot. Its 4 feet wide by 15 feet long i think. Gonna cut it into 7 1/2 feet long sections and sew them side to side making a 7 1/2 ft by 8 foot cover. If it doesn't work, it was only $9
 
Ghillie suits

A ghillie suit made with burlap is more of a handi-cap than an advantage. Burlap has a strong odour that gets even stronger when wet. Strands of fabric fall off all the time, leaving a scent trail. When the material gets wet or damp it gets heavy fast, and if not dried properly it will mould quickly. It picks up every burdock that you come within 3 feet of, and when wearing a hood or hat you can't hear anything that isn't directly in front of you. It's also not exactly washing macine/dryer friendly.

It takes hours to build a hessian/burlap ghillie suit, and in my opinion, it's not worth it.

The commercial offerings available are a different matter. Suit's like Redfrog's are great in my opinion, especially for coyote & bear hunting. They break up your outline & add depth to your silhouette, so provided you do your part & sit still, most animals will pass you off as a pile of hay or dirt. To take the illusion a step farther simply weave a couple branches of local vegetation into the mesh of the suit. The ghillie material is usually a thin material that moves easily in the wind just like the vegetation around you and doesn't retain water, so it stays light. Nowadays you can buy these suits with a scent control liner, making them even more practical. I have a ghillie pattern suit that I washed once with a "UV-killer" detergent after I bought it. Since then I've re-charged the activated carbon liner in the dryer several times, but I haven't needed to wash it again.

The only 2 cautions I have about these suits is that if you plan to use one while bow-hunting you should trim all the brushy material off of your bow arm. Practise shooting with the top on (hood too if you use it) just to make sure it won't mess you up. Also colour is important. I prefer a light camo, such as Mossy Oak shadow grass. I've seen suits made with a dark camo like Mossy Oak break-up, and the suit looks black. If you are in an area with dark vegetation you can blend your suit by adding some natural cam. However, it's impossible to lighten a dark suit, so in an environment like Redfrog's, you'd stick out like an old tire.

On a different note, you mentioned face & hand camo. Hands are easy, I wear gloves every time I'm hunting. My favorite are CF issue pilots gloves, but after that I like the Rocky SIQ gloves. I like gloves that are thin & snug so that I don't need to take them off to do anything. When it's cold I pull a pair of mittens with a folding flap for the fingers over top of the gloves. I've never used cam-paint while hunting, and I probably never will as I don't think it helps. It probably doesn't hurt, but it's more of an inconvenience than I want to deal with.

Hope that helps, if you still want to make yourself a traditional ghillie suit, PM me for some tips.
Cheers.

Tim H
 
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