Camouflage clothing, yay or nay?
- Thread starter Rhythm & Soul
- Start date
- Location
- Prince Albert, Sk
Wives tale!
It wasn't always this way, when I was a kid we had to wear red or orange and there was no hunting on Sunday, but we could use handgunsso some things are better some things are not.
Just a guess but i'm guessing you're over 60 , maybe crowding 70 . The last year we could legally hunt with a hand gun in Ontario was 1978 . I shot a small bull up by Shining Tree , north of Sudbury with a Ruger Blackhawk .41 magnum . Pulled into the truck stop the next morning for gas an coffee and a CO and an OPP came over to look at my moose . They were carrying Model 10 S&W .38 Special revolvers . We walked out behind the truck stop and took turns shooting each others guns . They loved mine . In 1979 with wording on my/our ATTs was changed with "approved ranges" added and that ended taking a hand gun to the bush .
Better?
I met Fred at Ecketts store and gas station in Iron Bridge in 1966 . Even though i was young i knew exactly who he was as i never missed an episode of American Sportsman . I was buying BBs . I said , hello Mr . Bear . He replied , hello young fella . The year before so 1965 in met Roy Rogers who was up here moose hunting and he was wearing a Colt on his right side and had a Weatherby rifle . That was at Wabigoon but i don't recall the name of the lodge .
There’s been loads of studies done on how and what deer can and cannot see.They see colours in a different spectrum then we do.They don’t see reds very well,which is why hunter orange is not a huge disadvantage,they see orange more as a shade of grey.They see UV and blue spectrum very well,blue jeans are about the worst thing you can wear deer hunting.
Red n black plaid jacket and black wool pants worked very well for centuries.
Camo prints with too much detail tend to just blob together at a distance but look really cool on the Cabelas clothing rack.
More open patterns such as Predator conceal movement and break up your outline better from a distance.
Waterfowl/turkey hunting is a different story,birds see colours very well,bright colourful plumage is a communication method in the avian world.
Moose have relatively poor eyesight,often as not I just wear a black hoodie weather permitting,effectively turning myself into a mobile decoy complete with fake cardboard or plywood antlers.
Winter coyote hunting,I’ve worn everything from CDN surplus all white suit,to realtree snow camo pattern,white jute Ghilliei suit,to a white poncho bed sheet and everything in between.....but reality is,movement is the key factor.Sit still,head on a very slow swivel,and they generally won’t see you until it’s too late.Legendary Arizona coyote hunter the late Gerry Blair has called coyotes literally into his lap wearing a Santa Claus suit just to prove it can be done.
I bought into the camo marketing hype for decades,going back to the Trebark days of the early 80s......nowadays I don’t concern myself so much with it and focus more on warm,dry,functional clothing......wool and liteweight,quiet,waterproof gear....but it just so happens that most of the best gear suited for staying comfortable while hunting is often only offered in camo.Good quality gear like Sitka/KUIU etc would be just as functional in flat earth/drab olive solid colours,maybe a splash of black lines to break up silhouette.......but it sells better if it looks cool.
Red n black plaid jacket and black wool pants worked very well for centuries.
Camo prints with too much detail tend to just blob together at a distance but look really cool on the Cabelas clothing rack.
More open patterns such as Predator conceal movement and break up your outline better from a distance.
Waterfowl/turkey hunting is a different story,birds see colours very well,bright colourful plumage is a communication method in the avian world.
Moose have relatively poor eyesight,often as not I just wear a black hoodie weather permitting,effectively turning myself into a mobile decoy complete with fake cardboard or plywood antlers.
Winter coyote hunting,I’ve worn everything from CDN surplus all white suit,to realtree snow camo pattern,white jute Ghilliei suit,to a white poncho bed sheet and everything in between.....but reality is,movement is the key factor.Sit still,head on a very slow swivel,and they generally won’t see you until it’s too late.Legendary Arizona coyote hunter the late Gerry Blair has called coyotes literally into his lap wearing a Santa Claus suit just to prove it can be done.
I bought into the camo marketing hype for decades,going back to the Trebark days of the early 80s......nowadays I don’t concern myself so much with it and focus more on warm,dry,functional clothing......wool and liteweight,quiet,waterproof gear....but it just so happens that most of the best gear suited for staying comfortable while hunting is often only offered in camo.Good quality gear like Sitka/KUIU etc would be just as functional in flat earth/drab olive solid colours,maybe a splash of black lines to break up silhouette.......but it sells better if it looks cool.
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blasted_saber
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- A blue part of Ontario
My camo is waterproof and made of a silent material. So I wear it. To stay dry. And quiet.
1963beretta
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Vaughan, Ontario
Yay for camo.....its a must for turkey and waterfowl so I have lots of camo clothing as those are the primary hunts I do. If I go out for anything else, I use the same clothing regardless if its needed or not. No sense getting anything else dirty in the field
I feel left out. In SK, we are required to wear orange, not sure how much any more. I wear all blaze orange, never even been shot at. Any dumba$$ that shoots at another person in the field is going to shoot, blaze orange, expensive camo, plaid shirt or bare naked - no matter.
I have hunted whitetail in SE SK for better that 50 years. Can't say that I've been "shot at", but have had bullets whistle over my head from who knows how far away. As posters above have stated, noise, movement, and odor will alert animals. I've had adult deer walk past me within 50 feet, look at me and keep on walking, me in all my blaze orange glory.
The business of wearing camo and never been shot at reminds me of an old guy who refused to wear his seat belt. He rolled his old grain truck into a slough, and "the cop told me if I had been wearing a seat belt, I would never have survived". Therefore nobody needed to wear seat belts.
I have hunted whitetail in SE SK for better that 50 years. Can't say that I've been "shot at", but have had bullets whistle over my head from who knows how far away. As posters above have stated, noise, movement, and odor will alert animals. I've had adult deer walk past me within 50 feet, look at me and keep on walking, me in all my blaze orange glory.
The business of wearing camo and never been shot at reminds me of an old guy who refused to wear his seat belt. He rolled his old grain truck into a slough, and "the cop told me if I had been wearing a seat belt, I would never have survived". Therefore nobody needed to wear seat belts.
Know this guy ?
Grizz
the 270 win owes him a lot ....
I've got a couple of pairs of military surplus camo pants that I got more for convenience, extra pockets and price than the fact that they are camo. There is even a little pocket inside the right hand cargo pocket that takes my Buck light or Swiss army knife so that always know where it is and it's easy to get.
I've got a couple of fleece thick shirts plus pants that are in camo I got from Army and Navy real cheap, but I rarely wear them as outer wear, usually under rain gear or neoprene for waterfowling.
And yes, I have a camo Cabela's Dry-plus camo jacket for big game hunting. Again, convenience of numerous pockets, a certain amount of rain resistance (Dry-Plus is NOT waterproof) were selling points. I would have bought the same in a neutral green or gray if they made 'em, but of course everything available for hunting now is camo.
90% of camo patterns just blend into a brown blob past 80 yards anyway.
Sometimes I just wear a Canadian army green zip fleece for a top too.
And once it starts to get a little cooler I wear a pair of medium weight green wool ex military dress pants
I've got a couple of fleece thick shirts plus pants that are in camo I got from Army and Navy real cheap, but I rarely wear them as outer wear, usually under rain gear or neoprene for waterfowling.
And yes, I have a camo Cabela's Dry-plus camo jacket for big game hunting. Again, convenience of numerous pockets, a certain amount of rain resistance (Dry-Plus is NOT waterproof) were selling points. I would have bought the same in a neutral green or gray if they made 'em, but of course everything available for hunting now is camo.
90% of camo patterns just blend into a brown blob past 80 yards anyway.
Sometimes I just wear a Canadian army green zip fleece for a top too.
And once it starts to get a little cooler I wear a pair of medium weight green wool ex military dress pants
Did he shoot the dog too? Its pose is very awkward, ha.
Reasonably priced outdoor gear pretty much all comes in camo, I know I re-use my outdoor gear for other activities so it's not surprising a hunting jacket might get used on a rainy spring fishing trip.
I know right? Don't they know fish have excellent eyesight and can see right through their camouflage...
