Trad Gang

How many people out there where face camo of some type.  I have tried many headcovers and paint.  I really do not care for any of it.  Any thoughts?

i hate face camo. bc in the south we have alot of bugs/ mosquitos! they tear you up on a warm day. so i use a face mask. right before i shoot i pull mine down so i can shoot better bc of my anchor point

I am not completely sure how a pale face can spook a game but I try to take all the odds at my advantage so I use them,of differet kind depending of games and hunting strategy

I just go to the tanning salon and get the Colombian gold package looks great and works well for the old lady as well...LOL

I've seen other hunters in the distance and their face sticks out like a sore thumb.  I always use something, usually a 3/4 headnet that is easy to pull up.

I quit using anything for my face in a treestand a long time ago and have not noticed any difference. I would be more inclined to use it on the ground.

I lost my favorite ASAT head net out of my coat pocket this Fall.

The next hunt, I had a doe see my "glowing facial beacon" from 50 yards through cover.  As I watched her watch me, I "felt" that there was something on the trail just behind me.  As I s-l-o-w-l-y turned my head, there was a young doe at five yards!  She tolerated the side of my face (with a short beard) with some curiosity but no alarm, but as I came around to where my eyes and skin showed, she "bugged out."  On every hunt that followed until I got another head net, I didn't feel as "deadly," whether it was fact or imagined.

I've killed pleanty of deer with my bare face hangin' out, but I go undetected MUCH more often with my mask on.  I was really glad when the replacement came...

Your results may vary, but that's my story.

Hunting on the ground or when it's cold, I definitely where something over my head/face. In a tree in milder weather, I just try not to make sudden moves.

I wear a head cover simply for my own confidence...I just "feel" less visible to the deer.  May or may not work, but it gives me more confidence so well worth it in my opinion.  I do think, being a prey species, they will recognize faces and things "leering" at them through the woods.

I just wear a little of the easy off face camo paint. I do this because i think face masks are kinda annoying and the paint doenst bother me at all.

Burnt cork

I hide behind the brim of my hat and never make direct eye contact.

Its totally unnecessary unless you want to kill something other than caribou.

I usually wear something on my face, I find the thin cotton face masks cause me no problems with anchor point, etc. I just ignore it.

I practice with mine on(face mask) before hunting season. I hunt on the ground and the mask makes close and personal a better thing. Try it when squirrel hunting and see how close they'll get.

I feel that being camoflaged is a state of mind more than anything else.  Playing the wind and sitting still are the best camo, and neither have anything to do with what you are wearing.  If you "feel" that you are hidden, whether in hundreds of dollars of the latest camo pattern, or that old plaid jacket and brown pants, you will hunt better because you will be able to relax and SIT STILL.  It is my feeling that my bare hands and face, especially the possible glare from an oily face, would be a beacon that might easily alert our quarry.  I am uncomfortable with a face mask unless it is cold and windy, so burnt cork and camo gloves give me the reassurance to sit quietly and not fidget and wiggle trying to hide my face.  To each his own....decide which way makes you feel more hidden and go for it.  Good luck.

In a tree stand, it's probably not necessary. I didn't have my face mask on when I shot my buck this  year. I also stood face to face from about 15 yards with a doe in a cornfield. I had to take a couple steps her way before she got up and ran. I had no face mask on then either.

I think the sun plays a roll here too though. The sun was not up yet and I was facing west at 7:00 a.m. when I got the buck. Earlier in the season, my son was in a stand about 75 yards east of me one afternoon. He didn't have a mask on and every time he moved his head, I caught the motion out of the corner of my eye. I called him and told him to get his mask on. Once he had it on, it was almost impossible to tell when he turned his head. If one could sit perfectly still, I don't think it would matter. Most of us can't do that though.    

I prefer wool flannel paint...

Wool flannel paint is the way to go, huh?  That is a new one.  Is this a plaid print?  Can you post a picture?  LOL?

I grow a beard in hunting season and this year I have been wearing paint.  I have practiced in the mask I have and just cannot get comfy with the anchor.  I am going to try the cork, the paint I have is awful shinny.  

I know about making eye contact and its effect on the animal.  Never thought about a 3/4 mask that might work so I could still feel the anchor point.

I tryed paint and masks but the cork works the best! IMO! I've had does walk up and investigate, another thing I like about the cork is that it don't make your face shine like the paint does. I hunt on the ground so I like my face covered, Jason

I use a spandex face mask.  It clings so tightly to your face that you can still feel you anchor point and when you turn your head it turns with you.  I do think it makes me less visable, but even when using it I try to hide behind my bow when they look at me.

Was playing around with a doe Friday afternoon.Had face off all over my face .I was using a bleat can and doe turned from about 70 yards to sound of bleat and came within 10 or less yards and looked up at me but could not make me and never got real alarmed until I turned my whole body and then just moved off and never blew of course she didn't smell me for sure but I believe in face camo more so than the clothes.Have had other good experiencs since I started using face off never liked mask or paint.Kip

It's all I've ever used for 30 years ... {black} ...

I use the Spando-Flage 3/4 facemask. It fits the contours of my face without being tight and uncomfortable. I usually alter the color by doing a brown tie dye to it to get the shade I want.

I don't ever wear a face mask unless I am after turkeys. In a treestand hunting deer I do not use any face covering of any kind and never have a problem. I do have a beard though and I believe it helps although the gary is getting on the light side. I wear glasses and any face mask causes them to fog up. I hate that. I may try some face paint in the future for on the ground.

QuoteOriginally posted by Ray Hammond:
Its totally unnecessary unless you want to kill something other than caribou.

:biglaugh:

needed no.. helpful yes  I use burnt cork cheap, easy, and easy off with soap and water

Absolutely! Don't leave home without it.

After watching my cousin and his son at the other end of the field in a blind I have always used it. Every time they moved or turned their heads I could see them. It was like they had big white flags in the blind with them...Roy

face paint here,easy on easy off.Just another little thing that can make a difference imo.

What Ray Hammond said.

QuoteOriginally posted by blind one:
After watching my cousin and his son at the other end of the field in a blind I have always used it. Every time they moved or turned their heads I could see them. It was like they had big white flags in the blind with them...Roy

Given the handle, if it was obvious to Roy, think of what the critters see   :biglaugh:  

Stan

Im a treestand hunter and i stopped wearing one 2 yrs ago and in the last 2 years i have killed more deer.

I have a white beard, and deer do notice it at close range on the ground. I use a head net in a tree as much to keep the 'skeeters at bay as to hide from the animals.

Believe it or not, I think the cork helps with skeeters! Jason

paint cause i lke to hunt cool! gives me that feelinglike i'm ready for hunt , may not mean a thing to creatures but i just feel like its part of hunting attitude

I don't know if it helps or not, but it makes me feel like Rambo, so I'll keep on using it.  :jumper:

I havent used a headnet in several years and I have never used face paint. I just enjoy the hunt and if I hear a deer coming or see one I just grab my bow and hold it up in front of me. It breaks up my outline and I can get a shot off quickly in that position.

good thread... I wear paint during the Coloelk season as I am bothered by a mask and I don't have to wash it off because well I want see any one any way for days at a time In the whitetail tree stand I'll wear a mask (so I don't have to wash it off to go town resturant etc.  Joe

Good thread. Is it needed? I think so definately but for one other reason than mentioned above. I use to love face paint, didn't feel like I was bowhunting without it but hated cleaning it off to be able to stop on the way home and grab some grub. Then I went to the Spado flage headnets. Loved them, still use them in turkey season when its hot out. But for some reason the rubber comes to a stage in it's life that it just flat out stinks like a old gym sneaker. Not sure that deer associate it with human but heck I can't stand to wear them. Some time ago spando flage was hard to get and someone on this very site recommended Cableas Camo skin head gear. I absolutely positively love this garment. Funny I've used mine for years and just thought the other day I need to buy another one just in case they quit making them. By the way I checked and they still have them and yes I ordered one just for spare in case my 10 year old one dies or gets lost. It fits snug so you can still feel your anchor point and it is camo so it does hide the human face from deer which I think is important. BUT the most important reason I'd rather forget my bow than my camo skin is because it cuts the wind! I use nothing but wind shear clothing because it's warmer and cuts down my human scent being blow away and afer spraying down my entire clothing with my homebrew scent conditioner I've not had a single deer wind me from a stand in a long long time. Think about it for a minute, most of your scent comes from your head, hair etc. I know most folks  still think you can't fool a deers nose and thats fine. Just keep using your standard wool, fleece or whatever and hunt the wind. Good luck with that and good hunting.

I use a Spando-flage face mask and won't hunt without it. I too have set where I could see another hunter without a mask or face paint and he was like a lighthouse beacon. That made me a believer in covering my face.  Ben

Burnt cork only way to fly

I use face paint.
But what the heck is burnt cork?and where do you get it?

Not covering my mug cost me a shot at a nice Ohio 8 pt this year.  

I was tucked into the base of a big Sycamore tree, with (what I thought was) good brush cover to my front.  The buck came in from the right, and slowly worked his way within 20 yards of me.  Just as he was getting ready to clear some scrub out front, he saw my shiny face, and beat feet outta there.

It was the last day of the hunt, and simply put, I got lazy.  Didn't want to deal with face paint when I was gettin on the road in a few hours.  

Yet another in the seemingly never ending list of bowhunting mistakes that I've made that I won't make again.

I do not like to wear a net over my face, seems it makes me itch and scratch more, or make my glasses fog up when my breathing gets fast and erratic whe na deer comes in. I do wear the ASAT 3D headnet, but tuck it under my chin. I still use camo makeup of one sort or another around the exposed areas. I pay particular attention to around my eyes and nose. I get my eyelids too so when I blink it doesnt look like two white lites. Also helps cut any glare from my glasses.

I wear gloves or smear a little black and brown on my hands if its warm out. Hands and faces shine like a headlamp.

I was getting low on makeup this year, and remembered my wife saves wine bottle corks. I grabbed a couple and tossed in my bag one day on the way out the door to camp. That morning I was waiting onthe coffee to get done, and decided to burn on to do my face.

Make sure they are real corks, and not those stupid modern plastic ones that LOOK like corks. Man did that stink up the camper.LOL I grabbed a piece of cold black log out of the campfire and rubbed that on my face.

Depends where you hunt. In moderate to low pressure area's, you can get away with a lot.
But in extreme pressure area's, the deer are on pins and needles times an atomic bomb.
For example, my county in Michigan alone (that's county, not region or whole state) has 25,000 deer hunters, from DNR data. I'm in "deer camp country". It's rural and every single parcel over about 2 acres gets hunted, many times hunted hard.
Now, if you get 30 feet up in a tree, you may be OK without a mask or camo, but if 15' up or god forbid on the ground, you better be camo'd up head to toe, bigtime.
I've hunted in Illinois where I pulled a sneak on a nice buck across a cut corn field (to my dismay-that would never remotely happen in Michigan) and I got busted here in Michigan this fall in head to toe ASAT by simply moving my hand to the string in a very heavily covered ground blind made from about 10-15 pine tree tops. Once you've hunted whitetails under extreme pressure, you quickly conclude deer in many low pressure area's are half tame, in comparison.
In my area, fawns will often bolt in fear if not wearing a mask or face camo.

I have to share this with everyone....I was a big fan of cork until I tried carbow mask. The stuff is great, does not come off, you sweat thru the stuff, and it is easier to put on than cork and believe it or not comes off easier than cork and will not rub off like cork. I tried it and I am sticking with it amazing stuff.

http://www.carbomask.com/

RayMO

I never hunt without one. I use the spandex kind.  We don't have any Caribou here either.   :bigsmyl:

I always wear paint.  I believe in it.  I can't wear a mask, even turkey hunting, it bothers me..

A buddy and I were hunting an urban spot we have. He was 80 yrds or so behind me off to my left wearing one of the popular brands of camo and no face camo.  I could clearly see his dark outline and his face through the tree tops.  He couldn't see me at all with ASAT and my face painted.

I wear it, it is part of the hunting process for me. I guess you could argue the value of camo or no camo but to me it makes me feel like I am "in the game"

I have shot as many deer wearing camo as not wearing camo, however, at close range deer can see my white beard, ho ho... I saw a strange thing a while back.  Every so often something showed up in the woods across a valley, very clearly. I checked with my binos to see what the apparition was, it was a bow hunter, every so often he looked my way. If I could see it at a half mile, I am pretty certain that a deer could pick it out at twenty yards.

My thoughts are when I'm buck hunting I use it. If not I don't mess with it. I found some this year that is very easy to wipe off with no water necessary. Big plus in my book.

http://www.camofxnation.com/

Can't beat burnt cork it's easier to remove than the paints and masks are annoying

I was hunting this AM with four does within 20 yrds. They didn't seem to mind that I was not wearing a face mask.

I think it works but not necessary all the time.

Gilbert

Another consideration that no one has mentioned is that prey species notice eyes focused on them. Your camo should break up the area around your eyes, because all predators have eyes to the front, and prey animals know that and notice it. The white face of Caucasians accentuate the pattern of eyes in a round face.

I never use a face covering, unless just for warmth. just a camo headwrap. It is really all about movement. If you don't move while the deer is looking at you, he has no reason to think your face is anything other than a light patch of bark.

Face and hands stand out in the woods and WILL give you away on the ground. Save your wine bottle corks. Burn the end and swipe across your face. Easy on and easy off.

I usally wear a face mask.But today i was deer hunting (rifle season)and had 41 turkeys around me feeding and chasing each other around.It was great to watch them.I had camo on,plus a Fl.orange vest and Fl.orange ski mask on.A lot of them were within 10 yards of me."NONE" of them spooked.Go figure.