This is my first year hunting off the ground with a ghillie suit. It is really cool and I'm digging it! I even killed a doe off the ground last weekend while in my homemade suit. Problem is that every deer except a small buck has given me the ole "rubber neck look me over" and subsequently decided to exit the scene. I was able to kill the last doe in line as they left but I'm guessing I'm going to lose more of these than I win unless I do something to better disguise my face.
The reason I think it is my face and more specifically my eyes is that today I was sitting in what was really a natural ground blind and this doe still picked me off. I think my ghille suit and ghillie booney hat are doing the trick with my body and head but my eyes are still exposed even with my leafy face mask. How are you ground pounders dealing with this issue?
I thought about using one of those turkey hunting style facemask that covers your entire face but I'm not sure what that would do to my shooting accuracy as I look through the mesh.
I appreciate any ideas.
Chris
give it the ol' Clint Eastwood "eye squint" :readit:
Go Goth!!! like the kids at the mall(coon eyes)
Like Kevin said squint. When I am looking directly at a deer, even with spandoflage mask I squint and that usually keeps them from ID the round predator eyes.
Chris,
Do you wear glasses? If so it may be glare from the lenses.
I also try not to stair at the animal until I am picking a spot to shoot. I think they can sense when a predator is giving them the eye so to speak just like peopel pick up on being staired at for a period of time.
This may sound odd, but usually when a deer is that close I close one eye and only look at it thru one eye...My theory is that there are not any one eyed predators out there...
I think eyes are the most important thing to camoflauge. Of course I'm not a deer so I'll never know for sure, but predators have eyes on the front of their face and ours are very white.
I used a face net. With a face net, I have gotten elk in closer and had them looking right in my direction and stand there for minutes.
But I had to stop the face net when I lost all sight from sun glare on the net.
Now I use sunglasses that I camo'd over the lenses, being sure my camo eyes are not symmetrical. My camo'd sunglasses seem to work and get the same results as a face net.
I wish somebody would make camo glasses using the same idea as those car window shades.
I avoid looking at the animals eyes but pay close attention to body language as it is a great indicator as to what the animal is doing.
A lot of hunters gaze at the antlers and get caught that way.
If you use face paint, make sure you paint your eyelids too. I will also close the eye facing the deer and they seem to calm down.
Bic
Camo Contacts!
Just don't lock eyes with them or your made.
I use my peripheral vision till it's rind to pick a spot squint and use my hat brim as well. It's pretty cool being that close isn't it!
Keeping the Faith!
Magnus
I am like Magnus as I use my peripheral until it is time to shoot. By paying mind to the animals' body language you will know when to shoot.
It may be that you still are a big dark strange blob to them, I have sat in blowdowns in plaid jacket,watchcap,solid pants,no face cover and had deer at 10 ft look at me a while(looong while)and just walk away. Movement is usually the biggest give away.
Chris.....folks like to make fun of my hat....but it sure works for me.
I just lower my chin and look through the 'leaves' as game approaches.
When you get big game close enough to see their eye lashes.....your doing something right.
(http://tradgang.com/tg/images5/hat1.jpg)
QuoteOriginally posted by Zog:
I think eyes are the most important thing to camoflauge. Of course I'm not a deer so I'll never know for sure, but predators have eyes on the front of their face and ours are very white.
I used a face net. With a face net, I have gotten elk in closer and had them looking right in my direction and stand there for minutes.
But I had to stop the face net when I lost all sight from sun glare on the net.
Now I use sunglasses that I camo'd over the lenses, being sure my camo eyes are not symmetrical. My camo'd sunglasses seem to work and get the same results as a face net.
I wish somebody would make camo glasses using the same idea as those car window shades.
Actually Berkley does make the the type glasses you are referring to.I have seen them at Walmart before.I only saw one pair and a few days later I decided to get them they were gone.Still kicking myself for not getting them.I think they ran bout $15.They are shown online but out of stock at the moment.
A lot of good suggestions. I would say that the eyes will "make you" just about ever time. I always lower the chin, close one eye, and squint out of the other trying not to face directly at the deer unless they're looking down or the other way. This is about when the adrenalin rush starts.
I think Joseph is right. Imho ditch the hat and why stare at them? If you see him close, watch his eyes and shoot him and be done with it.
They pick out your outline, movement, contrast, or wind long before they get your eyes. Most of the time the eyes just confirm what they've already seen. Not that I don't think there is that predator/prey connection with the eyes because there is. But... if they're looking at you then something in your setup is wrong and you probably weren't gonna get a shot anyhow. When you're on the ground the first good shot opportunity is the shot. After that things usually go downhill.
I don't remember where I got this information and this might sound strange, I sometimes color my eye lids. Think about it, when your eyes are open they are somewhat como'ed out, but if your caucasian when you blink your eye lids are much lighter in color than your eyes, especially if you have dark eyes like I do ( brown ). It's like turning a flash light on and off. Might be a bunch of bull, but that is what I do about it.
QuoteOriginally posted by Terry Green:
Chris.....folks like to make fun of my hat....but it sure works for me.
I just lower my chin and look through the 'leaves' as game approaches.
When you get big game close enough to see their eye lashes.....your doing something right.
(http://tradgang.com/tg/images5/hat1.jpg)
This is what you need to do Chris.
Terry's suggestion is a good one. I do the same thing with the dangelies on my ghillie hat.
OkKeith
QuoteOriginally posted by OutbackMan:
This may sound odd, but usually when a deer is that close I close one eye and only look at it thru one eye...My theory is that there are not any one eyed predators out there...
I have a one eye predator. :laughing:
I had a spike come up 15' behind me the other night. His footsteps caused me to slowly turn 90 degrees. Thought it was another coon. I saw him first. I had a spandex head net and could only see him out of my right eye. He paused for a moment and then went about his business. Although I think my "b;pb" shape made him cautious.
I like to cover my face for sure..If I am wearing a hat with a brim...I just tuck in my chin and look up at the top of the brim and your eyes are hidden...hats like a fedora work great..Alot of my trad friends just use their trad hat brim to cover their faces by tucking the chin.....if you have facial hair that helps too. I can see how terry green's idea would work great too.
I grow a beard for the winter months,cover the bridge of my nose and cheeks with some kind of material that stops on my nose. I don't cover my mouth so as to not change the feel of my anchor, or be in my spitting path. As the others have posted I tuck my chin and use my hat brim to hide my eyes. When the animal is close I use the hat to bolck my site of thier eyes. If I can't see their eyes they can't see mine.
My "leafy suit made into ghillie" has a great head cover, but the eye area is open. I agree w/ the poster it's the eyes. I even went to a contrasting half mask over top.
A fox came in, looked me over, but when his eyes met mine...he got bug eyed quickly!..then bugged.
At the major Harrisburg, PA Sport & Outdoor show, there "USED" to be a guy with camo glasses and clip ons. I've not seen him or them in years, but they made sense! I wish I'd sprung for them myself.
Squint the eyes for sure. I had 7 deer walk up to me while I was in the open in the center of a small creek with only a sandy bank behind me. The first 2 deer were big old does and I sure thought this was not going to work out. I had a face mask on (with the entire eye hole cut out) and my cap down and just squinted my eyes so that I could barely see them. The first doe came to 3 yards before freezing up and then she bolted back to 25 yards and stopped to take a second look. Arrow was on its way and had my first bow kill of the year!
I like a boony hat and spandaflage head cover.Try not to look them in the eye. I concentrate on my target spot.
Lot's of good suggestions. Could it also be that your camo is reflecting U.V. light and that's what they first pick up on?
Another good camo thought is that some of the lighter grass/brush patterns are light in color and when in low light conditions they get almost a white in color and you stand out like a ghost.Faded camo is the same.If I am hunting morning or night hunts I wear dark camo or dark clothing.
I just googled "camoflauge glasses" and found these in Cabela's.
It sure seems like if you could cover your eyes it would make a big difference.
Anybody tried these? How about any of you deer - think these would hide us from you?
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v309/dstzn/camoflaugesunglasses.jpg)