In my opinion, Mossy Oak full foliage was absolutely the best early season camo pattern there was with Skyline Apparition green right in there. Both went and retired those patterns and nobody seems to make anything like them anymore.
Is anyone aware of any similar patterns out there still ?
ChuckC
QuoteIn my opinion, Mossy Oak full foliage was absolutely the best early season camo pattern there was with Skyline Apparition green right in there.
Great post for a debate. In my opinion there are only 3 kinds of camo that really work on animals and that's ASAT, Predator and NatGear. All the rest are geared to humans and marketing B.S.
Oh and not lets forget that a Ghillie suite is the hands down best camo period.
I still think that the Brown Mirage was one of the best. I wish it could be resurected. ASAT and Predator are my two choices now. I have one set of Mirage left in Fleece.
MikeW, i couldnt agree more..
You know Mike. I would normally agree. But I have walked in on hunters while wearing full foliage and scared the *** out of them.
I collect camo T shirts. I have a LOT of them. I have done the thing for bow hunters ed where you hang them all up in the bushes.. yadda yadda.
In early season (leaves on and green), those two were far and away the best. Now they are "no more".
I own a ghillie suit. I love it. It is light brown or tan. When I sit in a field edge while it is greened up, the deer see me. They don't know what I am (don't spook), but they see something out of place. When it is browned out I have had bucks walk right up to me.
Don't know what they see or don't see, but sometimes the reactions are obvious.
ChuckC
Ha, this should open another can of worms!
Which camo is best? The most expensive one of course.... according to the big companies!
I'm a camo guy, but my Dad has killed so many deer at close range with a longbow wearing bluejeans(he calls them dungarees) and a light tan coat that he's owned forever.
I like the look of camo, but one pattern over another doesnt make a hell of beans difference if you are caught moving. IMHO of course!
I would love if someone made deer hide camo. Those buggers seem to scare the crap out of me when I jump them stomping in the woods.
QuoteOriginally posted by LongStick64:
I would love if someone made deer hide camo. Those buggers seem to scare the crap out of me when I jump them stomping in the woods.
Same here!!! :biglaugh:
:thumbsup: :thumbsup:
The best I know of in Texas and Colorado is US m
Military "Woodland" which is not used any more.
If you have some woodland, set it out where you are hunting next to what you are hunting with? Ken
I don't use a single camo pattern at any time. For example, today on stand I actually used 6 patterns at once, I had the old military eastern woodland pants, my bug suit top, my harness vest, my gloves, snake boot,and my hat all using different patterns. The label is out of some of them, so I don't even know the pattern names used in some of the garments. Seems to work just fine, though.
I did not deliberately mix 'em up, but rather, when I needed garments, I bought the pattern that caught my interest at the moment (sometimes it was as simple as this was the only pattern offered by the store), which results in some interesting combinations, but they are quite effective. However, like one of the guys said before, if they catch you moving it doesn't matter what camo you use, because you will be busted.
Also, I also have several wool articles, including some stuff from Ms. Asbell, which I highly recommend. I beleive plaid patterns in muted colors are just as effective as any commercial camo made.
Lastly, LongStick64 may have been joking about the deer hide camo, but that, or a coloration similar to a rabbit, would make excellent camo.
Not completely joking, I actually think it could be very effective.
QuoteOriginally posted by LongStick64:
Not completely joking, I actually think it could be very effective.
You would be liable to get your tail shot off.
Early season, I like ASAT pants and Sticks 'N Limbs top. works for me....I think Barnhart and Starr got their ASAT pattern from watching Chipmunks. Now those little creatures have a great camo pattern!!
In the pic below, my fanny pack in the upper right corner is Brown Mirage...was offered by a company in Montana, no longer in business. Yes, very effective and closes to ASAT.
(http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a281/sf1oak/P6230001.jpg)
Camo patterns are for hunters. I fall for it too. Plaid works as well as anything.
I REALLY like the new Vanish™ camo.
That's me just left of the middle.
(http://i748.photobucket.com/albums/xx121/Zradix/Screenshot2011-09-18at101446PM.png)
oh-ya i see ya .
Zradix, your fly is down....
Don't know why on earth you had to use Vanish AND the Ghost Blind at the same time.... :rolleyes:
ASAT and Predator seem to work best for me.
Sigh...I few guys hit on it. Mother Nature has provided the best camo. or other wise they wouldn't be here today right? IE: Deer, tan on top, white on the bottom with some grey thrown in and a white tail to to alert others of danger(so why do some many archers use White fletching and caps/cresting)and I've said it a 100 times, how many times have you had a deer right in your face and you never saw it until it moved And what about a snake, you never see them until you step on them and they are what? White on the bottom with open dark patterns on top.
It's all about movement and breaking up the human outline as an animal sees not as a human sees, if you're into paint ball then by all means look into Mossy Oak, Real Tree ect. if you are a hunter then the you should be looking into the first ones I mentioned..end of story and I'll argue this till my grave. Go Google it and educate yourself on how animals see and how camo works..Real Tree...Mossy Oak ect. is total marketing B.S.
Edit:
Back when I was poor my brother and I went and bought white sweats and painted them with big open patterns of grey, brown and green then copied stencils of ASAT patterns and painted them dark grey and black. I can't tell you how many friends we scared the crap out of or how many animals we had within feet of us..it works!
For deer hunting I like the way predator breaks up your outline.
The predator patterns seem to break up better than the asat.
I think the brown is the best personally.
Some of the greens they make look better to MY eyes when next to a green leafy background.
But deer don't see in color.
If you "black and white" the pic the browns from predator actually blend in better...there is more of a shade variance between the colors which results in a better break up of your outline.
The greens from predator sorta blend together when you "B&W" the pic.
My 2¢
I must say I am shocked to finally see someone else besides me that says M.O. full foilage was the best. I agree. That is from the late 80's, early 90's era. Dressed in head to toe Full Foilage, I have been within 3 yards of turkey gobblers many times and never ever got busted. I've had deer stare right through me with that stuff on. It was very effective. But like the machine that they claim to have that would put the electric companies out of business, the camo industry knows it has to make something new every year to make money. Market demands "the latest pattern" and it makes money- regardless if it really works. True that camo makers now are in it mostly to make money with marketing ploys, but back then in the 80's, Toxy was just getting started and he was serious about getting close to turkeys, not deer. Only after the Full Foilage era did he & others begin leaning more toward marketing. I mean think about it, his job was done. He made a camo that achieved his goal, very well. Normally you'd stop there. But if U did, you'd be out of business. So, yeah, there is if's & buts of the camo business.
When considering camo, one must consider what he is hunting AND where he is hunting. What you get away with deer hunting will get you busted with turkeys. Full Foilage was invented by Toxy who hunted turkeys in Mississippi. And it worked extremely well. Like i said, I've had numerous deer & turkey stare right through it. It may not work Nth & East, where spot & stalk tactics are used.
Camo helps with letting you ease in & out of your treestand spot undetected, which helps prevent being detected by all deer, even does that you are not interested in. Maybe you are on to a big buck, and if you spook does making entry & exit, the does disperse then there went the reason for the buck hanging around, so camo does help if the hunter does his part. Folks like to tell the story of that time they were in blue jeans & smoking a cigarette and deer passed and didn't detect them, but that was one particular time that probably the wind was right, and they just happened to be not shifting weight from one leg to another , not lifting the cigarette up to puff, etc. things just happened to be right that one time.
Anyway, this & GPS my favorite topics. I have found that the next best thing to the old Full Foilage today is Mossy Oak Obsession. I have had turkeys literally IN my blind that I could have reached out and grabbed by the neck ( True story) wearing Obsession, more than once. That hen came in my blind with gobbler in tow. He was looking hard and was right in front of me, with only a sparse partial natural blind I had built. He never knew I was there.
Too me I like to break up with different patterns in jacket , hat gloves pants. It "breaks" up...to me that works!
My brother asked me one time why companies did not make camoflauge that looked like deer. I told him to think about it for a few minutes :p . They obviously would not have many return customers after hunting season.
I'm not opposed to camo. I rather like the way it looks and own a lot of it for both hunting and daily wear. However, it drives me NUTS when things don't match (moderatly obsessive personality tempered with ten years service), so I tend to shy away from it so I can focus on hunting and enjoying myself rather than dithering over being messed up.
I will say my favorite patters are the BDU and DCU, and the old stuff that Fred Bear wore and my dad STILL wears, although his are very faded. It flat works, is simple, and doesn't look retarded if you stop for coffee somwhere.
But hey, I've seen guys get it done in everything from blobs of orange to full body wooly suits. I've also seen guys get busted (and have been both myself) in the same range of stuff, so wear what suits you.
Look at the outline around my silhouette. There is very little contrast between the 2 "colors." A lot of the "veg" in nature has a higher color value, brightness, than we think. Especially when there is sun light on it. Obviously you can see the "color" but not much of an outline at the silhouette where it meets the veg. (http://i688.photobucket.com/albums/vv247/pukingguts/DSC_5302.jpg)
Deer eyes are built totally different from ours.
So it's hard to image just what and how they see.
It's been proven they see some yellows and lt blues.
One of the big differences in HOW they see has to do with the way their brain are wired to the optical "pick-ups" in the eyes.
Our eyes have separate nerves running to each photoreceptor in our eyes. Us being wired this way lets us see in fine detail.
But that gives our brain much more data to process and some things just get lost in the transmission....basically our brain ignores much of the info it receives as it learns much isn't important..and it fills in blanks when it recognizes something.
Deer on the other hand have multiple photoreceptors wired to each nerve that runs to the brain.
Being wired so, deer can't see the fine detail we can. Their brain has no way of telling which receptor from the group is sending the signal as quite a few are sharing the same wire.
Deer being wired this way though lets them deal with less info and truly process more of what they see.
Also, being wired this way makes deer much more sensitive to seeing movement as only one receptor from the group needs to pick up movement and send the signal...as said before a deer's brain pays attention to what the eyes tell it.
So... long story short..deer see movement well.
The camo that hides movement the best wins = the camo that breaks up your outline best wins.
Oh...and that fine detail in some camo is lost to a deer.
This is a little better comparo. Realtree APG and Grey Wool. Look at the silhouettes. The drabber, green, high tech one make much more of a "statement" to me anyway.
(http://i688.photobucket.com/albums/vv247/pukingguts/P1020336.jpg)
Especially at a distance.
(http://i688.photobucket.com/albums/vv247/pukingguts/P1020335.jpg)
the big difference in those pics are in what is behind the camo.
The pines behind the gray coat are more similar in tone to the gray because of the lighting.
The green coat is much darker than its well lit/lighter back ground.
good pic
Predator spring green ...best early season camo made.......Tim
This samo does a pretty good job and its priced right.
http://www.hdesert.com/cgi-bin/highdesert/store/commerce.cgi?cart_id=1316446758.11694&product=Hunting_BDUs&pid=2640
Check out some of the pictures of Predator camo in this thread they are in both color and Back and white
http://tradgang.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=1;t=105765;p=2
I've said before how natural fibers like wool reflect light differently, much like the hair on an animal, regardless of color or pattern. I believe this is true. You'd be surprised just how close an animal will come to you while wearing one of Ron LaClair's solid grey wool long hunter pull overs.
I'll be honest. For me, its hard be beat the $5 mossy oak t shirts at Walmart. I don't feel guilty about cutting the sleeves off em in the summer either.
I also don't mind a drab, solid colored shirt or pair of britches. If I had to choose, I'd pick that Naturagear or whatever its called tho.