Camo on a rifle hunt?

[NewHunter]

As you can tell by the name, I am new to hunting. I put in for the first time in my life last year and shot a high 80s buck from 405 yards. Really, it was the perfect scenario for me. My bro-in-law is a big time hunter and he basically did all of the work for me. He glassed for me (I didn’t shoot any that he glassed, although we almost got a chance), let me use his pack, his 300 RUM, his binos, his everything…

 

He basically gave me the easy way to start a hunting career, and now I am hooked on it.

 

This year, he has a trophy hunt for both Elk and Coues, so naturally he is spending all of his time working on that. I can’t blame him, and I am actually excited to do it on my own.

 

I have already spent time glassing and will spend more time. I have purchased a rifle (.270 Weatherby) and have just about everything I need (equipment-wise) for a successful hunt. I am going with a friend that has never hunted before, so neither of us are big on experience. Here are some of my questions, just looking for general opinions…

 

I am confident with my rifle out to 300 yds or so. I would like to get as close as possible to tell you the truth, if I find a buck to shoot. What do you all think of camo? My pack is Advantage Max-1, which I like. Not so much looking for a pattern, just wondering if it is needed or not for a rifle hunt.

 

My hunt is early Nov, Unit 31 (high desert mountain area for those that aren't familiar).

[catclaw]

Camo is meaningless on a rifle hunt. You can get by with just subdued clothing colors. As for camo on a rifle, I can't see the reason to ever do it except for some varmint calling. I have a camo shotgun for calling because it was a turkey model and came that way. Just make sure your rifle isn't "shiny" and you will be fine. Your bare face is going to be the biggest give away to an animal, not your rifle. As for camo patterns for closer stuff, most of them are too dark for typical AZ hunting. I like lighter patterns like Nat gear, Hidden Mesa and a few others. I don't lose much sleep over it for sure. I really like the original Treebark pattern but it is no more.

[couesdiehard]

First of all NewHunter, welcome to the brotherhood of hunting. We are glad to have you. The question you pose has and will be debated forever. Truth be told, most camo is designed to appeal to the hunters' eyes more than to fool game. Catclaw makes a good point about muted colors working fine and avoiding being shiny. Many a whitetail deer have been killed by folks wearing a checkered flannel shirt and jeans. Maybe most important of all while hunting in general, is to move slowly and as little as possible during shooting light. Most game see movement instantly but have a harder time spotting you if you remain still.

Lee

[Condor]

Welcome to the site!! Honestly on a rifle hunt it doesn't matter I shot my first whitetail in a DC shirt and jeans. I like carhartt pants and a dark shirt, vision is not the best sense a whitetail has. Do you have any pics of your first deer?

[Coues&Bass]

I agree with both of the above posts. Movement and smell will give you away quicker than anything. This is the reason that so many hunters glass long distances and use cover scents faithfully. If an animal is spotted then you use cover like , mountain ridges brushy draws etc.. to conceal your movement.

 

Although good camos are nice to conceal yourself from other hunters just dont get lost. You are very hard to spot out there in them thier hills.....

[NewHunter]

Thanks for the tips so far...

 

My rifle is black synthetic stock with a blued barrel, so should be fine on that.

 

Last year I shot the dear in green pants and a grey shirt. I'm hunting in 31, and I know the area decent (the guy I am hunting with grew up there) so if we get lost we should be able to get back to Thatcher/Safford within a day

 

Here is the dear from last year. Shot him on the 2nd morning of the hunt. Quick story...

 

On the first morning of the hunt we were in an area where my bro-in-law had glassed a nic 3x3 from about a mile away. He couldn't tell exactly how big it was, but definitely a shooter. We got there early, maybe 5:30, and hiked over a few hills. We glassed for a little bit and kind ofjust waited around to see something in a valley below us where the shade was. We spotted a few does, but no bucks. We walked to the next hill and almost to the top of the area and we both spotted 4 deer running back over the hill we had just come from, but they hadn't seen us because they weren't flagging. We quietly moved to an area where we could glass them from and it turned out to be 3 does and a spike. Don't get me wrong, first hunt I would have taken a spike if I had no other options, but we both knew there was another option. We waited a little longer and didn't see anything else.

 

We packed up the rifle and started to head out (by this time it was 10:30 or so) because my bro-in-law had to work that afternoon. Just as we had packed up we turn to look at the area we had just come from, and not more than 50 yds from where we had started the chase of the 4 deer was that 3x3 staring straight at us. Neither of us moved... my bro-in-law just whispered for me to get the rifle back out, which I did slowly. As soon as I had it out of the bag to get set up, he took off over the other side of the hill. We missed our chance! I didn't think I would get another chance at a decent buck (that one we saw was in the 95-105 range according to my bro-in-law) for the rest of the hunt.

 

You guys know the rest of the story, he hooked me up the next morning by glassing up the buck I shot from about 900 yards and we crept in to 405 when I took him. Hooked for life (no longer living with a happy wife )

 

Here is a picture (only decent one I have with me at work), if it works, he is also hanging out of the bag in my pic on the left.

 

[NewHunter]

Quick add-on question...

 

What cover scents do all of you use/prefer?

[Ernesto C]

Welcome to the coolest website and thanks to your brother for taking you hunting.

 

With that rifle you own you can easily shot up to 500 yards (or even more depending your limitations) Is very important that you smell invisible. Use some scent away or something that you wont smell "human" on your hunt.

Always whatch wind direction. Camo is as important as you wanted to be, I personally try to use a two different camo patterns at the same time. In another words, your camo pattern on your shirt should be different from the one in your pants. That helps to break out your figure a lot!!

 

Camo is the mark of a hunter, so....is up to you how important you wanted to be regardles of what type of hunt you have. (Bow or rifle) but....why you ask? did you were thinkin to wear pink??

 

Ernesto C

[daryl_s]

Max-1 and Natural Gear are both pretty good in the lower areas I hunt. Whatever camo you choose make sure you wash your clothing in something that is scent free and contains no UV brighteners. I wash all my hunting clothing in sport wash and then use dryer sheets that smell like dirt.......my wife loves them It works good for me.

 

http://www.atsko.com/products/laundry-care...-detergent.html

 

http://www.basspro.com/webapp/wcs/stores/s...r:referralID=NA

[billrquimby]

"Last year I shot the dear in green pants and a grey shirt."

 

Really? Don't remember ever seeing any deer so attired.

 

Just kidding. Welcome to the grand tradition of deer hunting. That's a beautiful buck you took on your first deer hunt.

 

As for camo, I shot a lot of deer while wearing "regular" clothes long before camo became the standard uniform for hunting everything. I wear it now because it's the pattern the best "outdoor" clothes come in. In Africa, most hunters wear solid colors of dark khaki or light olive and have no trouble killing game. In Europe, loden green is standard.

 

Your instincts are correct about distance. If you can get within 300 yards, you can get 50 yards closer. Leave those 500-yard shots for the experts.

 

Bill Quimby

[AZLance]

I personally wear camo to hide myself from the others out there that like to look at you thru their scope, and shoot before identifying their target! I cant count the time I have looked thru my binos and seen so other idiot looking at me thru his scope!

[azslim]

I wear double front Carharts and a camo t-shirt under my flannel jacket, the camo t-shirt is just so you can't see how dirty it is, leather gloves are nice to have too. I do camo up for archery hunts tho.

[Coues&Bass]

31 is my back yard. Good luck plenty of deer.

Watch for the rattlers on the first hunt.

You can see from my Avatar the cammo I was wearing during my kill last Dec. in Unit 31.

 

 

[200"mulie]

1). welcome and congrats on that great lookin deer.

 

2). you really don't have to wear camo at all, my buddy wears an orange vest . . . NOT A BAD IDEA SO WON'T GET SHOT ON ACCIDENT. i wear camo with orange hat in any hunt. back in janurary i snuck up to 60 yards on 5 mule deer one of them was a 3x4 long tined buck nice looking. but when they finally started to move they got up on the other hill instead of following the hill i was on . . . one of the does didn't like something on my side of the hill. (no cactus or trees on my side, so i'm the only thing about 4 feet and stuck out like a sore thumb). She couldn't make me out she sat there staring while the others where feeding. she would try to fake me out by turning around take two or three steps and then spin back around and torward me . . . .really crazy (wishing i had a camera with me). anyway she did that 5 times. she stil didn't feel right and basically just move to the next hill and settled down. so i think camo does help some what but not required for hunting. Also had dozen elk feeding all around me back in 2005 season unit 27.

 

3). you really don't need scent remover/spray whatever . . . as long as you keep the wind in your favor. but if you do get some dirt/wet dirt works good.

 

4.) i have early october tag and let you know what i seen after my hunt. except the huge deer that i might miss but try in dec/jan archery

[cpugsie]

As allready said, the camo isn't really needed to be successful. However, I'll often were my lightweight camo Scentblocker pants and tops (long sleeve tee and fleece jacket when needed) to try and keep my scent down and also be less visable to other hunters. I carry a light weight orange vest I put on once I get something on the ground. Especially if I'm packing out the head hangin out of my back pack. Always be aware of wind direction, even with scent control clothing. Their nose will get you more than just about anything else. Good luck and welcome to the forum!!!