Camo on a rifle hunt?

[GingerRam]

Welcome to the site and good luck on your hunt.. In reference to your question, the crew has provided a great deal of good information.. As for me, I often wear camo rifle hunting if for no other reason than I keep all of my hunting clothes in a rubbermaid container with a few scent waffers in it. Most of it is camo.. That being said, a good tan set of double front pants like carhartt or even from Sportmans Guide will serve you very well in area's with vegetation that scratches, claws, pricks and bites..

 

 

[Caenus]

I agree with the others that camo is not important in AZ. In TX, where I learned to hunt in the brush country, the average shot I took there was about 30 yards so...yeah it helped.

 

For hunting now I use my old Army ACU's since all of my gear is ACU, camo is kinda built in. It is not the best camo, but works pretty well here it seems. This will me my first hunt in AZ, and I am hunting 32.

 

So my gear:

 

ACU pants, top, UofA ACU patterned baseball cap (Go CATS!) and a large 7500 pack with only the bottom 1500 ci with gear. The remaining space is to pack my trophy out!

 

I also have an orange road guard vest (like a safety vest) that I will throw over the head when heading out.

 

Boots are Cabela's scent eliminator stalker boots that are also camo by default. My warm weather boots are Merrill 3/4 lightweight hikers.

[BASS]

Of course you have to wear camo!

 

How else will Bill Jordan afford to go on all of his amazing hunts!?!

 

 

I wear camo on all my hunts simply because walking around in khaki cargo shorts doesn't work out too well in the desert. And anyone who knows me knows that from the time I clock out till the time I clock back in I'm in shorts and sandels a good 90% of the time.

[antlers]

Camo on a gun has a CDI factor. "Chicks Dig It!" But it does look cool.

[Whitesheep]

I wear mostly army surplus camo because it is inexpensive and very tough. My friend has some open country camo from Cabellas and he really disappears in desert or sage brush country. He says my 4 color desert is OK. As others have said, hiding from a critter is different than hiding from a person. I like to hide from critters.

 

Sitka has some interesting new camo that is designed around an ungulate's eyesight. It is very expensive, but the technology is interesting.

 

I am not into gun camo as I like to be able to fund important gear. Orange handled knives and bright colored lighters are also "cool" in my book. I have a friend who thought a camo wallet was cool until he lost it and couldn't find it.

 

When I took my Dall Sheep in AK, I was wearing my pajamas which consisted of black fleece pants and a green long underwear shirt. At 320 yards the Sheep didn't care, and neither did I.

 

 

[vegasjeep]

I think wearing orange is stupid in my opinion. if someone "accidently" shoots me in camo that same idiot will "accidently" shoot me in orange. Stupidity cannot be fixed with an orange vest.

 

I htink blued barrels, camo on guns and whatever else is very much needed. I had 2 different hunters tell me that my stainless barrel was the only wa he could see me. The rest of me with my camp blended right in. Animals see way better then we do when it comes to surroundings and blending in.

[Hunter X]

I think wearing orange is stupid in my opinion. if someone "accidently" shoots me in camo that same idiot will "accidently" shoot me in orange. Stupidity cannot be fixed with an orange vest.

 

I htink blued barrels, camo on guns and whatever else is very much needed. I had 2 different hunters tell me that my stainless barrel was the only wa he could see me. The rest of me with my camp blended right in. Animals see way better then we do when it comes to surroundings and blending in.

 

I have to disagree with your orange comment. Wearing orange during a rifle hunt is definitely not stupid. The more hunters wearing orange the better.

[ac guy]

Mind boggling synopsis.

[youngbuck]

I wear what ever holds up and is affordable. For a while I had abunch of camos so I wore those out. Now I keep camp not all torn up for archey hunts. Carharts work well. Right now I have a bunch of brown wranglers, with and without the cordura fronts. Insulated and non insulated. VF factory outlet has em cheap and they hold up well. Those insulated ones are nice for december tags if you are glassing a lot.

[WinMag]

I agree with most of the comments listed in the above posts but I will add my .02.

 

I think it depends on where you are hunting also. I use camo for both archery and rifle hunts. Archery is obvious as to why but my rifle deer hunts are always down south on the border. When I'm close to the border I feel it is a must to wear camo rifle or not. You never know when you may have to blend into your enviroment and disappear due to border issues. It's not so much for the hunting as it is for the seldom seen, but does happen from time to time run-ins with the drug runners. Sounds crazy but it does happen.

[vegasjeep]

I think wearing orange is stupid in my opinion. if someone "accidently" shoots me in camo that same idiot will "accidently" shoot me in orange. Stupidity cannot be fixed with an orange vest.

 

I htink blued barrels, camo on guns and whatever else is very much needed. I had 2 different hunters tell me that my stainless barrel was the only wa he could see me. The rest of me with my camp blended right in. Animals see way better then we do when it comes to surroundings and blending in.

 

I have to disagree with your orange comment. Wearing orange during a rifle hunt is definitely not stupid. The more hunters wearing orange the better.

 

 

Statistics do not show that big of a difference. Oregon has had 20 deaths in 25 years. you had better not get in a car, the chance of anything happening is way greater in your car!!!

[200"mulie]

wearing an orange hat is not stupid a lot of deer have not busted me wearing an orange hat. also you can see other hunters and know that area has already been pushed, i hate when i push a canyon and get to the top of a saddle and run into a guy that said i just came threw there and only saw a cottontail.

 

i'm all for camo i wear it every hunt (and sometimes it doesn't match) i'm only 23 and seen to many close calls with me and other overcrowded areas with hunters not wearing orange.

 

if your making your way down into the canyon, and hear one shot from the other side. you look up and hear another shot . . . soon there something tearing threw the brush to your left and coming fast . . .then a big buck jumps out and almost runs you over and hear hear another shot go right over your head. you would be thinking i wish i had an orange hat . . then this guy shooting at the deer woulda seen me come over this hill along time ago and wouldn't of shot near me!!

[BeardownAZ]

I think the orange helps. I have seen many a hunter along way off cause of there orange. As far as clothes go, I have gotten into the military BDU pants of the desert and tan colors last few years. Cheap, light and tough. If you have been in the military, even better. Uniform allowances paid for hunting clothes way in advance !

[.270]

if you're smart and sneaky enough, it don't much matter what ya wear. i had on a blaze orange shirt and hat in colorado a couple weeks ago and snuck right up on a pronghorn buck with 6 does with him. went from well over a 1/2 mile away to about 200 yds in wide open prarie. just using whatever geography i could. as far as having to wear orange, it's the law there and if ya wanna hunt in colorado you have to wear it, so it doesn't matter what a guy thinks. i prefer not to, but them fellers up there shoot whatever ain't orange. generally i just prefer dark or neutral colors of something in green, blue or brown plaid. if you have on dark clothes and don't let em see ya move, they think your just a shadow anyway. the stupidest thing i've ever seen is the camo with with all the limbs and leaves painted on it. like somebody else said, all you're doin' is makin' bill jordan rich. i have camo and use it a lot, but generally don't need it. i'm just a natural camo'd guy. and i'm sneeeeeeeeeeky. Lark

[luvdemcoues]

Tough to follow up whatever Lark says... but I feel like hunting has SOME luck involved. If there is a possibility that wearing camo will reduce the chances of a deer seeing me, I need that advantage, however slight it may be. That doesn't mean that you become invisible. You still have to do all the other things, don't get skylined, keep the wind in your favor, try to stay out of the sun, use physical objects to break up your silhouette, etc. As far as Orange goes, I should probably start wearing some of it again. I guess it's personal preference.