Camo on a rifle hunt?

[firstcoueswas80]

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

 

 

If you were at 1/2 mile why didnt you shoot? Thats well within your range isnt it?

[Santana Outdoors]

 

To answer your question no! Most rifle hunts today, you glass up a buck a mile away, sneak up to the next closest ridge and shoot, well maybe not that easy.

 

Great thread you started. Orange doesn't do you any good with a color blind person like me, I couldn't see if you were standing 100 yards from me, Last year I was trying to bring a youth hunter in on a bull and a friend was out there 1000 yards out there and I couldn't find him, it was cloudy. So he held up his BIG orange vest, I still couldn't find him, so another youth with me (not color blind) looked through my binos and picked him up immediately, he said I was looking right at him. But I am a small part of the population. Just be thankful I do not glass with my scope!

 

Luck is a big part of being a new hunter and a seasoned one.

 

We sell hundreds of packs every month and get asked this question everyday. First thing I tell them is Camo doesn't work on game if you are moving, period. It doesn't matter how great it blends.

 

But lets face it, everything you can do in the previous threads along with CAMO will help. I use a camo that breaths, "vented", because it is hot out there. Max-1 is a great southwest camo if you are in the open. A darker camo works probably the best because when you need it in close range you are normally using a tree to hide you.

 

Along with all the other good info here, when you do stop to glass, get in the shade, do not let the sun hit you. Eye glasses, scopes glass and other shiny items will give you up, including your face. Plus your whole body will be highlighted if you are in the sun.

 

I to have killed animals with a bow in levis and a white tee shirt, not the best or smartest but it was all I had at the time.

 

Hope this helps and Good luck,

 

Eric

[Whitesheep]

An orange or red hat really makes a difference. Yes, some hunters are color blind, but I would rather take my chances in knowing that deer are all color blind, but most hunters are not.

[.270]

i ain't afraid o' colorblind hunters. i am afraid o' dumbasses.

 

and casey, it was the first day so i was just usin' a knife. Lark.

[Weston]

I do, I wear predator camo or ASAT I think it works great. I dont see any downside to wearing camo while rifle hunting I hunt well off any roads and try to get as far back in as I can and think that it can only help.

[slopoke36]

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.

 

 

+100

[coocoo4coues]

I completely disagree with the "orange is stupid comment". Anyone with enough common sense, and has been educated in hunter safety, knows the importance of wearing blaze orange. There are a LOT of careless and inexperienced hunters out there (many of which are drinking, drunk, or hungover). Many of these idiots will shoot at the first sign of movement. Wearing full camo, you're possible to look like a deer at 300+ yards! Blaze orange can be seen for miles, and will help other hunters know you're there, and aid them in making shot decisions (as well as respect boundaries). Good hunters respect each other, and won't cross paths with you, or shoot in your direction. Camo is ok to wear, so long as you're wearing a vest, hat or some sort of orange flagging. Sorry to come down so hard on some of you, but if you're gonna give advice to someone, especially a newbie, don't spread ignorance. Safety for yourself and your fellow hunter should be of primary concern.

[Coach]

Here’s an interesting anecdote to the blaze-orange portion of this discussion. The closest I’ve personally come to being shot (as far as I know) was *because* of blaze orange.

 

I was glassing from the top of a little knob that was close to a seldom used two-track on opening morning of a deer hunt several years back. I watched a group of yahoos walk right up the two track with Grandpa in the truck 100 yards behind approach my position. Knowing they were yahoos by the way they conducted themselves, I took a blaze orange vest out of my pack and hung it on a Manzanita limb next to me.

 

As the group reached a spot below me they started looking in all directions through their binoculars, except for the one person in the group with a gun. This was probably a 12 year old kid and he immediately “glassed me up” through his rifle scope and said, “Dad, what’s that?”

 

I only saw the first half-second of the beating that ensued, as I was busy hitting the deck. Suffice it to say, when I did return to the upright position I could see a very frustrated dad, and a very disarmed 12 year old.

 

I’m not saying blaze orange is bad by any means. I sure as heck never wear it, but don’t have anything against those that do. I just thought this was a funny story to tie into the topic.

 

[coocoo4coues]

So this logic also implies that perhaps we should go jogging at night in an all black suit too. Chances of getting hit by a car are actually higher if we wear something reflective, right? "Hey Jeb, what's that shiny thing in the bike lane? Let me try and hit it."

[Coach]

Yes coocoo, that's exactly what I was saying. And you should board every international flight in a burka chanting "Allah Akbar". Your perception borders super-hero magnitude.

 

How I've survived this long in the woods without a stobe-light duct-taped to my head and a loud speaker proclaiming "Hunter - Do Not Shoot Me", is a total mystery.

 

I guess I'll just have to keep taking my chances wearing camo, with all the drunk and hungover masses shooting at every sound and movement in sight. Maybe I should just "up" my life insurance policy. I'm pretty sure you've got this one nailed.

[coocoo4coues]

Yup