quote:

I am sure hunting pressure has a lot to do with it.

That is pretty much the situation in a nut shell. From personal experience waterfowl and turkeys are a lot more wary in areas where there is moderate to high hunting pressure and camo can make the difference.

Places where there is minimal or only occasional hunting pressure both groups of birds are less spooky, in fact turkeys on such places can be pretty stupid.

I agree, I was hunting elk in Selway one year and I was running into whitetail bucks that wouldn't run off and it wasn't on occasion , it was every day. They would just look at me. Walked onto to a bedded buck and he wouldn't even get up.
Pretty remote area and no one really hunts deer there
So in nutshell camouflage is ok except when FWP makes you wear orange, then what is the point...

The function of the fringe on buckskin clothing is to help wick water of the clothing when out in wet weather.

That is partially correct, the main purpose however was ornamentation.

Even though it is cured buckskin, it will still soak up water. Only thing the fringe does is make the garment heavier.

As to public land turkey and no camo

Wear blue jeans and a red anything into the woods sit down and start yelping

You very well may become a statistic

It all comes down to people who hunt trying to buy skill. Fashion camo, scent lock clothes, and all the other gadgets marketed to help you be successful are no substitute for learned and applied skill.

Whitetail and turkey were nearly wiped out long before the dawn of camo by men who new how to hunt!

Some still know how… For everyone else there's a retailer ready to take your money.
Nuff Said

Camo helps, it won't overcome but it helps

I've never bought camo or felt the need. Gray,tan, or light brown works for me in Alaska.

Two different colors that have a lot of nature in them work well kind of breaks a person in half.

I have found that most camo doesn't match anything very well. It just helps break up an outline, hopefully. There isn't much out there that matches the hay and bean fields I hunt. I have found some stuff that might work for cactus or palmettos, but not much else.

It is getting harder and harder to find hunting clothes that aren't cammo.

I agree, Mikelravy.

There were lots of U.S. Army surplus stores when I started hunting in the late 1940s, and we could buy everything we needed in an olive drab color that worked as well (or better) as today's camo. The prices were dirt cheap, too.

Bill Quimby

Today fleece hunting wear is far superior to the old military stuff by far.

I wore lot of it. If I could find nice natural colors I buy some but camo is a lot easier to get so I buy that.

quote:

Originally posted by Mikelravy:
It is getting harder and harder to find hunting clothes that aren't cammo.

Not anymore, and I think less so going forward. Big name hunting clothing companies are making more and more "normal color" clothing, because its generally cheaper to make and sell, plus outside the south, their is a growing demand for non-camo from hunters.
(Off hand I can think of KUIU, SITKA, KRYPTEK and SWAZI.)

I find it interesting that there is no actual science behind whether camo works for hunting anything under any circumstance. Clearly as TREE 'EM indicates, if Whitetails and Turkey were nearly wiped out by non-camo hunters, then its impossible to say "you need camouflage to be successful at hunting those 2".

Like others I rely on my experience, If I couldn't hardly ever kill a limit of ducks or turkeys or call in and shoot bull elk, etc., without camo clothing, maybe I would be in the "camo works camp".

One thing I do know is that clients do not care how many bulls you have called in without camo or that you eat elk every year and don't wear the stuff, ever. They know damn well that camo works and its idiotic to even question the matter. Therefore under the Golden Rule Of Guiding (The client is always right unless he is going to get somebody killed.) I wear the camo they give me or that they know works best based on growing up in Texas, Alabama, Minnesota or wherever.

FYI: They tell me some patterns work and others are as helpful as a clown's costume, so you need to get the right pattern.

People should wear whatever hunting clothes they see fit IMO. I'm a carhartt guy, and hunt the wind/shade. Here's my typical attire....

[/IMG]

Interesting thread, comments and photos, folks.

Dear Mr ravenr ... I guess that would be called an Elk- Selfie !?!

Hawkeye
I call it a "September Selfie"
My response is more aligned to archery elk.
You may kill one dressed in blue jeans but probably not.
Rifle hunting, I would have to agree with most of the posters. Camo not needed.
Nice sheep waterrat!

quote:

Originally posted by p dog shooter:
Two different colors that have a lot of nature in them work well kind of breaks a person in half.

+1
OD-Green top/jacket & dark-brown trousers: has worked well for me for decades!

Here in Texas, almost all land is private. Here in San Angelo there is some public hunting land owned by the Corp of Engineers at one of the lakes. Several years ago a man and his son stepped out of the brush in full camo and face paint and another person took the man's head off with a shotgun thinking he was a turkey. YES the shooter was at fault, I do think the victim is PARTLY to blame. I wouldn't do it, not worth it to me. This was opening day and what they say about opening day is true.

I like camouflage and use it. I like a nice muted plaid shirt just as well. One with grey, red, orange, and black seems to work as well as any camouflage.

For getting close, covering exposed skin, and concealing movement are more important to me than whether I'm wearing the latest camo pattern or a well worn plaid wool shirt.

quote:

Originally posted by Bobster:
How did hunters back "in-the-day" manage to kill game without camo guns and attire?

30-40 Krag

their clothing was woodland hues, browns and lighter shades of green. That, and they spent years in the wood perfecting their woods craft skills.

That, and a total lack of hunting pressure ten miles outside the settlements. Indians pretty much weeded out the inept...

quote:

Originally posted by Crazyhorseconsulting:

quote:

I am sure hunting pressure has a lot to do with it.

That is pretty much the situation in a nut shell. From personal experience waterfowl and turkeys are a lot more wary in areas where there is moderate to high hunting pressure and camo can make the difference.

Places where there is minimal or only occasional hunting pressure both groups of birds are less spooky, in fact turkeys on such places can be pretty stupid.

When hunting game birds and waterfowl is the only time that Inthink hunters need work about cammo, deer are color blind - if they were not how would American hunters in their blaze orange ever get ne'er them?