To Camo or not to Camo

Hank2211 said:

As has been noted, in some countries camo clothing is illegal. In those countries, obviously, you should obey the law.

In other countries, I suggest you wear whatever you like. I have some camo clothing, and some plain clothing. I wear what I feel like wearing when I get up to go hunting. I think you should too.

Hunters really can argue just about anything!

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Hank, how do you feel about brakes?

I didn't take any camo with me to Namibia, other than a ball cap I have worn for years. It is a standard ACU desert pattern, I am not sure you could possibly find a better pattern for the terrain.

Some of the trackers wore an eastern european based camo, I think it was surplus German.

This is really good gear.

Camo is only necessary for bird hunting. Birds have amazing vision. Deer, antelopes, and hogs do not have great vision. I just shot a deer at 30 yards while wearing shorts and a tank top.

Keeping the wind in your face and staying quiet are 100 times more important than clothing.

Ryan said:

Not sure about Alabama, but I am sure University of Georgia has done a lot of research on the subject.

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Educational video. Thanks for posting it.

rookhawk said:

Regarding blue:

https://www.outdoorlife.com/blogs/g...r-blue-jeans-and-other-important-facts-about/

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Thanks. First time I have seen this. Big debate I remember was with regard to laundry soaps and the brighteners used. The theory was that they made any clothing "glow" in a deer's visual spectrum.

Nothing says "American Hunter" like boarding Delta 200 with 10 people wearing camo shirts....
I believe Zim has a "no military camo" rule but it really applies to riding around in public. out in the bush no one cares.
I wear camo to hunt because I like the fabrics and the construction of the clothing and really don't care about the pattern. A khaki shirt will work just as well and I usually have one packed in my carry-on in case my luggage is late or lost.

Hogpatrol said:

Hank, how do you feel about brakes?

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An absolute necessity. I wouldn’t buy a car without them.

K-man said:

I believe Zim has a "no military camo" rule but it really applies to riding around in public. out in the bush no one cares.

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You are ‘technically’ correct @K-man. The Zim rules only forbid ‘military camo’. The problem is that no one can really tell you what that means, and wearing camo, even technically legal camo, will bring attention from the authorities. I believe I’ve said this before, but I think it is always a good policy to minimize, if not eliminate, opportunities for interaction with authority in most, if not all, African countries (actually, a good policy anywhere!)

So while you are also correct that no one in the field cares, that’s not the only place your camo could become an issue. If you get chosen for a random inspection at Customs, and they find the camo, you will have an issue, trust me. And you can argue the rules until you are blue in the face. The officers won’t listen and won’t care, because they don’t have to. It will cost you money to make the problem go away, and you will likely find your camo gear is confiscated.

Not worth the potential hassle, in my view.

I loved this as soon as i saw it 10 years ago...its the best

I am NOT a fan of camo - too over advertised. I hunt Africa like I hunt here - tans and greens depending on the area I am hunting in.

seeing a post by sambarhunter reminds me of the lengths some go to to hunt the sambar in the state of Victoria, aust.
some of these guys do not eat meat for 1 month or more prior to a hunt to keep the predator smell down.
they have no fire to cook for fear of smoke smell on them.
they wash with special scent free soap.
they wash clothes in special detergent that does not "whiten whites and brighten brights".
even with all this and more, many do not wear camo.
they might however cover their white predator's faces.
bruce.

Irrespective of opinion if camo works or not, with rifle hunting other skills like wind direction, smell movement, colour etc can be overcome to get close to your quarry. I have started bow hunting a few years ago and wear a leafy suit (not ghillie). This allows me to get within 15 m almost all of the times, and allows me to change the bow, to knock an arrow, and draw all slow movements) while the animal is trying to figure out what he sees. So in my opinion and experience camo definitely helps me getting in close.

Lots of good opinions and sosimply me actual facts have been posted. A fair number of posters stress that camo is unnecessary, especially when rifle hunting in Africa. A truth is that most North American camo patterns are anything but effective in most parts of Africa. Another truth is that many animals have been taken by hunters wearing white chinos and their favorite golf polo and it seemed not to matter whether it was yellow or peach. It is also true that moving slowly, watching and using the wind, keeping your silhouette broken and not "ridgelined" and other proper hunting practices have a great impact on success. The importance of these and other factors are frequently mitigated by the distance of the shot taken, making camo into a non-issue. Hunting and shooting have become synonymous, however, with due respect to hunters who can kill at 600 to 1,000 yards, I do not consider this hunting. In my mind, this is shooting. I do not vilify these long range shooters and even have some significant envy for their skills, however I believe that the essence of hunting is to outsmart and out maneuver your intended quarry on their turf and them make an ethical killing shot. At close ranges, camo is effective and aids this hunter in achieving this goal. If you really want an answer on the effectiveness of camo, look to the Kudu, Nyala and many other PG that can disappear in an instant due to coloration and markings that break up their outline.

While camo may or may or may not be effective, modern camo (ie Kuiu Sitka and the like) is performance clothing optimized for hunting, and that is why I wear it. Until I experienced zippered hip ventilation on my pants, zippered ventilated arm pits on jackets, and other features for performance and comfort, I might have doubted the benefits. I enjoy these features, and own the clothes so I will continue to wear it.

I only take camouflage clothes to geese and duck hunt, because these birds are enormous observers.
In southern Africa I think it's unnecessary.
I never wanted to remind the people of the Rh.Light Infantry.
During a buffalo hunt, a cow approached the tracker 10 m away, motionless in front of her stand-in blue jeans overall.......
If you oreintier yourself at the animals, I find that elephant and warthog are ideally camouflaged in the bush by their color.
Here an elephant on a shotgun distance.
Do you find him ?
Nobody gets upset about camouflage. Nowhere - in the bush .
To the local notary I would want to dress something else

After two close calls I have sworn off camo in the woods. Almost getting shot deer hunting will do that!

Hillbilly Marine said:

After two close calls I have sworn off camo in the woods. Almost getting shot deer hunting will do that!

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A person doesn't have to be in camo or be deer hunting to be shot or shot aat.Four examples:

Years (decades) ago my brother and a friend of ours were rabbit hunting when they were shot at by other rabbit hunters. Thank goodness everyone was only using shotguns.

Another time and place a hunter and his buddy were out hunting, never heard the shot and the one hunter never paid much attention to the stinging sensation. His buddy saw a little blood on his friends check below the eye. Looking at it a .22 bullet was lodged under the skin.

Several years ago I had a close call on shooting another hunter. Two degrees right and who knows?

Deer gun season; Hunter Orange Required!!!; My aim was on a coyote, my bullet buried in the bank, down angle.

About 2 degrees right no back stop for my bullet, about 90 yards away, through tall weeds and some brush a hunter was standing in jeans and dull color jacket with no orange on just out of my line of sight.

"Chatting" with the guy, he saw me (by the hunter orange I was wearing), his 2 buddies we're in the woods behind him hunting. None of them were wearing a bit of orange or any type of bright color or camouflage.

This example is very debatable:

Spring turkey season: Neither of these 2 fellows were wearing any type camo: No improper colors, blues, reds, whites, blacks, standard farm carhart clothing: These fellows were dressed as typical farmers, of course they are(were) farmers in their early years....Dah.

One goes right...the other goes left...they do a " box" into each other

....I forgot to mention both men are (were) very good lifelong friends and hunting buddies....

As they preceded through the woods they would use their turkey calls.

Eventually they came upon one another

......this is where the questions and answers and evidence don't add up....

The one shoots the other...first shot... didn't kill him...so he shoots his buddy 3 more times....thus killing him....oh yeah the were roughly 30 yards plus minus 10-15 yards apart....

According to the sheriff's deputy's incident report....a "hunting accident"......DAAAHHH!!!.......WHAAAT T Fk????

Yeah here's some other side notes...
My girlfriend heard about this before I got home later that evening....this "hunting accident" happened about 15-20 minutes before I arrived that morning to my normal turkey hunt my spot which happened to be about 400 yards across the field....and cell phones hadn't arrived on the general market yet....CB radios were the craze.....I didn't have one of those at this time either, wouldn't matter if I did no one I new around here back then had one.

Needless to say but I'll say it anyway...I am still hunting....last I heard her and her new boyfriend were getting married...seems he doesn't hunt.

K-man said:

Nothing says "American Hunter" like boarding Delta 200 with 10 people wearing camo shirts....
I believe Zim has a "no military camo" rule but it really applies to riding around in public. out in the bush no one cares.
I wear camo to hunt because I like the fabrics and the construction of the clothing and really don't care about the pattern. A khaki shirt will work just as well and I usually have one packed in my carry-on in case my luggage is late or lost.

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No Camo in Zambia too.
I’m sure in the bush a jacket or shirt would be fine, but don’t go walking around the airport or town with full camo gear.

I wear the same hunting clothes wherever I go - khaki or fawn shirts and pants . Goose shooting is the only time I wear a mild cammo .