Best pattern for UK
- Thread starter Glassguy
- Start date
reloader54
Well-Known Member
this one is the best,
£10 says you cant spot me.
£10 says you cant spot me.
Flecktarn, hands down.
We tested this in Sussex woodland back in the mid-noughties. I remember it like yesterday, big family get together from all over. The traditional DPM vs Flecktarn and a few of the non-military expensive brands. I've hunted with guys all over who swear by their brand's patterns. My cuzzies are rabid camo experts but they can't help it they're yanks. Kuiu, Realtree, Mossy Oak, Sitka, Hunter's Element, Stony Creek, blah blah blah. But the clever Germans worked it out years ago.
Put a person in a dark green trousers - not even camo trousers - and a Flecktarn shirt or jacket plus hat and neck gaiter, against the understory of typical English woodland, and the Flecktarn was the hardest to see when standing motionless. Easy winner. Happens to be the best in this part of the world too.
We tested this in Sussex woodland back in the mid-noughties. I remember it like yesterday, big family get together from all over. The traditional DPM vs Flecktarn and a few of the non-military expensive brands. I've hunted with guys all over who swear by their brand's patterns. My cuzzies are rabid camo experts but they can't help it they're yanks. Kuiu, Realtree, Mossy Oak, Sitka, Hunter's Element, Stony Creek, blah blah blah. But the clever Germans worked it out years ago.
Put a person in a dark green trousers - not even camo trousers - and a Flecktarn shirt or jacket plus hat and neck gaiter, against the understory of typical English woodland, and the Flecktarn was the hardest to see when standing motionless. Easy winner. Happens to be the best in this part of the world too.
Last edited:
Koenig
Well-Known Member
I don’t think pattern (within reason) really matters. Fieldcraft is what counts. Shape/shine/shadow/smell/silhouette and most importantly movement are what will give you away. I always thought the old style UK DPM could go a bit black when really soaking wet. The newer MTP stuff seems better. As for commercial patterns, I have some US sourced stuff and it all seems OK, but I don’t t really like wearing it if you are likely to bump into ramblers/mountain bikers....just feels wrong and slightly un-British, but hey, that’s just me. Some of the US camo is simply migraine inducing to look at!
I honestly wouldn’t worry too much about camo, the amount of clients I’ve guided who are wearing jeans and a t shirt, even shorts, 1 guy wore a Snow White roll neck. But so long as you take care of your wind, move carefully and use natural cover you can normally get away with it.
That being said I think there is a lot to be said for the modern pixelated camo from sitka and kuiu. But it’s incredibly similar to flecktarn and multicam.
That being said I think there is a lot to be said for the modern pixelated camo from sitka and kuiu. But it’s incredibly similar to flecktarn and multicam.
Freeforester
Well-Known Member
Lay them out or hang them up in the area you are looking to hunt in, lighter colours and tones blend in much more readily than darker ones, especially when you add movement into the mix.
Rusty Gate
Well-Known Member
Agreed! Just go slow plus green trousers, hat, neck gaiter & any camo pattern colour that suits your locality.
Alway's worked well for me.... right up until I paid for a stalk one time & the tall bald guy slaps my arm quite loud "there look! " Takes his green hat off & starts bobbing his pink bald head along the field! Keeping that for the next punter then
Its more to do with breaking up the outline than the actual colour,thats why Highland estate tweeds are particularly
good the pattern of contrasting checks or stripes which might look garish in a city main street will disappear into the background when in their own environment.
The trouble is that the estate tweeds were crafted for each individual estate and what works well in one area may not work so well in another.
Nothing new in estate tweed it has been on the go for nigh on a hundred and fifty years and working as well today
as it did when first perceived.
good the pattern of contrasting checks or stripes which might look garish in a city main street will disappear into the background when in their own environment.
The trouble is that the estate tweeds were crafted for each individual estate and what works well in one area may not work so well in another.
Nothing new in estate tweed it has been on the go for nigh on a hundred and fifty years and working as well today
as it did when first perceived.
Mossy Oak and similar Realtree stuff serves me well, but it MUST be combined with good fieldcraft. The instant you move, you're going to stand out like a beacon, so all movements have to slow and deliberate (and timed to coincide with the quarry having it's head down if you can). I do a lot of pigeon shooting as well as stalking and if you thought deer had good eyesight ......
Hides simply serve to hide your outline and could just as easily be made from pallets of black plastic sheeting instead of cammo net, but it doesn't stop me from wearing cammo when shooting ready for the times when I need to just hunker down and wait for a shot.
Hides simply serve to hide your outline and could just as easily be made from pallets of black plastic sheeting instead of cammo net, but it doesn't stop me from wearing cammo when shooting ready for the times when I need to just hunker down and wait for a shot.
A point to note. Deer are colour blind. So the real, and to me only reason to wear camo, aside from, it looks cool, (yes I have a small willy) it helps hide you from PEOPLE. My stuff is mainly plain greens and Browns, earth colours that blend in. The deer never seem to mind, I seem to recall that they can see into the blue spectrum. Someone can confirm that? I wear a hat as my head is too shiney these days but rarely bother with face masks or anything. Now where I shoot they are not under pressure and last week I was stood having a conversation with someone whilst waiting and a muntie came out about 70 to 100 yards and didn't notice us.
Which is best?no idea. But when it comes to deer I don't think it really matters. Mind you I shoot mainly roe and Munties. Might be different with Fallow etc especially if they are getting hit a lot. But my personal experience is movement.
And just to prove my point. And self promote
Read Make like an ice cube and freeze. Very well written article by an extremely competent person. Did I get away with that? I like to drag it up every year or so.
Here is the link
www.thestalkingdirectory.co.uk
Which is best?no idea. But when it comes to deer I don't think it really matters. Mind you I shoot mainly roe and Munties. Might be different with Fallow etc especially if they are getting hit a lot. But my personal experience is movement.
And just to prove my point. And self promote
Read Make like an ice cube and freeze. Very well written article by an extremely competent person. Did I get away with that? I like to drag it up every year or so.
Here is the link
Make like an Icecube and FREEZE!!!
Well I thought it was a catchy title, and let’s face it, catchy titles sell. I mean, I suppose I could have titled it “topless ladies in sexy poses”,:shock: but would that have had anything to do with the following story? Well maybe not but I bet everybody would have come in for a look and I’m...
www.thestalkingdirectory.co.uk
Ohh, and he deer also don't seem to mind if you wear Harkila or Jack Pike. Just thought I would throw that into the mix. 
Swedish
Well-Known Member
Now I am disappointed. I always pictured you wandering around dressed as a giant rook!
On the sensible side though your comment about hiding from people is bang on. I remember being quite surprised when I first saw hi-viz disruptive pattern clothing in the USA until an American pal educated me on the visual capabilities of deer.
Colour blind does not mean they can't see colour but they do see colours differently from what we do.
caorach
Well-Known Member
Many years back (2012 I think) I carried out some tests where I took photos of various types of cammo, basically everything I had ranging from solid green, through tweed, the mil surplus stuff, and the modern commercial patterns. I photographed them in different light and against many different backgrounds, and I also processed the photos to, as best I could, account for deer vision as we understand it. I think I ended up with 140 photos, which were posted in a series of threads on this forum, but they were hosted on Photobucket and so have long since vanished so unfortunately I can't link you to the images
I wore, and still wear, the British MTP pattern for most of my stalking as I'm often in light coloured vegetation along the side of tracks or on forest edge and it does work well there. However, the general view was that the German flecktarn pattern was the winner as a general pattern - it wasn't perfect everywhere but it worked well, surprisingly well in fact, in most places.
I wore, and still wear, the British MTP pattern for most of my stalking as I'm often in light coloured vegetation along the side of tracks or on forest edge and it does work well there. However, the general view was that the German flecktarn pattern was the winner as a general pattern - it wasn't perfect everywhere but it worked well, surprisingly well in fact, in most places.
I just wear all dark greens and browns - never had an issue with that.
Following the wind, how you move and how much noise you make is more important that wearing the latest camo, and to be honest you could have the best camo in the world but if the wind is on your back and you're crunching around in the undergrowth then you arent going to see many deer.
Following the wind, how you move and how much noise you make is more important that wearing the latest camo, and to be honest you could have the best camo in the world but if the wind is on your back and you're crunching around in the undergrowth then you arent going to see many deer.
Similar threads
