Camouflage

[Hayduke]

I don't have the science / references to hand, but there is a fair amount of research looking at deer and ungulates eyes, and the ratio of rods to cones to understand better how they work. Kuiu and Sitka Gear / Gore have developed their products on this basis. Military camo patterns aren't as effective for deer because they have been designed to fool human eyes which are very different. Tweed probably works in a similar way (but it is a heavy b!tch when wet, you roast in it when grafting and ticks hide in it!)

 

[SamHuntVic]

Here are the three camo clothing patterns that we make. The green for hiding from people, the blaze for alerting you to people and the pink as an alternative to the blaze for ladies if they like the color.
I could go on about they way ungulate animals see colour but you can chase that up if you really want to. Blaze and Pink show very similarly to ungulate animals.
Not wearing blaze when deer hunting is foolish in my opinion. Hunting private property could be called pretty safe to be wearing the forest colours but of course you are betting that there are no poachers in the area.
This post is not argumentative, just the very basics of the reason for camouflage clothing,
Grant.

 

[John Gryphon]

Spatial awareness is a real trait among deer,they grow up knowing every stick,stump,tree,jump,trail, track crossing just like your dog knows when he gets out of the car to head without hesitation to the "burow with the rabbits in it" although he may not have been there for six months.

Blokes plonk themselves in spots where deer have walked and fed for years and the deer generally pick up on the blob immediately and do double takes with the very wary ones turning and leaving.
The trick is to use camo of a material that has NO sheen,that suits the surroundings and the wearer is covering the trail,feed area etc...not on it! There are big name brands that I refuse to wear due to 'sunlight sheen' that reflects light.
Caps with logos on the front are a no no as its a moving blob that can be picked out especially by sambar.

Yes I know blah blah blah I could shoot deer in wearing a zebra skin kilt too but if you want consistent results suitable camo is a decided advantage.

I have had deer (six fallow does) run and stop looking back over their shoulders at my mate,they stopped a couple of yards from me and without a clue. Also have experienced sambar within a couple of yards looking right through me with the wtf expression on numerous occasions. I have said it before and will again....without camo 90+% of my wildlife photos would not have been taken.

Any old effn how I just chased a b+t wild dog up the paddock for 400 yards 10 mins ago until it hit the bushline,the `64 was fairly itching too.

 

[Rafter]

My father used to teach a camouflage course in the army, and he said it all came down to what he called the 5 s' of concealment
1 shape. In an area of rounded shapes, straight lines stand out ( and vis versa)
2 shine. Dull things in a shiny area - or the reverse, stand out.
3 silhouette. Stay off the skyline, away from backlighting etc
4 size. Big things in an environment of smaller sizes stand out.

The biggest s, and the most important -

5 sh1t! It moved!

Added to that, I wash my clothes in plain laundry soap. No optical brightener, uv flourescing agents or the like. Deer eyes are better in the blue/uv end of the spectrum, which is why covering your hands and face is important too.

 

[Ant ler]

Size and different shapes have a lot to do with it for sure.

 

[Stalker62]

Yes I know blah blah blah I could shoot deer in wearing a zebra skin kilt...

Don't forget to accessorise Johnny...

 

[Farmer_J]

I remember this evening well. These fallow actually came into this field right under my high seat. And I were only wearing shorts and polo shirt. Good job they didn’t look up to see my white bits!

 

[Cawdor118]

View attachment 220299

Don't forget to accessorise Johnny...

Cameron Highlanders?

 

[StephenToast]

I remember this evening well. These fallow actually came into this field right under my high seat. And I were only wearing shorts and polo shirt. Good job they didn’t look up to see my white bits!

I mostly stalk in my John Deere overalls. Never really bothered with camo at all.

 

[Foxyboy43]

Spatial awareness is a real trait among deer,they grow up knowing every stick,stump,tree,jump,trail, track crossing just like your dog knows when he gets out of the car to head without hesitation to the "burow with the rabbits in it" although he may not have been there for six months.

Blokes plonk themselves in spots where deer have walked and fed for years and the deer generally pick up on the blob immediately and do double takes with the very wary ones turning and leaving.
The trick is to use camo of a material that has NO sheen,that suits the surroundings and the wearer is covering the trail,feed area etc...not on it! There are big name brands that I refuse to wear due to 'sunlight sheen' that reflects light.
Caps with logos on the front are a no no as its a moving blob that can be picked out especially by sambar.

Yes I know blah blah blah I could shoot deer in wearing a zebra skin kilt too but if you want consistent results suitable camo is a decided advantage.

I have had deer (six fallow does) run and stop looking back over their shoulders at my mate,they stopped a couple of yards from me and without a clue. Also have experienced sambar within a couple of yards looking right through me with the wtf expression on numerous occasions. I have said it before and will again....without camo 90+% of my wildlife photos would not have been taken.

Any old effn how I just chased a b+t wild dog up the paddock for 400 yards 10 mins ago until it hit the bushline,the `64 was fairly itching too.

“I could shoot deer in wearing a zebra skin kilt”.
Now that is a frightening mental picture! If you happen to have any photos can you please delete/shred or whatever?

 

[enfieldspares]

I've seen estate tweeds that are almost blue...yes blue, slate blue...and others so dark brown and little else but dark brown and darker brown it seemed you'd think the whole hill they shot over was nothing but exposed peat hag. Some I've seen near white like a back in the day version of the modern white, grey and brown Berlin camouflage used by British armour based there.

 

[willie_gunn]

Spatial awareness is a real trait among deer,they grow up knowing every stick,stump,tree,jump,trail, track crossing just like your dog knows when he gets out of the car to head without hesitation to the "burow with the rabbits in it" although he may not have been there for six months.

Blokes plonk themselves in spots where deer have walked and fed for years and the deer generally pick up on the blob immediately and do double takes with the very wary ones turning and leaving.
The trick is to use camo of a material that has NO sheen,that suits the surroundings and the wearer is covering the trail,feed area etc...not on it! There are big name brands that I refuse to wear due to 'sunlight sheen' that reflects light.
Caps with logos on the front are a no no as its a moving blob that can be picked out especially by sambar.

Yes I know blah blah blah I could shoot deer in wearing a zebra skin kilt too but if you want consistent results suitable camo is a decided advantage.

I have had deer (six fallow does) run and stop looking back over their shoulders at my mate,they stopped a couple of yards from me and without a clue. Also have experienced sambar within a couple of yards looking right through me with the wtf expression on numerous occasions. I have said it before and will again....without camo 90+% of my wildlife photos would not have been taken.

Any old effn how I just chased a b+t wild dog up the paddock for 400 yards 10 mins ago until it hit the bushline,the `64 was fairly itching too.

This was last Sunday in a spot where I have shot plenty of deer, both muntjac and roe. I was wearing a pair of brown Fjallraven trousers and a camo sweatshirt, and two yards behind me was a monstrous yellow lab.

This doe came closer and closer, not really understanding what I was. In the above photo it was about 10 meters away - certainly closer than my Zeiss scope can focus without twiddling the eyepiece.

Generally I find movement is the thing that spooks deer. This doe may have realised that something was “out of place” compared to normal, but as usual with younger deer it’s curiosity got the better of it. When out with the camera I’ve been dressed in non camo and had four dogs with me, and the deer have still come to investigate. I always figure its Darwin at work…..

 

[gixer1]

Can’t stand tweed, heavy, and there are better modern alternatives. I watched from afar a friend stalk up a hill in the far north of Scotland for a stag and he was wearing a swede team suit, the stalker was wearing tweed - the stalker stood out like a sore thumb.

I agree with the above that I have gone out in blue jeans and had deer walk by me - it’s about movement and deer tend not to look up so a high seat can be very effective.

My favourite for the colours around me is flecktarn, I find it blends well with many backgrounds in the area.

regards,
Gixer

 

[bogtrotter]

I've seen estate tweeds that are almost blue...yes blue, slate blue...and others so dark brown and little else but dark brown and darker brown it seemed you'd think the whole hill they shot over was nothing but exposed peat hag. Some I've seen near white like a back in the day version of the modern white, grey and brown Berlin camouflage used by British armour based there.

View attachment 220309

The blue ones are usually on estates where there is a lot of slate and they work well in that environment.

 

[Hayduke]

Added to that, I wash my clothes in plain laundry soap. No optical brightener, uv flourescing agents or the like. Deer eyes are better in the blue/uv end of the spectrum, which is why covering your hands and face is important too.

^^^ 100% this ^^^

 

[bogtrotter]

Can’t stand tweed, heavy, and there are better modern alternatives. I watched from afar a friend stalk up a hill in the far north of Scotland for a stag and he was wearing a swede team suit, the stalker was wearing tweed - the stalker stood out like a sore thumb.

I agree with the above that I have gone out in blue jeans and had deer walk by me - it’s about movement and deer tend not to look up so a high seat can be very effective.

My favourite for the colours around me is flecktarn, I find it blends well with many backgrounds in the area.

regards,
Gixer

Each to their own ,while I might wear modern cammo for sneaking around woodland I would not consider going to the hill, in anything other than tweed of course being an estate stalker I had little choice the estate tweed was our uniform.

I have never found tweed particularly heavy and personally think wool is better than any modern fabric warm in winter, not over
hot in a normal Scottish summer , fairly windproof and while not a 100% waterproof a decent tweed will hold out a lot of water before it comes through.
Been wearing tweed for over fifty years I suppose it grows on you lol.

 

[User00033]

Added to that, I wash my clothes in plain laundry soap. No optical brightener, uv flourescing agents or the like. Deer eyes are better in the blue/uv end of the spectrum, which is why covering your hands and face is important too.

I don’t use any soap at all now. After a particularly wet, muddy and bloody winter, my gear is in a terrible state at the end of the day, you’ll know know all about the papa mud. The gear gets hung up in the dry room overnight, shaken out the next morning, and back on it goes.

When there’s a bad weather day, it all gets washed on cold, with a “soak” setting, then rinsed and washed again and spun as fast as it will go. Neither washes use soap. Clothing is then dried in warm room.

When I put it back on, there’s a distinct but not unpleasant smell of deer. The trousers in particular. The rest just smells of the bush. Kinda earthy. All looks clean, but it smells like the environment and not like a laundry.

 

[Alantoo]

I am always interested to read about the way deer perceive the world and how we can reduce our visibility to them...the trouble is they are not the only thing in the wood, and the squirrel swearing at you, the woodpigeon clatter, the rabbit thumping or pheasant alarm all warn the deer of our presence along with anything else.

While all the outline breaking patterns, white skin covering, dull blending colours and lack of UV brighteners can only help...

Time and motion seems to be the best all-round invisibility cloak. Lots of time and little motion.

Alan

 

[Stalker62]

Time and motion seems to be the best all-round invisibility cloak. Lots of time and little motion.

Why have I just had a flashback to my time as an apprentice for British Rail?

 

[John Gryphon]

I am always interested to read about the way deer perceive the world and how we can reduce our visibility to them...the trouble is they are not the only thing in the wood, and the squirrel swearing at you, the woodpigeon clatter, the rabbit thumping or pheasant alarm all warn the deer of our presence along with anything else.

Correct Alantoo,I have observed deer numerous times lift their heads when the local birds give an alarm call,especially effn cockatoo`s. Its no different to when the deer in India react to the Langurs calls,its the same the world over with local EWS`s in place.