Camouflage

[Erik Hamburger]

Stalking clothes should be dull and quiet, the colour is quite irrelevant in my view, and 'camo' is not required, unless you want to hide from people, in which case it does help.
Deer can see movement more than shapes or colours. If a deer is standing 50 yards away and facing you and you put your rifle on the sticks very slowly, or bring your bino's to your eyes very slowly, you usually get away with it. Do it rushed and they are off...!

 

[devon deer stalker]

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.

Same as me, thats why my wife won't have my stalking clothes left anywhere other than in the garage.
There is nothing like essence of stag on your clothes (I wear Sitka Gear, great for layering) to hide you from deer, the wind isn't always 'steady' in one direction, if that and camouflage gives me an edge I will take it.
But basic stalking skills always work, be aware of the wind direction, stalk slowly, and watch your movement/surroundings.
Cheers
Richard

 

[Roebuck9]

Deer see in shades of green, their 3D perception is much greater than ours. They can appear to be eating and not notice us but if you move closer to them while the head is down when they raise their head they can detect the change in depth very quickly. Depending on that distance how much of a threat you are and they are away in a flash. That is also why a high seat is so good you do not change your position if they should see you.

I wear brown for that reason and as has been said no detergent near my stalking clothes as we all remember the disco in our youth when the ultra violet light was switched on and you could see through girls white blouses etc well deer pick that detergent glow up immediately, you stand out like a sore thumb to them.

 

[Hayduke]

The Science wouldn't necessarily agree that 'camo' is 'irrelevant'. For sure it isn't an invisibility cloak, but if still / stealthy I have got so close I could almost reach out and touch them and I may well have been invisible. Deer have evolved over hundreds of thousands of years to avoid predators. Throughout that time Homo sapiens have been one of their biggest predators. Deer senses are finely tuned to respond to a range of triggers and threats, one of which is the upright human form and outline (others being movement, noise, scent etc etc). Kuiu, Gore, Sitka, Harkila and others have developed their disruptive patterns after decades of research into deer eyes and how they function - rods and cones, light spectrum etc - these patterns give the hunter more time and a wider margin or envelope to operate in. There is lots of research on this and some good vids online.

I won't wash my kit all season, unless it gets really bloody (which happens sometimes when gralloching in pitch black or after a long drag/carry) mud and wet doesn't bother me. If I really have to wash kit, I rinse the machine through empty for a full wash cycle without powder to clear it and then wash my gear without any powder / detergent.

The langurs - deer point, and bird alarm calls is a really good one. I noticed this effect clearly two seasons ago when moving onto a gang of woodland deer. I know for sure they couldn't see, scent or hear me, and was mystified when they bounced once, stopped, and then took off for good. At the time, in my periphery I was aware of a dozen chaffinches going nuts. When id finished scratching my head in amazement wondering how I'd f__ked up, I realised that the birds were going berserk in alarm at the dog which id parked up 15m back, and this is what had spooked the deer.

Ive also watched a gang of reds heading towards me, see a couple of hill ponies a way off, which were silent and unbeknownst to me at the time signalling via their body language danger and alert - me. The deer didn't even pause, clocked the hill ponies disposition and warning and took off in the opposite direction like the clappers.

 

[Klenchblaize]

One switched-on and lucky SD member did the right thing and his success in the feild has risen proportionally:

Sold: - NZ Made Camo Swanndri With Deer Hunter Legend Detailing

£499.00 Posted UK Only No Offers No Heckling

www.thestalkingdirectory.co.uk

K

 

[Hayduke]

Maybe, but camo is no substitute for a decent field craft skills, which is fundamentally important and must come first or you are just throwing cash at kit unnecessarily.

 

[JTO]

I think Richard Prior used to advocate wearing a certain Scottish tartan that contained a mixture of dull colours.

 

[Alantoo]

I wear brown for that reason and as has been said no detergent near my stalking clothes as we all remember the disco in our youth when the ultra violet light was switched on and you could see through girls white blouses etc well deer pick that detergent glow up immediately, you stand out like a sore thumb to them.

With a septic tank we have always used eco/bio friendly detergents and soaps. Nowadays mostly Ecoleaf from Suma as we can get them in bulk locally and with a discount. Their Clear and Simple shampoo is perfume free, and the laundry liquid has no U/V Optical brighteners in it.

Alan

 

[StephenToast]

I have never worried about what I wash my clothes in. Doesn't seem to have an effect on the deer I'm shooting.

 

[spannulman]

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

This pattern was surprisingly good in the field ( or town rather). The same colour palette is used in kiui vias camo..

 

[Alantoo]

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.

It would be interesting to know if the deer agree!

Dancing on a pin head here but I can imagine that as their life depends on it, they would identify and differentiate the residual smell in your clothes of their constant contact with human perspiration rather than the occasional brush against the deer carcass at the end of the outing. Maybe in the same way that you could identify the deer smell over the human.

I was always intrigued by Holly, our old Springer on the left of my avatar...she would select the most pungent bit of fox or badger poo to roll her shoulders in before proudly coming over to share her freshly unguented perfume with us.

I can imagine the advantage to a predator of rolling in prey poo to camouflage their predator scent from their prey, but couldn't figure out why Holly would choose the poo from fellow predators rather than cow, bird or rabbit poo for instance.

Alan

 

[Stalker62]

Always thought that the "Dazzle" camouflage used on WWI warships was interesting.

 

[willie_gunn]

View attachment 220353

Always thought that the "Dazzle" camouflage used on WWI warships was interesting.

Certainly if there was the risk of being shelled from several miles away, where it would help break up any visual profile, but I am not sure it is terribly applicable for deer stalking!

 

[gixer1]

It’s funny as I know deer and very observant - but I have also lost count of the number of times I’ve stalked into roe and had a giggle at the fact they haven’t noticed me, I did it three times to doe’s this year where they are happily munching away and I get to within 10 yards and wait for the inevitable “jump” before they bound off. I was always told (or read, can’t remember which ) a roe will look at something if it is alerted, it will then look away and look back to see if anything has changed….and this makes sense to what I have seen.

Yes, deer are observant but I have seen them make some clangers in the past…such as tripping over, bumping into each other etc.

the US blaze orange doesn’t seem to effect how many deer are shot!

regards,
Gixer

 

[Stalker62]

..a roe will look at something if it is alerted, it will then look away and look back to see if anything has changed….and this makes sense to what I have seen.

Have experienced many times. They have a look at you, then pretend it's all OK, go back to whatever they were doing, then suddenly whip their head back up and see if you have blinked.

Reminds of the children's game:- "What's the time, Mr. Wolf".

 

[User00040]

 

[patrickt]

Here’s me in my snow suit..











It works well especially when it is coming down.

You must have bought where I bought mine, I took it back after getting knocked over by a snow plough Lorry

Patrick

 

[enfieldspares]

View attachment 220353

Always thought that the "Dazzle" camouflage used on WWI warships was interesting.

It was, as you know, designed to prevent, or hinder, a submarine captain working out his correct "angle on the bow" firing solution. Either he applied a quick guess rather that a correct decision or risked keeping his periscope up for longer and thus increasing his own risk of being detected by its wake. The "dazzle" intending to act to make it difficult to work out in a short visual exposure the tack the ship was sailing on and also its correct speed.

 

[riflerob]

I've always viewed 'drab' as being far more important than 'camo' when it comes to stalking/shooting, whether it be for rabbits, deer, ambushing foxes, or sitting in a hide.

It's amazing how invisible you can be just by being very slow and methodical in movement, or by sitting still.

I've hand-squeaked a fox to within 15 feet before it started to think something was wrong - at which point that thought was a bit too late.

 

[bogtrotter]

While some cammo patterns are fine for woodland most are not that great on the hill the colours are usually not right, I Ifind estate tweed patterns better for that ,but estate patterns are localised designed for a particular environment no one pattern will work everywhere
a background pattern of a colour close to the colour of the terrain, blue where there is a lot of slate green or yellowish where there is a lot of grass,a pinkish shade like some of the estates in the North East where there is a lot of granite
Where my Grandson is for example they have both granite and slate their tweeds are a blue grey with a pink line through it, this they set of with pink shirts works well in that area.
Usually there is a contrasting line one horizontal and one vertical which helps break up the outline for some optical
reason while these lines often seem to clash with the background colour when close up or taken out out of their home
environment but on their home turf they seem to blend into the background.
What may work for a woodland stalker is not usually right for the hill, the colours and shades are usually wrong and a leaf or bark pattern well how can that be right where there are no trees
Flecktarn seems to work reasonably well on many hill environments a jacket and trousers of different colours also helps
to break up the human outline . In foul weather I will sometimes dispence with the tweed jacket and don a modern smock or my Nomad in Argyle pattern which though appearing yellowish blends into the white grass on the hill.