Camo pattern

[CINELK]

What camo pattern have you all found works best in the open country of Eastern Montana, particularly the missouri breaks? ASAT, Kuiu verde, Kuiu vias, max 1? The catch is I need a pattern that is also versatile enough for tree stand hunting whitetails back east in Indiana. Thanks for your help.

[Freebird134]

Whatever pattern gives you confidence enough to sit still should work great!

[>>>---WW---->]

I like to look at pictures posted on the net. Especially the ones of two or more guys in different camo patterns. Instead of looking at the guys in the picture, I focus on a corner of that picture. If you focus in the corner rather than on the hunters, you will notice that some of the camo paterns will blend in nicely while others will stand out.

Give it a try! You may find a pattern you like that seems to blend better than others.

[planebow]

A lot of the locals like ASAT but I have quite a few different paterns that I wear. There is lots of different terain that you deal with over there. Open grass land, timber, willows and cotten woods so what ever patern you use it should be good for part of the day.

[quarbles]

anyone prefer mismatched camo as opposed to full coordination?

[pointysticks]

anyone prefer mismatched camo as opposed to full coordination?

Me! I don't have coordinating tops and bottoms. My bottoms are predator green and my tops are Sitka

[Vanish]

anyone prefer mismatched camo as opposed to full coordination?

I've taken to wearing my regular hiking pants.

[FemoralArchery]

viewtopic.php?f=14&t=1236&p=14916&hilit=asat#p14916

I suggest you read this.

[Freebird134]

Has everyone seen this: http://forum.kuiu.com/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=2235

Pretty informative, especially if you look at the black and white pics.

[cnelk]

That was a pretty cool link, TFS!

[Vanish]

Funny, to my human eye, I was not impressed with the KUIU pattern at all, then I read the comments and it was all "oh man the KUIU pattern is great! Then I saw it is KUIU forum.

For me, it was a tough call between ASAT and Optifade. They both worked great in all but one scenario. It was interesting to me because I've never been impressed with ASAT before. I've always said mossy oak is too dark, and once again that showed through.

[Freebird134]

Vanish, I too was surprised by the KUIU pattern in these pics. When looking at the black and white pics, the thing that struck me was that I didn't see a big difference between patterns at all, and the realtree patterns were waaay better than I usually give them credit for. It's funny how different people see these patterns differently, even when looking at the same pics.

[>>>---WW---->]

If this pcture uploads, it is a perfect example of what I was talking about by concentrating on the corner of the picture and letting your perifial (sp) vision pick out the camo.

I'm not knocking ASAT but if you concentrate on the upper left or lower left corner of the picture, you will notice that the faded camo on the hunter on the left disapears while the the black stripes on the ASAT stand out like a diamond in a goats arse! I don't know, maybe it is just my old eyes or it could be that the ASAT is a new set of camo and may work a little better once it has been run through the wash a few times.

Anyhow, give it a try and let me know if you see the same thing I'm talking about!

[FemoralArchery]

If this pcture uploads, it is a perfect example of what I was talking about by concentrating on the corner of the picture and letting your perifial (sp) vision pick out the camo.

I'm not knocking ASAT but if you concentrate on the upper left or lower left corner of the picture, you will notice that the faded camo on the hunter on the left disapears while the the black stripes on the ASAT stand out like a diamond in a goats arse! I don't know, maybe it is just my old eyes or it could be that the ASAT is a new set of camo and may work a little better once it has been run through the wash a few times.

Anyhow, give it a try and let me know if you see the same thing I'm talking about!

Hey! That's my picture!! I also think its a perfect example of what you are describing. The guy on the left, my dad, is wearing a cotton Max1 (I think, max4? whatever its called), that shirt is a couple months old and had been worn/washed several times before this pic was taken. I think the ASAT shirt is a pretty new first lite merino shirt. There certainly is a difference. Or, knowing the guy, he probably has it dry cleaned...

Also, this bull's story will be coming out in the August issue of Extreme Elk magazine.

I didn't even notice the hunters for about the first 4 minutes, still admiring that bull.

[elkaholic]

Yeowza! Good lookin bull!

[Vanish]

I don't know how much my opinion is worth, but here goes!

I think a faded ASAT would be better than brand new. I believe the problem, from my eyes, is that while it does break up the human outline in one respect, it is also creating colors too dark to be natural. When shadows fall on something that is dark already, it just makes it even darker. ( That's the problem with Mossy Oak ... not that it stopped my Dad from killing plenty of deer while wearing it, but he also killed deer wearing jeans and flannel. ) Not much in the natural world starts out as black. To that effect it creates a different kind of outline. Natural shadows need to be let do their work. You could take a photo of a timber scene, print it out and place it in the exact place in the timber you took the photo of, and it would stand right out, being too dark. That's because you took photos of the shadows, and then placed those shadows once again over top of the photo by placing it back in the timber.

Another opinion, the second problem with ASAT and KUIU is the large blocks of flat color. There is very little in nature that has a no texture, slight deviations in the coloring pattern. I'd like to see one of these patterns with a texture applied to it.

I really like the Gore Optifade marketing pitch (I don't own any of it, almost all my camo is 15 year old realtree hardwoods). Macro pattern to break up the human outline, mico pattern to blend in. Makes sense to me. I've also studied the science behind rods and cones, and I know that elk vision will NOT be the same as human, but I don't trust their example images either. Elk are going to see "colors" we cannot even comprehend. That's probably the trickiest part of camo.

Now, all that being taken into account, I've said above the I sometimes wear regular hiking pants while elk hunting. That's because I think a lot of the camo scene is overblown, just another way for someone to make a buck .. Use cover wisely and don't move when animals are looking.

[elkmtngear]

Having designed several camo patterns for the SLIP System, I've found that the broader patterns with higher contrast tend to dissolve into the landscape in open country much better (at a distance). This was one of our best designs from our first run of Slipcovers that I did, I could set it out in the middle of an open rice field and it would absolutely blend in at 100+ yards (Marsh Camo) :



The initial "Open Country Camo" pattern I designed was OK, and we actually sold out of it. So when I restocked from the Manufacturer, I increased the contrast in the image. This is the newly designed pattern:

[Chukarhunter]

My favorite camo is the outfitter camo from Cabela's. Granted, the clothes aren't the high-tech stuff from KUIU or Sitka, but I really like the microtex and microtex lite that Cabela's puts out. I've been hunting with a buddy many times, and they always had a hard time seeing me even 100 yards away! Of course, we're all old guys, so maybe our eyesight isn't that good

[wideangle]

The old stand by of a plaid wool shirt works well if you still hunt or call in the woods.
I believe scent and movement are bigger concern when close to elk especially cow elk.

[pointysticks]

my most amazing camo experience..my brother had just shot a bull elk. we were elbow deep trying to perfect the gutless method. second attempt. first attempt was my bull the morning before.

well, "natured called". i ran down the trail and..and down to a stream to wash up. i ran back on the exact same trail to where i thought the bull and 4 guys were. i saw nothing. i was dumbfounded. was i lost? i turned around to catch my bearings. i almost panicked..wtf did i do? then i heard, my brother say..what is wrong with you? you see a ghost? he and his 3 friends were standing about 30 yards ahead of me. that bull and 4 camo clad guys simply disappeared. they were hunched over and not really moving. it was amazing.

i think movement or lack of it is key.