I personally think camo is overrated for deer hunting. I've had them walk right up to me while wearing jeans and a t-shirt. Being still is far more important.
(If you are a Marx Bro’s fan) How the deer got into the jeans and a t-shirt, I have no idea. Yeah, with little to no movement deer have a hard time identifying you. What it really gets down to is the quality of engineering that goes into the garment to keep you out longer. And if you are paying for that engineering, if the camo has a better blendablity for a certain environment, it may be the way to go.
@@CamoMatrix I'd really enjoy if you could take a look at some vintage photos of hunters and put them through deer vision. Plaid shirts and other things. A black, red, and white plaid should be interesting. Does the block size or weave density on the plaid matter? Maybe matching it to your environment is more important. Maybe you can find studio pictures of new shirts for sale in the same color range. It would also be interesting to highlight things that really do not work for whatever reason.
Me too I had a basket 8 walk within 10 feet in normal clothing when checking my cans. Had several deer approaching me within 2ft! Just sitting with my back on a tree in normal cano
Wind and movement (plus luck) far outweigh anything you’ll wear in the field. The quality of the textile is much more important than what’s printed on it.
If they don't see you move, hear you, or smell you, it doesn't really matter what you wear as long as it's not white. I have been sitting at the base of a tree before and fell asleep. I opened my eyes slowly without moving and four deer were walking by about 20 ft from me.
Here is the secret art of camouflage: 1. Stand still. Movement attracts the eye, so its harder to see a still target, even in bright clothing. Also, don't have a distinct smell or make loud noises. 2. Disruption. Wearing patterns which disrupt color and shape will obscure the large solid patches of color of regular clothes. Taking old T-shirts and spraypainting brushlike lines will do this. 3. Colors. Camo patterns with colors which match your environment will help you blend in significantly. 4. Break up shape. Wear garments which break up and obscure your human shape. Focus on the hard angles of your body (waist, crotch, underarms, neck, head) if you can make these hard angles disappear, you will too. 5. Texture. The textures of your camo must match your environment. This is why tiger stripe works well in bamboo forests but nowhere else. Texture. 6. 3D. The final stage of disappearing is total mimicry of your environment, such as ghillie suits with local vegetation encorperated
These tests are awesome! Thanks for doing them. My only suggestion or request is that you do them from the ground looking up into the trees is possible as most hunters are hunting from tree stands and that how most deer will view them.
I did do a side by side with 3D here. RealTree Edge 3D Suit VS FIrstLite Specter - with Deer Vision ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-VmKM9YwQvFM.html You can also compare it to anything on my camo matrix on multiple backgrounds. Select the background here camohuntnstuff.com/camo_matrix.html
Deer don't see coulor like we do. But they see white very good. And black very good breaking up your body shape is the most important thing. A camo that breaks up. Black green and grey helps to fool,the deer. I like drab colors my self but I hunt in big hard wood forest. I find its movement and noise that makes most hunters scare away deer I actually hunt on the ground. In too old for all that tree stand business. But each person will need slightly different techniques depending on,where and how you hunt. So good luck. Go get you a buck,,,
@@redneckfarmer6584 Fred bear. You might know of him was a famous deer hunter. Who only bow hunted with a recurve bow. Usually hunted in. A red and black flannel shirt. He once said the best camo you can have is being still and quiet. ,,,
You may think I am kidding, but once you get some cover in the Louisiana woodlands in Fall, Desert Storm Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough style camouflage kicks a$$. If you have some, try it, you'll see what I mean.
Check out my latest video for early season treestand hunting. Best Hunting Camo Pattern for Early Season Tree Stands - 88 Patterns - Part 1 Human Vision and the deer vision version
The Kuiu Verde is killer! Most popular camo patterns blob out and appear almost solid at a distance...except Mossy Oak...it disappears when you walk backward away from the computer screen.
Check out my newer videos. I have many more patterns and push the camo in the background while changing the entire screen to deer vision. Also check out the Camo Matrix i have on camohuntnstuff.com. It lets you control the camo and background.
If done by elevating the camo types...woodland camo may have an edge over the fancy stuff... I watched several times to make sure and each time the old woodland pattern had more distortion to the human shape. I know it's the green causing this 3D distortion...so it may well be the best early season choice but that is dependent on filter accuracy. Interesting experiment, I like it.
I agree. Woodland is a very good pattern for breaking up the human shape. If you check out this video it will put woodland up in a tree. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-_sGYZrajmII.html
From what i have learned in my research is that you can’t go wrong if you are “close” to the general color of the environment. Check your fabric for UV brighteners, have a little foreground and background cover and move as little as possible.
Mossy Oak looked like the best, though that might largely be in part of the specific background it's against. That said, this goes to show just how important the subtle usage of black is in camouflage. Patterns that incorporate the proper amount of black give that sense of depth that really blends the pattern into the environment.
Mossy oak hands down is one of if not the best 2d camo, if one of their patterns doesn't do the job then another will, realtree is more expensive and sticks out like a sore thumb, I avoid realtree altogether, I don't really look for cqmo clothes anymore but if something I get is camo, whether it's mossy oak or realtree may make or break my decision, if realtree is the only option and it's something I really want/need then I'll get it, but I don't think I own anything realtree anymore, thats one pattern I can pick out almost as easy as blaze orange most of the time
@@lumpyzx2645 And then there's Kryptek, which is extremely expensive, and frankly overpriced, for the promise. Their asking price for royalties on military contracts is absurd. Movement and noise discipline still stands as the most important over camo, though. Camo is really key when you're hunting things with vision that beats a human's
There was a huge concealment study done in 1959 by the military after the Korean war that I believe ended up producing the Woodland pattern. That pattern probably has more money behind it's development than any camo today. Of course I am just guessing.
You need to make a camo line yourself. Fluffless hunting camo. Just jackets, shirts, and overalls with the white tape pattern. Shoot me a message and we can go in on it.
Lots of factors affect a deer's ability to spot a human dressed in anything. One of the most significant is motion. Very hard to conceal any type of motion from a deer. If you move, basically a deer is going to spot you regardless of what you are wearing. Second is background. If the clothing blends in well with the background, it will be much harder to spot regardless of pattern or color. But if the best patterns and colors in camo are backlighted against a bright sky or clash with their background, a deer will see it as being abnormal and likely spot the hunter. Third is shape. If a hunter is standing in full view as with the camo suits, it is going to be much easier for the deer to spot. But if the hunter is partially obscured by a rock, tree or log, a mound of dirt, or nearly anything so that his entire shape cannot be seen, the deer will have a much harder time picking out a partial human shape from the surrounding landscape. Next is distance. At a closer range, camo patterns make a difference. But at a distance, the shapes and colors tend to blend into more of an indistinct blob of color. The deer just cannot see details at a distance as well as humans can. Thus any suit you showed will work just about as well as the next one if the hunter is 75 yards from the deer. Since there is often no way to predict what directly a deer may approach a hunter or from what distance, there is not much way to insure that each deer encountered will be fooled with a particular camo pattern. A hunter may be well hidden behind a rock from the front but if a deer approaches from the rear, the camo pattern may be directly outlined against that same rock and easily seen. Camo, like most any hunting accessory, may help sometimes in some situations but it isn't worth obsessing over. For my money, I'd rather be elevated 15 feet above the ground in a box blind than to have every single camo suit you demonstrated.
Very true, check out my most recent video where I discuss the same things you say here. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-OxO7PFoYmCE.html
This question comes up from time to time. First answer is I don’t own all of it but I am trying! I do try some real versions with what I have but I just don’t own that many. Again.. I am trying.
Interesting, would have been better without the soundtrack of crows honking non-stop. Movement and scent are also big factors, but concealment is important.
You are right. I can in no way represent true lighting and shadow on the patterns. These photos are of the bright catalog images and will appear brighter. In future videos, i have softened the light to compensate for this however i only do it a little so i am not altering it to much.
My friend hid from us in a white tee shirt while playing paintball in the woods, that was the day I realized you just need to hold still camo doesnt play as big a part as you think.
One of the biggest problems with commercially manufactured hunting fabric is that they add UV brighteners to make it appear better to the human eye. As you mentioned a deer does not have an UltraViolet filter and they see in the blue-green spectrum. UV brighteners in clothing appear to Glow in low-light situations. It is the same effect as a blacklight poster when viewed under a blacklight.
Thanks. For the most part, these patterns don’t change much. I would say the biggest advantage deer vision really adds for us it that we can wear orange as safety. As long as we are wearing something that is similar to the background, no movement and no blue or reflective bright colors are key.
Very impressed with the First Lite patterns, and the Veil Whitetail pattern. The Sitka Elevated II was a lot better on the ground than I thought it would be. Great video, can’t wait for more.
I thought they were terrible. Not impressed at all. Especially for the price. Only first lite cipher was decent enough. Veil whitetail may have been the worst.
Asat, Northeast Ohio hardwoods, shot them from 5 yrds out,( last 15yrs wearing it)also Real Tree Hardwoods grey,old pattern 😘 No Predator Fall grey ?choice color for pants Best Regards over there,,,, great vid 👍🏻
@@CamoMatrix awesome! Looking forward to it, great work thus far,I personally believe with all the hrs I’ve spent in the woods ,over the last 27 blessed yrs,in Northeast Ohio, Deer vision is based on movement, sitting very still with st clothes on,they never paid no attention at all, as soon as I moved, stood up, white rear ends going every direction, my Opinion, oh TGIF! Too
If you wear a blaze with a black pattern, you may blend in just as well as many camo patterns. If you check out my new showdown videos, like this one, ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-nLSJgpd9iQ0.html you will notice a little blaze orange figure that i apply the same red removing filter to when i switch to deer vision. It also disappears. I may need to do a blaze orange only video.
If you wash these in TIDE and some other brands , you're screwed. It makes the ultraviolet lengths really shine to a deer. May as well wear neon lights..
@@CamoMatrix some folks say you can reverse the effects but I know bowhunters will almost divorce a wife if she washed his camouflage clothing in Tide or generic. They clear water wash and sun and air dry ONLY. Hahahaha
@@CamoMatrix blue jeans stick out but tan pants do not really. I'll NEVER hunt anything in blue jeans unless I spend the money to get those jeans dyed in some for of earth tone. I kid you not, I've spotted hunters who were in upper camouflage and orange and in blue jeans because in my peripheral vision, it looked like two blue neon sticks walking.
Great test! What did we learn? Sitka and other “high end” camo is just overpriced crap that’s meant to sell to the hunter and not to to keep the game from seeing the hunter. Over-branding and deep pockets will always produce the “best camo” when in actuality it’s the most simple that is the most effective.
I added more camo to my latest version ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-UfE_Vd2BM7o.html many more of the lower priced and higher priced gear.
The performance of Sitka is what separates it from others, not so much the pattern . I've tried many others, nothing comes close to Sitka when the weather gets snotty.
Good video. I like how you incorporated the deer vision. It appears as though most patterns will work. Some may be slightly superior than others but I wonder if enough to effect ones ability to hid from a deer.. So then it comes down to fit, the clothes function, quality and your price range. I don’t think anyone could go wrong with any of these patterns.
I know its not on there but I love predator camo. You need big patterns to break up the human silhouette , not all the fancy small detail patterns that look like a dark blob from a distance .
I can tell you without watching the video that Mossy Oak Shadow Grass is the best all around camo pattern that there has ever been. I've had Yotes within 10 feet and I had a hen Turkey step on my boot one year.
No matter the color, the camo patern or else, over 40 years hunting, it’s the motion, sound and odor that gets the deer aware. And they mostly are aware of danger.
man that Real Tree timber seems like the best as far I'm concerned. Such an ugly pattern though, but then again we dont hunt with camo for fashion contests so whatever works I guess
Thank you for sharing this video...fascinating study and presentation. Too old to hunt anymore, but I tried an experiment in homemade camo. Took a black and white photo of the woods behind my house. Then took my old OD green boony hat and using those spongy shoe shine applicators in black and brown and a different shade of green permanent marker. Made a tri-color pattern matching what the black and white photo showed. Surprisingly worked quite good...completely broke up silohuette of my head. btw, I really liked the Browning Wasatch pattern.
Thanks for the comment. I have done more of these types of videos since that one that have improved deer vision. Great that you created your own. More people should do this.
Been taking pics of myself during archery in camo in the woods and changing the photo to simulate deer vision for years now to compare.. you will learn from it....
this simulation was on ground. most whitetail hunters climbed a tree or something that has skylights, clouds will determine how much a deer can see what ur wearing.
I once bought a camo jacket at a second hand store my intentions turKey hunting un fortunately the maker which I'll refrain from mentioning emblazoned thier emblem in red white and blue on the upper left chest area almost exactly the size and shape of a turkey head I declined on taking a shot to the chest !
The unfortunate thing is that when hunting we have to take into consideration those those people that take shots before fully identifying the animal they are shooting at. Although it is a small number of incidents, many hunter shooting fatalities is a hunter mistaking another hunter as game. side not: I do think that self-inflicted accidental gunshots beat out hunter to hunter. I did a piece published by the BHA when NC was having a fight about allowing Sunday Hunting on public land and one of the arguments was that bird watchers and hikers didn't want to get shot. My argument found zero examples of this occurrence (hunter - non-hunter) in the past decade. But still, better safe than sorry on the turkey head camo.
@@CamoMatrix great insight I myself could never make that kind of mistake the real bad part was ii wanted to sit up against a tree to call and that put the logo right at turkey height and it unnerved me considerably!
A couple of things stand out, first is that some patterns are totally inappropriate for a forest environment, and second, some of the classics like Mossey oak and World War II are still very good.
Thanks for the video. To be fair, they’re all pretty darn good at concealing. It’s obvious wind and movement are far more important than choosing a specific camo pattern
Yes, most do a pretty good job. I try to present them in a equal setting the best I can. It is hard for me to capture true brightness and contrast to the background but I have been improving, and adding more camo patterns. Check out my latest version: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-ivOUD_XSvtM.html
First things first never ever wash hunting clothes with regular washer detergent, since the late 70's and 80's color brighteners have been added! So when your grandfather says "No need for the camo just wear some jeans and plaid shirt", at sunrise/set you will glow like a State Troopers blue lights you can see for 20 miles away (reason for the blue lights is for color blind divers can not see the red kind). Second look at your camo how dense is it from a distance, a deer, even though not sharp at its back sides, sees movement very well like a black gun barrel when lifted to shoot it will see it 100 yards away in a open field (I know for a fact). Third if a deep woods hunter look around what do you see, brown leaves so some sort of brown camo but not dense! You can buy the expense stuff (mostly for their warmth) but desert camo is the best it blends with the brown leaves. Now for safety, you need to be seen by other hunters, you wear camo so your spouse can not see you in a recliner, you may get laughed at but those sweats you see in a store that are hunter orange with small black limbs all over that break up the orange cost the least but may save your life. Yes you are required to wear a full orange vest most states but not in a stand or blind. But if you have a backpack the top of the sweats will fit over it. You will get more deer wearing the sweats as outer clothing than with any camo and you will come home alive! I have even painted my tree stands orange, easy to see them at 3am. Lastly use green headlamps, red head lamps spook racoons, deer and racoons hang out together also you have noticed deer see your trail cams at night and come and look anyway, they see a bright white light the reason for the new blackout cams! Also you can get some desert camo from a Army surplus and dye them hunter orange, let your buddies laugh but you will bring home the monster buck and alive!! Remember you have to walk in and and pull something out. Also Moose and Elk have deer vision also, so be seen by other hunters the most but invisible to the deer.
Very well said. Hunter orange has dropped hunter death by big numbers, now the leading cause of death is falling from a tree stand. I know a few that have fallen. One that has a permanent limp. I wear my harness, it allows me to worry leas about my footing and balance and more about my concealed movements. I also wash my hunting externals in just baking soda water, air dry and then occasionally put then in a bag with a twig or two of pine. Seems to work ok.
@@timdrema best thing to wash with is plain water. Let hang outside to dry and for storage gather some things from the area you hunt, put those things and your clothes in a plastic bag and let "soak" for a while. You want to smell like where you are hunting.
This video was done quite a while ago. I have put skre summit in a bunch of my videos since. Here is a link to my videos that have skre in them or they were tagged: www.youtube.com/@CamoMatrix/search?query=skre More to come
Good video if you can do an update adding OCP, AF ABU's, USN AOR2 NWU III, A-tacs, MARPAT woodland. It would be nice to see how the digital patterns are viewed Marpat, AOR.
I just bought a KUIU Yukon rain parka in VALO, which was the "best" of the 3 KUIU patterns but not that good overall. Maybe using an IR spray would help a bit. I hunt in Nevada with its of rocks and desert terrain so VALO works OK. My GTX rain pants are ADVANTAGE Timber with a nice large breakup pattern in browns.
I always use mossy oak shirt and vintage army camouflage pants the change in pattern tends to break up my silhouette from upper body to the lower and throws their depth prescription off !! Works on our two legged friends too !!
Thanks so much! I did do a military version with my older camo showdown that had marpat in it. I need to redo it ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-3kNSLFpIWz0.html
Thanks! It does take some time. I am up to over 90 patterns now and hopefully the quality of the video has improved also. I will have a new one coming out soon for midseason treestand.
It would depend on the camo pattern color on how it may have changed. Check out my newer video's. Deer vision has been improved and the video quality is better, plus I have over 160 camo patterns up
I have been doing the whole scene in newer videos. Check them out if you can and also try my camo matrix at camohuntnstuff.com/matrix/ it has deer vision and you can choose to compare over 80 patterns on different backgrounds
Sitka elevated II mimics the deer looking up with the sky in the background. Cammie all you want scent control still trumps all other considerations for being in the field.
You are right, without good wind, camo won’t make a difference. I have improve my videos since then, check out my newer videos for a better presentation.
Camo is very important, but it's movement that tells the tale. Also, camo is quite essential, when bow hunting. But with black powder and modern gun seasons requiring blaze orange to be worn at all times in many states, no camo in the world can hide that. Yes, I know that deer do not see orange the way we do, but it is still visible as a solid gray. Thus, the camo itself needs to be broken up as well.
This comparison was a GREAT idea; thank you. Is there any chance you would be willing to repeat it for "blaze camo," a category that wasn't included? I'm a longtime user of blaze camo clothing (including hats!) during firearms season because I'm convinced that it breaks up my outline just like green/brown conventional camo. Hence, I think it's much less visible to deer than the solid block of light gray they see when they look at a hunter in a plain, blaze-orange vest like the one in your excellent video. My own photo tests are FAR less sophisticated and complex than your own, but of the few blaze-camo patterns I've tested, the one called "Blaze Horizon" was the most effective in breaking up my outline. Why the demand for this and comparable patterns isn't higher-especially among those who still-hunt and/or sit on the ground when they're deer hunting-can only mean that they've never seen a demonstration of its effectiveness. I hope you'll provide them with one!
First off, thanks so much for the comment. I am continuing to improve the videos as i go. I do have a newer video with 90+ patterns that has a full blaze orange with some black pattern on it. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-ivOUD_XSvtM.html Check it out. The blaze is at the end. Going forward I will probably add a solid blaze plus a more figured blaze to the mix.
If you check out any of my newer videos, i have most of the true timber line. Here is one. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-UfE_Vd2BM7o.html
Vunigear is in this one. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-ivOUD_XSvtM.html i will have add WTF camo. I will compare them. Should be interesting
Really interesting test. I was very impressed with the First Lite Specter and Kryptek Highlander. The only negative thing I'll say is that the Badlands patterns aren't correct. I own Badlands camo in both the Approach and Approach FX pattern. Looking closely at the "Approach" in the video, the jacket appears to be in Approach but the pants are definitely Approach FX. Whereas the "Approach FX" in the video actually shows both the jacket and pants in Approach. Don't take my word for it though, compare it with the images on their website!
I have those extra patterns in the mix. I have been informed about the badlands patterns and they will be corrected in upcoming videos. Unfortunately RU-vid doesn’t allow us to “update” videos
Nathan, I just bought the Exo Approach jacked and pants and am hunting in Easter Oregon. Is the approach pattern too light for the forrest do you think?
@@MicahBS I think it will work fine there. The Approach pattern is very adaptable. The only place it seems to suffer is on a bright sunny day against a dark green background, the sun highlights the white it the pattern causing it to "pop". Stay in the shadows and you're good.
Ha. I have been made aware if the crows a few times. I recorded it while in a treestand and that’s just how it happened I watched a group earlier this season just caw and caw and had no idea why. They seemed to be squawking at each other. Thanks for watching. My newer videos have less crows.
The good camo patterns will only use colors that don't have red, orange or blue tints in them, which is common knowledge in the camo industry. Without those colors, there will be little change. I have created some new videos with many more patterns. Working on more with better deer vision switches. Check this one out: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-UfE_Vd2BM7o.html or try my camo matrix at camohuntnstuff.com/matrix/ and compare each yourself.
I’ve been in the deer and elk with and without cammo both with good wind and no movement and had animals almost look right through me as if I weren’t there. I wear cammo still because it looks cool and other humans can’t see me as good.
That is some close up hunting. I like the idea of the ghillie but I feel like when I really need it (still hunting) it will catch on everything. How does yours do moving through the woods?
Moving through the woods wearing a ghillie suit is impossible. You will have every stick, twig, and leaf stuck to you. I’ve tried. I use mine for stand hunting. It is great for being able to move to where the deer are. Just grab a stool and sit quietly. That is what I do. I shot 3 nice bucks on state land recently. High pressure areas, but you don’t need a good tree to hunt from so you can hunt for anywhere.
Well, of your solids are in the green brown range and are not reflective, you might be ok. Standing in the open, they will probably bust you easier, mixed in the foliage and landscape, it might be fine. It all depends on how well you want to mimic the background or just blend.
Thanks so much. I am not sure what they found. I have seen hawk fly through there and hear owls. Sometimes the crows just seem to be making racket at each other and in various places. They may see something I can't.
Very interesting. You need to put 3 images in, 1 near like you did and a second back around 15-20 yds and a 3rd around 50 yds. I'm not to worried about a deer seeing me a 5yds... it's to late for both of us by then. I'm very interested in the 20-50 yds range.
I have done something like that in these videos: 90 Patterns ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-UfE_Vd2BM7o.html 88 Patterns ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-QmEEyeoJc20.html 42 Patterns ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-_sGYZrajmII.html
