Saw a post on facebook from Ray about how after he went on a trip to Africa he has pretty much ditched the camo attire for hunting. Have seen lots of pics of him with dead turkeys in jean bibs and khaki shirts. Pretty cool going back to the " old way" if you will. May consider trying this myself. Have already ditched the camo pants on a few hunts and worn just plain green pants. My get brave enough this fall to go fully non camo and see how it goes.
My buddy did this during deer season...did not have any problems killing deer for sure! Probably will always wear camo for the turkeys. ;D
I rarely wear camo for deer. usually brown carhartt pants and a solid green fleece jacket(plus orange vest)
Our grand dads all wore red checkered wool coats and whatever they had that was warm to hunt deer...
I have been scouting turkeys and had a good tom step on my foot in a dry creekbed while I was wearing jeans and a t shirt. If you stay still, all clothing is camo. Turkeys are amazing at detect movement...
I rarely wear camoflauge pants. It sure hasn't affected success rates.
I have killed a mess of deer and ducks in a OD field jacket.
Seen pictures of his Hawaii turkey hunting trip in march and he killed 3 wearing a flowered Hawaiian shirt.
Ive killed way more deer in carhart pants and a button down flannel shirt than in camo. Bunch of ducks have fallen in the same manner.
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He must not be getting it for free any more... :TooFunny:
I do agree that being still and not being silhouetted are more important than clothing but I ain't ditchin' my camo.
While it is true that you can kill just about anything without wearing camo, the fact is that anybody that sees you hunting something without being decked out in camo is gonna think you are a goober,...and nobody with any self-respect as a turkey hunter wants to be thought of as a goober.... ;D :toothy12: :toothy9: :angel9:
Quote from: GobbleNut on May 05, 2017, 09:55:04 PM
While it is true that you can kill just about anything without wearing camo, the fact is that anybody that sees you hunting something without being decked out in camo is gonna think you are a goober,...and nobody with any self-respect as a turkey hunter wants to be thought of as a goober.... ;D :toothy12: :toothy9: :angel9:
I actually saw a father and son hunting and the dad was all decked out in camo and the kid had olive drab coveralls.All I could think of was man that guy is a cheap skate for not getting his kid any camo
Camo sponsors must have dropped him????
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I see these TV shows where the african hunter is all decked out in camo and the p/h has on khakis and an olive shirt. The p/h is standing right alongside the hunter. Afterwards, the hunter plugs the camo of his sponsor...HAH!
That said, I think you can get away with a little more movement and not get caught with camo on...If nothing else, it makes me FEEL more hidden... ;)
Quote from: Rwgrobe on May 05, 2017, 08:45:45 PM
Seen pictures of his Hawaii turkey hunting trip in march and he killed 3 wearing a flowered Hawaiian shirt.
But that WOULD be considered camo in Hawaii ;D
Not sure if you have ever hunted game that has not had any to very little pressure but harvesting them doesn't require much camouflage if any. Come down here to MS and turkey hunt out on one of these open hardwood ridges and tell me how you do with no camo. Hunting without gloves or a face mask can make a dramatic difference down here where the turkeys are hunted daily for close to two months. Deer at a distance doesn't seem to matter much shooting them with a rifle but hunt pressured deer within 30-40yds with a bow and see what happens. Turkey hunting is a little different now than it was 40yrs ago when we were the only ones in our area that hunted. We still had better results with full camo. We saw a big difference between hunting with the old army camo and Mossy Oak bottomland and treestand when it first came out.
Im not sure that I would try and hunt turkey without camo,but I have and will for everything else.
Drab earth tones will always be friendly when hunting.
Whats the point??? It's nothing new.
Obviously plenty of animals have been killed with a loincloth and spear.
Most people use what camo is appealing to their eye, not what is proven to be more effective.
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Camo patterns are more for people...just like almost everything else.
Quote from: warrent423 on May 06, 2017, 04:34:08 PM
Never had any respect for that Ray Eye guy anyway. Anyone who believes calling is everything when it comes to turkey hunting is a fool. ;)
I know, right? It's not like he wrote the bible on turkey hunting, or anything. Oh, wait... :D
Since I stopped caring about what other grown men wear and spend their own money on, life has been more enjoyable...
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Many years ago I read an interview with an African PH. He said camo was what poachers wore over there, gentlemen hunters wore khakis and drab colors only.
I see on some of the TV shows that sponsors still want their TV star hunters to camo up regardless of the culture there.
I rarely wear any camo during deer season other than my hunting jacket. For turkeys, I'll still camo up. Toxey Haas and Bill Jordan are depending on me. :TooFunny:
Quote from: warrent423 on May 06, 2017, 04:34:08 PM
Never had any respect for that Ray Eye guy anyway. Anyone who believes calling is everything when it comes to turkey hunting is a fool. ;)
"....that Ray Eye guy...."
Well, I can see that you've never read much, or talked with the man or you would understand what that phrase means ;)
Gods of Thunder
Quote from: BowBendr on May 06, 2017, 07:32:02 PM
Quote from: warrent423 on May 06, 2017, 04:34:08 PM
Never had any respect for that Ray Eye guy anyway. Anyone who believes calling is everything when it comes to turkey hunting is a fool. ;)
"....that Ray Eye guy...."
Well, I can see that you've never read much, or talked with the man or you would understand what that phrase means ;)
Gods of Thunder
I think you missed his sarcasm.
Winner Winner Chicken dinner to Longshanks......I agree. When I started 45 years ago I didn't even own camo, but no one else even hunted those stupid birds then. Try the blue jeans now if you want, I think you'll be stopping for hamburger instead of turkey dinner.
I have killed a ton of fall birds wearing orange. For a lot of years 250 square inches of blaze orange was mandatory in the fall in PA. Stay still and you are fine. And the birds here are hunted hard.
When I was young nobody wore camo for deer hunting unless it was army surplus in woodland. I didn't turkey hunt back then so I'm not sure what they were wearing for that. I'm sure you might get by with no camo turkey hunting these days but I'll keep mine. It's kinda like you don't have to have a boat to fish but it sure helps.
Quote from: mudhen on May 06, 2017, 05:50:31 PM
Since I stopped caring about what other grown men wear and spend their own money on, life has been more enjoyable...
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yup :icon_thumright:
more than a few years ago I decided I wanted to try to kill a turkey without camo. i set out in some good ole levis and a red nautica jeans company shirt. 30 mins after flydown on the first try i had a longbeard on my back. good setup was key. i will say when he popped up he had me immediately and he got shot immediately.
Quote from: sixbird on May 06, 2017, 08:18:29 AM
I see these TV shows where the african hunter is all decked out in camo and the p/h has on khakis and an olive shirt. The p/h is standing right alongside the hunter. Afterwards, the hunter plugs the camo of his sponsor...HAH!
That said, I think you can get away with a little more movement and not get caught with camo on...If nothing else, it makes me FEEL more hidden... ;)
Idk bout you but I've never been to Africa but a whole tribe of hunters gets awfully close n the animals just stare at the most at them. W no personal experience they seem dumb.
Now for deer I've taken many deer w a bow wearing jeans and a flannel shirt. How can they even see you in a tree early season w all the leaf cover? Later season we gotta wear hunter orange n the things walk right up to you at times.
Turkeys I've kee kee'd in on 2 occasions wearing once a red wool rich jacket n once a red n black flannel.
They were obviously isolated tests as I've only tried twice but they both worked. One was summer, one fall. A buddy bet me I couldn't.
Staying still is more important. Think about people using blinds w bid blue Ameristep or some other insignia on it. The birds walk right up to it.
Tv has people really screwed up to even consider that camo is a must.
I don't hunt Africa, but have friends that do (one was friends with Peter Hathway Capstick, which if you know Africa, you should know him) and it used to be illegal in many countries to wear camouflage. Has that changed?
Never worried or cared what others are wearing. 99% of the time I am wearing 3-4 different patterns. As long as I blend in with the shadows and stay cool then I am satisfied
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I'd rather wear solid colors that match the color of my surroundings over a wonderful camo pattern that contrasts with the habitat. In other words, I'd rather have on soldid green while hunting in tall green grass, than a really good brown camo pattern in the same cover.
Sitting in the grass, generally against brown trees, I typically wear green camo pants and brown camo tops... I doubt it would make a lick of difference if I wore solid green pants, and a brown top... But camo patterns do blend in a bit better, and probably hide our small movements better.
Unlike waterfowl, turkeys seem oblivious to any larger objects (such as a camouflage tent or even a car)... They seem to be very keyed in on unnatural movement, or the sound of a turkey coming from a place there is no turkey...
Quote from: g8rvet on May 07, 2017, 05:07:42 PM
I don't hunt Africa, but have friends that do (one was friends with Peter Hathway Capstick, which if you know Africa, you should know him) and it used to be illegal in many countries to wear camouflage. Has that changed?
I heard it was illegal in some countries also, since only poachers would wear camo.
While I have no doubt that using cammo is not necessary and a game animal can be harvested without it I wouldn't purposely hunt anything without. I know that using the correct pattern while bow hunting I can get away with an insane amount of movement up in a tree; the opposite can be said about using the wrong cammo pattern in that same situation. I have worn the wrong color/pattern and been spotted immediately without any movement, and I have worn the correct color/pattern stood up, drew, and shot the animal without the animal having a clue as to what just happened other than it was just shot with an arrow.
I was wearing a short sleeve shirt and a pair of sunglasses and killed a turkey. Kinda glad I had my shades on since he had the sun on me. Didn't realize I even had them on and forgot to take them off at the truck!
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:angel2:
Quote from: g8rvet on May 07, 2017, 05:07:42 PM
I don't hunt Africa, but have friends that do (one was friends with Peter Hathway Capstick, which if you know Africa, you should know him) and it used to be illegal in many countries to wear camouflage. Has that changed?
Capstick may be my favorite authors. When I was married I'd planned to go. Bought a gun just for the occasion. Anyway things didn't work out but are you serious about this? Something I didn't know.
It is mostly now military camo that is illegal is several countries but hunting camo is okay. I had read that not long ago there were several countries that allowed no camo. Like I said though, I have never been there.
When my client found out I was a Capstick fan, she told me she got her start writing outdoor material and he was her mentor. Was a close friend of his. Would have been an interesting man to meet. Would love to shoot dragonflies with him!
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love Capstick! Have quite a library of his books and several of his videos. On camo, I use it but have hunted a lot without it in years past.I pretty much like the older camo patterns or my homemade guile poncho I made. I agree with others here, that movement is what gives a hunter away more than anything else. But colors/camo that matches the environment sure can help sometimes.