Ghillie suits if you didt know have been used in Scotland by shepards and game keepers on large estates for over a hundred years . Ghillies were first deployed in combat in 1899 By Lord Lovats special British regiment units in the Boer Wars in S Africa - Today they are deployed by special sniper units world wide - for the record to be set straight it is a Scottish invention -
How to make your own Ghillie Suit
Ive been using Ghillie suits to hunt gobblers in Florida for near 20 years now , It allows me the ability to set up instantly in any area, without fear of being spotted - there are several drawbacks ..one is the weight , second is the heat produced by the material , third is the material can snag on brush at times
To over come some of this , I use a inside out "Shannons brand" bugtamer suit - it is lightweight , and breathable - the mesh netting allows for material attachment
This is what to get , get them on ebay for cheap
dont get the new version with foam netting--- get the thread netting version ---here is some examples - buy the one on the
right You need jute burlap , you can stain it yourself with coffee , dye , spray paint - you need to cut the ends off , so you can pull out the strands
If you stain it , dont put it in the wash cycle or dryer , soak it , and air dry the material
You want to pull 2 -3 foot long strands out of the burlap , when you get about 4-8 of them loop them into the bugtamer suit
Sometmes you have to hold one cut end with your foot and tug on it , 1 stand at a time , sometimes you can pull 2 at a time
loop it in
pass it through
knot it , one down 1,000 more to go
it will take about 40 hours to do a quality lightweight ghillie
the pants will need upkeep as thats where the the material tends to wear out , each season you can tougch them up with about 4 hours of work - I use suspenders , and put the pants on first when I am hunting
the inside of a completed Ghillie jacket - it slides on quicker than supermans cape , zip it up , pullover the hood and you are very camoed up
this is the outside of the jacket - you can stain it ," mud it " by throwing it in some mud puddles and air dry it , add natural vegetation - there are some strands of material added in , whatever suits your needs - this suit goes with me everywhere I can hunt places totally unthinkable to other turkey hunters , I have layed down in wide open mile long fields with a rolled up shirt as a head rest and killed them this way - you can alter the material to suit your needs