Proof camo pattern isn't critical

[idgobble]

Here's my camo jacket I've been using for 45 years. Got the pants at a yard sale and the hat was from my friend's business (I used a brown magic marker on the business name). Sorry I'm not more camo coordinated. 50 yrs ago we just wore brown shirts and pants.

[idgobble]

I didn't have camo pants then and I couldn't afford a 12 ga. 3.5" magnum scoped semi-auto camo special turkey gun so I used my 75 yr. old single shot.

[mcw3734]

Well, I've learned two things since starting this thread:

1. Woodland camo, which I wear for pants, apparently falls into the 'vintage' category for many. Didn't expect that.

2. My buddy's ASAT pattern has a very loyal fan base, especially here in the West. In doing some web research, there are folks that swear by it and write some pretty compelling testimonials.

[Cowboy]

I didn't have camo pants then and I couldn't afford a 12 ga. 3.5" magnum scoped semi-auto camo special turkey gun so I used my 75 yr. old single shot.

Bingo!!

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[Turkeytider]

For me, I ALWAYS try to get in the shadows, whether morning of afternoon. Always have the sun at my back.

[Kylongspur88]

I've had them walk within feet of me while sitting on the ground wearing blaze orange and jeans while deer hunting. Just stay still and don't make sudden movements. 

[Sungrazer]

ASAT does a fantastic job at breaking up the human outline, and it just looks cool. Ted at THP wears Woodland camo BDU's and kills Turkeys. Lack of movement is key IMO, but I am a camouflage nut myself, just bought a floating gun case in old school (tan duck) camo for Turkey with the Kayak. Can't recall the name but had some snakeskin looking camo bout 25 years ago. I'm going to try my ASAT leafy top this season running N gunning.

[30_06]

ASAT is a fantastic camo pattern. It has worked well for me for turkey, deer, moose, elk, etc. in most any terrain imaginable.

Esse quam videri

[guesswho]

The camo I wore for probably my first 25-30 gobblers.     

[WV Flopper]

Bring your old faded camo to WV for a week and hunt. You figure it out.

Deer hunters have killed a bunch wear orange....

[g8rvet]

I didn't have camo pants then and I couldn't afford a 12 ga. 3.5" magnum scoped semi-auto camo special turkey gun so I used my 75 yr. old single shot.

How much further off the screen does that barrel reach!   

I killed several Osceolas as a young man in central Florida wearing a solid OD green field jacket.  To be fair though it does look about the color of palmettos. I have killed several birds before work wearing solid brown carhart style pants with a leafy top over a scrub shirt.  It was piney woods and the color of the pants look about like pine needles on the ground.

[Marc]

Now to address the op and his post in regards to his friend's ASAT.  That's probably one of the best camo patterns you can wear.

I find it curious that some folks swear by that ASAT camo, but to my "human eye" it stands out like a sore thumb.  Having said that, it is what the "game animal you are hunting" eye sees that matters.  Of course, it also depends on the back-drop in any hunting situation.  One camo pattern that looks fantastic in one setting (to me, at least), looks completely out of place in another. 

As we repeatedly say in these matters:  It's all about blending into your surroundings to a degree, and staying still, regardless of what pattern one uses.

ASAT is a great camo pattern, if it matches the surroundings...  I was surprised at how well someone can blend into a tule patch with that pattern.  Probably not so much with green spring colors though....

[bushangler]

All depends on what "type" of Turkeys you are hunting

Can you elaborate?

I think we are of the same thought process, but not enough information in your post to verify.

How I see it, there's some folks who won't understand because you have to live it to know it. If you have grown up in any part of the country outside the extreme SE, you have no idea how hard turkeys can be to hunt. If you haven't lived it, you think we are just blow hardship talking it up.

Proof is in the pudding though. Take a fella who grew up killing turkeys in South Ms, or Southern Alabama, Louisiana, north Florida......and some other comparable places, and he can kill one anywhere in the country and do it with relative ease.

The turkeys have small home ranges and know every stick out of place. You better hide and blend well to be successful.

Of course you can hide around a curve in the road wearing a bright yellow school bus shirt if you want to and you can have a split second to shoot the bird as he walks around the curve before he flies off or reacts. Did your camo matter at that point? The answer is "No".

Does it matter when you are working a turkey to gun and he's got 3 or 4 hens with him, and you are sitting in a swamp or a ridge where they can see your set up? Yes it does. They'll swing wife of you for 60 yard shots at best, so if you think that is calling one up then it don't matter.

If you hide behind strutting decoys and crawl out in fields, clear cuts, and food plots to shoot one, then it don't matter either.

If you sit in blinds, it don't matter.

If you hunt turkeys and set up on them in the woods where they live, especially in the South, it matters.
I'll concede there are plenty of effective patterns out there. Pick one and use it or prefer it over another.
You still have to hide and be still.

This will be my 22 Turkey season and I've killed 77 spring gobblers between 11 states. Only time I wore camo was before work when I was in the marine corps and would wear my uniform before work. I wear green, brown or grey plaid shirts with tan or green pants never worn a face mask in my life and only wear gloves if it's cold. I've never shot a Turkey that wasn't wounded over 30yds.

I'm a firm believer camo is for hunters and animals don't give a crap, use shadows and break up your outline.


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[Marc]

The importance and benefits of good camouflauge probably vary in situation to situation.

Unpressured ranch with lots of birds.  You could probably get away with wearing a bright orange shirt, as long as you hold still while the bird is coming in.

High-pressured birds on public...  Many of those birds hear, or see something they do not like, and they are ghosts.  I think that many times, a lot of us have had birds that almost came in, that we never knew about...  We moved, or talked, or whispered, or called at the wrong time, etc...

One thing I do know, is that camouflage or clothing that blends in well to the background never hurts...  And probably gives us a larger margin of error for movement that goes undected.  The more we contrast with the background, the more noticeable even the slightest movements are...

And...  I have had experiences where birds are coming in...  I see them coming, and am perfectly still against a tree, and they seem me, or something they do not like...  And stop coming...  It is those experiences which make me inclined to take advantage of the best camouflage I can for a given situation.

[Moh20]

My Grandfather always said he'd rather hunt with a guy in an orange suit than one who won't sit still.