Nobody doubts that camouflage is beneficial to turkey hunting. Most all of us like getting camo'd up for the hunt, with some going to great lengths and costs to have guns dipped, wear a specific pattern, and ensure all possible items on their being are camo. But I'll guess most experienced turkey hunters will honestly admit that anything that breaks up your outline, combined with being absolutely still, can be enough to beat an incoming turkey's eyes.
This is my buddy's first bird that I called in for him. He was sitting against the grey tree on the right of the photo and is standing where it was killed. And he's a 6'-3" ginger. This photo makes me giggle every time I see it.
Anybody else have kill photos of a hunter with non-traditional camo outfits to prove that camo pattern isn't THAT critical?
I have some of my buddy's Tom from last year but I ain't gonna throw his picture up without his permission. He typically wears the old military woodland camo. Also I have seen video footage of Ray Eye killing them in blue jean bibs and brown carhart bibs. If the set-up is right camo is not required. In my opinion it definitely helps to wear camo of some sort though.
Here. I cropped his face out. (https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20220315/b5d6bded7db41625f8bbc1b750e578c7.jpg)
Unless you want to look like a total Goob in the eyes of your fellow turkey hunters, always wear the latest and greatest camo patterns! If you do not fully coordinate your camo on all exposed parts and accessories, you will most assuredly be looked down upon. You will be scoffed at if you do anything less than that! Personally, I can immediately spot a wannabee in the turkey woods by the camo he wears,...regardless of how big the gobbler he is carrying is! ;D :angel9:
Quote from: Happy on March 15, 2022, 08:56:20 AM
Here. I cropped his face out. (https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20220315/b5d6bded7db41625f8bbc1b750e578c7.jpg)
I think that old woodland camo is great, it is making a comeback on some of the new vests.....Ol Tom in particular...
I am toying with the idea of wearing these 2 sets this year. I have killed turkeys in the set on the left. Both of these sets are probably over 20 years old. I gave my buddy in the picture all of the camo he owns. He even has a set of original treebark i gave him.(https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20220315/9d0bce167f30c47f949d8efccbc4f77f.jpg)
Quote from: GobbleNut on March 15, 2022, 08:58:41 AM
Unless you want to look like a total Goob in the eyes of your fellow turkey hunters, always wear the latest and greatest camo patterns! If you do not fully coordinate your camo on all exposed parts and accessories, you will most assuredly be looked down upon. You will be scoffed at if you do anything less than that! Personally, I can immediately spot a wannabee in the turkey woods by the camo he wears,...regardless of how big the gobbler he is carrying is! ;D :angel9:
Well aint I the poster child for high fashion!!(https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20220315/32cb6dc6fa32a8b255d609f864c5b631.jpg)
Camo is over rated. Can't hurt but obsessing isn't necessary. I haven't worn anything but old woodland camo in years. Guys the fella wearing the brand new fangled camo, carrying a great big knife, prob has a brand new fly fishing vest neatly on a hanger as well in his Range Rover and started it all last week. Playing the part and being the part two dif things.
Who would ya all talk Turkey with? The fella wearing the faded woodland camo or the kid with the newest fad?
My daughter never wore a face mask, she hated them. Often wearing whatever hoodie she had in her closet sticking out of jacket. It never once mattered. I've said it before. Twice I've kee Keed birds in wearing red plaid jackets just to prove to a buddy it was possible
I wear clothes according to function not style. Just so happens most of my newer things are obviously in the latest pattern. 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.
Set up is more important, so long as you have dull colors. THP had a guy on the other day killed one in thick cover, wore all green, no mask or gloves and solo bird.
Problems arise when multiple birds come in ahead of the tom and linger around!
Quote from: Gooserbat on March 15, 2022, 09:34:34 AM
I wear clothes according to function not style. Just so happens most of my newer things are obviously in the latest pattern. 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.
Agreed. The more open patterns are better at "blending" than the crap we're buying now. They just blob out in the end.
As for camo, I don't much care. Old army stuff, real tree, mossy oak, etc. All the same to me. Heck, I've started deer hunting in red plaid. And the turkeys don't seem to mind that much either.
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Heres a pretty good article on turkey vision and how they determine threats.
https://www.wideopenspaces.com/eyes-turkey-gobbler-sees/
Quote from: Gooserbat on March 15, 2022, 09:34:34 AM
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.
The best camouflage is DON'T MOVE.
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From all of my deer hunting experience, camo catches hunters. As long as you break up your outline and sit still, you'd be surprised what patterns you can get away with. Now a turkey's eyes might be more keen, but I think that still applies as a principle. I'll still do everything I can to camo up and beat a turkey's eyes, I do believe every little bit helps. But sometimes I think hunters pass the point of diminishing returns in camo.
Quote from: warrent423 on March 15, 2022, 09:23:42 AM
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.
I still have original trebark and it works just fine when I wear it. Sitting still is key.
Quote from: mcw3734 on March 15, 2022, 01:19:21 AM
Nobody doubts that camouflage is beneficial to turkey hunting. Most all of us like getting camo'd up for the hunt, with some going to great lengths and costs to have guns dipped, wear a specific pattern, and ensure all possible items on their being are camo. But I'll guess most experienced turkey hunters will honestly admit that anything that breaks up your outline, combined with being absolutely still, can be enough to beat an incoming turkey's eyes.
This is my buddy's first bird that I called in for him. He was sitting against the grey tree on the right of the photo and is standing where it was killed. And he's a 6'-3" ginger. This photo makes me giggle every time I see it.
Anybody else have kill photos of a hunter with non-traditional camo outfits to prove that camo pattern isn't THAT critical?
Too funny, I Gould hunted with a friend of mine in Mexico last spring, he wore the exact same camo. :TooFunny:
I was glad he was in a blind....... nothing wrong with the camo it just reminds me of duck hunting vs. turkey. I showed up a number of years ago with a set of BDU's and was asked if we were going to a reggae concert. They had me change into some extra Kuiu they had, that was such nice fitting and feeling camo and that's when I started wearing clothing that's made specifically for hunting. I don't think a camo pattern matters much and as others said it's movement, but I do stay more comfortable, dryer and warmer with the hunting specific clothing I wear now. And yes I still like Kuiu and Sitka is really nice and well made in my opinion.
I'd say that camo your buddy is wearing is probably the best camo in the market for breaking up your outline. Bottomland turns into a dark blob at any distance but it's what I like to wear. Asat is extremely effective but I just can't get past how ugly it looks.
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Agreed... ASAT is one of the best camo patterns ever made for hunting.
This leafy top in ASAT is 30 years old. I've had tweety birds land on me bowhunting wearing it.
Daughters bird from 2d ago(https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20220315/81042b283756a542447fb20e13a0ae2c.jpg)
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It matters.Where good quality camo. Don't spend much money, there is no need.Where a face mask and gloves.
You guys who are hunting your neighborhood turkeys in the yard next door, don't worry about camo.
Some collect turkey calls.... I collect camo.
I think it matters to the point that I wouldn't go out without a face mask or gloves.
I think leafy wear is more important than a camo pattern. I have a Shannon's Bug Tamer suit from the 80's that is mossy oak leafy wear. It helps breaks up your outline, which to me is more important in the early Northeast big woods. The human outline disappears when you use leafy water type gear. The present day North Mountain Leafy gear works great too....
I say hunt with what makes you happy. I do not like faded camo and will not wear it. At least not hunting that is.
If you want to wear glow in the dark camo, or orange, IDK. Won't laugh either, at least not in your face.
I am not going to bash a guy for wearing nice clean, crisp, camo either, even if he is driving a new truck. Good for him, most likely he worked for it.
I agree, it matters to what turkey you are hunting and when your hunting him. I can assure you I do not have a turkey bugger and wonder why he did so. I have, but I no longer do.
The pattern itself is not that critical but If your camo don't match the gobbler will recognize it immediately & you will get busted. You might get by with say your gloves or maybe just your cap being slightly different but that's it. These southern birds down here in Alabama are sharp.
Just remember, no white after labor day!
I have a full set of First Lite bibs and coat, pullover and puffy jacket and it's all ASAT. I hated to see them quit using the pattern.
I agree with the leafy suit comment, breaking up the outline makes a difference, or at least to me it does, I feel like I can get away with more movement
Quote from: GobbleNut :
It's all about blending into your surroundings to a degree, and staying still, regardless of what pattern one uses.
This pretty much sums it up
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.
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. ;)
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.
Quote from: idgobble on March 15, 2022, 11:32:53 PM
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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For me, I ALWAYS try to get in the shadows, whether morning of afternoon. Always have the sun at my back.
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.
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.
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
The camo I wore for probably my first 25-30 gobblers.
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51918195733_c7e54b8e56.jpg)
Bring your old faded camo to WV for a week and hunt. You figure it out.
Deer hunters have killed a bunch wear orange....
Quote from: idgobble on March 15, 2022, 11:32:53 PM
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! ;D :wave: :icon_thumright:
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.
Quote from: GobbleNut on March 15, 2022, 10:06:51 AM
Quote from: Gooserbat on March 15, 2022, 09:34:34 AM
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....
Quote from: Jstocks on March 15, 2022, 11:00:50 AM
Quote from: warrent423 on March 15, 2022, 09:23:42 AM
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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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.
My Grandfather always said he'd rather hunt with a guy in an orange suit than one who won't sit still.