New Age Camo vs Old School Flannel

Did your grandpa ever hunt? Do you remember any of the stories he would tell you from when he hunted as a boy with his father? Possibly giving you the origin story of the deer camp that he and his friends started 50 years ago, you know, the same deer camp that you enjoy today? It’s quite possible that your deer camp has old vintage pictures of deer harvested from back in the day. One thing that bothers me when thinking about all those old men hunting long ago, is that the camouflage clothing patterns we have today weren’t invented yet. It seems that they didn’t need anything but a flannel jacket and blue jeans to harvest monster bucks. Why is that? Let’s take a look at some information I’ve found.

Deer, elk, moose, caribou, etc. are all considered ungulates. This term means ‘being hoofed’ or ‘hoofed animal’. Don’t let me lose you now, this is an important fact. You and I see colors differently from ungulates. You might remember from biology back in school lessons regarding retinas, and their cones and rods within them. The rods within retinas are sometimes referred to as photoreceptors.

We humans actually have three types of cones, and each one is sensitive to different visible wavelengths of light –short, medium, and long wavelengths. The scientific term for this is trichromatic vision, and this allows humans to see in shades of red, yellow, and blue (along with white, black and shades of gray). Ungulates however have dichromatic vision, which means their eyes have two types of cones –best suited for medium and long wavelengths. This means deer see in shades of yellow and blue. Because they lack the cones necessary to pick up short wavelengths of color, they are unable to see red and orange colors the way that humans see them. This is generally why blaze orange and pink are utilized for hunters, and in some states required by law.

Now grampy may have been onto something with his red buffalo plaid jacket. If you haven’t had one of those wool jackets; let me tell you, they are warm and highly water resistant. Which as you know in the fall and early winter during deer season, cooler temperatures and sitting all day out in the rain can make any hunter freeze. So, staying warm and dry can be the difference in seeing a shooter buck out in the woods, when all the other hunters are inside out of the weather. Also, plaid is a break-up pattern. In my opinion this is all you need, a good pattern to break up your silhouette, specifically, not in the yellow or blue color palette.

Growing up, I desperately wanted to wear camo out in the woods just like my dad and all the other family members at deer camp. Looking back at the gear I have used over the years; I remember starting out with hand-me-down camo clothes in the very standard woodland camp that the military utilized for many years. My dad then took me out to the military surplus store and that’s when I got to pick my very own camo pattern, which is the original Tigerstripe camo pattern used by US troops in Vietnam. After my stint with army surplus clothing, and when I began working at a sports and outdoors retailer, I started buying matching clothing in the right sizes and in probably one of the most popular camo patterns - Mossy Oak Break-up.

Going further, below is perhaps how a deer can see me, while I am in my current camo clothes. New technology and modern science backs modern-day camo patterns. These days modern camo clothes manufacturers spend hundreds of thousands of dollars perfecting proprietary camo patterns. This can easily drive up the price of camo clothing. However, it seems to work well enough for all the hunters to want those patterns and clothes. My current camo pattern that I am going with this year is TrueTimber® Strata™ and Prairie™. Ill likely wear the strata as much as possible prior to the heart of fall, mainly during September and October due to it having more greens in it. The Prairie, I'll wear late October and early November after leaves and grasses die out.

And to be clear, I am only wearing this camo on my top half. I’ll be wearing some pants from Under Armour® called Enduro Elite Cargo pants; one pair in Marine OD Green and another in Bayou. You can find these pants on the Under Armour website here, Enduro Elite. I chose these pants because UA is reliable in my opinion, they are water resistant, lightweight, and added articulation built into the knees.

However, if we still haven’t filled all our tags until after Thanksgiving, I’ll likely be forgoing all my camo entirely for my green and black flannel jacket, for the warmth and water resistance, which will likely be needed here in Minnesota due to our predisposition for snow.

One thing that I know we may get some backlash on; I am not going to be wearing blaze orange prior to gun season here in Minnesota. Yes, it is required to wear blaze orange during firearm season, but during archery-only season it is not. I think wearing blaze orange is necessary during the firearm season regardless of where you hunt. It is for safety, plain and simple. During firearm season, I highly recommend wearing at the very least a blaze orange vest and hat when you're out in the woods, regardless of if you are hunting or not. Some states even require you to wear a certain amount of blaze orange and I fully support that. Although the number of hunters killed while out in the field are a lot lower now (less than 1000 fatalities annually throughout the US) than there was 30 years ago, I would love to see the number of hunters killed reduced to zero.

In all cases, whether you are wearing hunter orange, red buffalo plaid, your favorite new digital camo, or some old school camo, deer can see movement. As long as you are still, quiet, and you have a decent break-up then a deer likely will not be able to see you. Refrain from wearing solids, and any patterns with the colors yellow and blue, and you should be good to go. You are much more likely to be caught from your scent than being seen by deer out in the woods.

Stay Safe & Happy Hunting!

Red Buffalo Plaid

Blaze Orange

Drake Camo

TrueTimber® Strata™