A few years ago I took the stance that most camo is WAY over rated. No doubt that it is beneficial and needed, but to have that perfect blend is too much of a pain in the With the number of people that I guide for predator and turkey hunting, I get to see a lot.
My #1 complaint on all camo is sun fade. After a couple years of exposure, it all gets a shiny sheen to it. Once it has that sheen, your screwed. You might as well be standing there reflecting a mirror with the sun. Much more true with turkeys than whitetail, but regardless if it shines at 600yrds away, its garbage.
My 2nd issue with most camo is the variance of the environment. Cloudy, sunny, hardwoods, mid spring, early fall, swamps, grassland, treetops, snow, green, brown, and the list is endless. A perfect AP hardwoods looks great at 2:00 pm in the shade and at 7:00am with all the dew or frost, it stands out like a a streaker in a group of nuns.
My final gripe is the cost for quality. If you want quality clothes that will last and be durable, your going to invest a big chunk of change. money that I would rather use to go hunting.
So for a positive outlook on camo, I do have a variety of cheap stuff that works for my needs. Army surplus store for rip-stop pant plus white and camo slip overs. My other stuff that I have come to like is the sage camo shirts from cabelas, the Predator series, and military digital.
I truly believe as Wade stated that it isn’t the camo, its the scent and motion. I have spot/stalked a lot of turkeys in open fields. Its a matter of having an outline that is broken to your environment and not standing out like a billboard.
From what I have read, turkeys see in much higher contrast than compared to whitetail. So I took a a few pics of Olivia with/and with out a yellow filter to increase contrast and see more of what “they see”. I was surprised on how muted the camo looked in relationship to the background where her ground blind is located.
Also, the sage camo shirts has been very versatile in blending with multiple settings. I’ve had a lot of deer and turkey walk within 30 yrds and never give me a second look until I am winded. I’m standing next to a round bail calling coyotes in the snow pic, and I’m against a few limbs on the ground in the upper right side of the woodland pic. The turkey shot is one that I stalked about 500yrds along my field in a fence row. It may be a level of unorthodox camo patterns, but it works.