Thanks for the explanation. But still not clear as to why the camo then ?
Regards,
VikasThanks for the explanation. But still not clear as to why the camo then ?
Regards,
Vikas
Military fatigues are some of the toughest clothes available out there. They are the favored clothing for many hunters. They are loose so you can wear long underwear and other layers under them without a problem. If they are well worn, they also don't rustle much when you rub up against brush. The weave is tight enough so they don't catch and rip easily.
As a hunter you want to remain unseen (break up your outline, merge with the background). The camo helps with that. While you have to wear orange, why not maximize the chances that the rest of your body wont be seen. You see how close the deer got to Mark in those photos? It then seems to just saunter off with its tail still tucked between its legs. It was not yet fully alarmed. If it was alarmed, it would have flagged (flipped its tail up, displaying the white underside) and disappeared at a high rate of speed. To a deer the orange vest is just something that is of a slightly different shade than the background but it doesn't apparently see the arms and legs (that it could associate with the human shape) attached to the vest.
If you sit absolutely still against a tree or other object, when they can't see your outline, they will stand there looking at you, first twisting their head one way and the then the other, trying to look at you from different angles to observe your shape. There was a time when I was hunting, when a deer came right up to within about three feet from me. I was sitting against a gnarled and blackened tree stump with my legs drawn up and it couldn't tell my shape. It was a yearling and I didn't want to shoot it as I was holding out for something bigger. It was twisting its head from side to side to try and tell what I was. It knew something was there but it couldn't tell what. I finally said "shoo" softly, twice. Being a yearling with no experience, it just stood there with a "huh?" look on its face. Then I threw a snowball at it and it took off. Camo helps when you don't have a solid object behind you to break up your silhouette.
There was another time when I was sitting over a narrow game trail. I was in a tree and the branch I was on was only about six feet off the ground. My feet were hanging down on either side of the branch but they were right up against the tree. Two does came from behind my tree and they brushed up against the tree. My feet seemed like they were inches from the back of one of them. As they came past the tree onto the trail, they scented me, woofed and took off running but they had no idea I was where I was. So if you don't have an obvious outline, you have an definite advantage.
Many times, later in the afternoon, the squirrels will come out to play and if they see you they will chatter and bark a warning for every other creature to hear. Then the birds will spot you and call out a warning too. If you sit still enough and are sitting against something, eventually they will ignore you. Sometimes it can take half an hour for that to happen. When the light is fading quickly as it does in the fall, it can be annoying. If you're in camo and they can't quite tell what you are, they quiet down sooner.
“Never give in, never give in, never; never; never; never – in nothing, great or small, large or petty – never give in except to convictions of honor and good sense” — Winston Churchill, Oct 29, 1941
