Your camo shirt – and pants, and pack, and gear – can help keep you hidden in the woods, especially if you are conscientious about matching the pattern to your surroundings as well as the time of year.
But the cold hard truth is camouflage is actually relatively insignificant when it comes to keeping you concealed. The eyes can pick up more than color and pattern, and game animals have more than eyes.
So by all means, choose your camo shirt wisely. But if you really want to remain hidden in the woods, make sure you observe the following four bits of advice.
Keep Quiet
Noise will betray you as readily as an exposed face, and only a little bit of it will spook game.
The sound of zippers, velcro, shifting your pack – all of this can give away your position. Be cautious about sneezing, clearing your throat, and all of that.
Moreover, even the act of incautiously removing an arrow from your bow quiver or aggressively clicking off the safety can give you away. Move deliberately and be conscious of every sound you make in the woods.
Stay Still
Staying still goes right along with keeping quiet, and being still will do as much – more, really – to keep you concealed as camouflage will.
When you must move, move very slowly and very deliberately. Avoid sharp, harsh movements that will stick out like a highlighter under cover.
If you need to move your head to get a look at something, do it very slowly and with purpose, and in small increments if possible. No sharp, jerky movements here. You will get busted.
Cover Your Shiny Parts
Even if you went head to toe in camouflage, there are two parts of your body that will stick unless you have covered them as well: your face and hands.
To predators, as well as to gamebirds like turkey and waterfowl, exposed skin will glow like a brand. Hunters call exposed skin “shiny” and it sticks out terribly.
Cover your hands with gloves and your face with a hood or a mask, and if you don’t like that prospect use facepaint.
Alternatively, you could carry a cork and a lighter, char the end of the cork, and use the char to disrupt the outlines of your face and hands.
Mind Your Scent
Lastly, if what you’re hunting is mammalian, be aware of your scent cone. You will broadcast a downwind scent cone that will give away your location before you get a chance at a shot.
Rather than trying to eliminate your scent (which is effectively impossible anyway) just try to minimize it, and keep a sharp lookout.
Avoid relieving yourself in the woods, and if you’re predator hunting, expect them to approach from downwind.
Put These Tips Into Practice Today
As you can see, a lot more goes into keeping you concealed in the woods than just whatever camo shirt and pants you pick out.
Be conscious about these suggestions. They can help keep you concealed in the woods and may improve your successes while you’re hunting.
