ASAT Camo:
Fewer Animals See YOU!

I switched to ASAT after trying Predator camo for a couple of years. Like most people, I used tree and leaf camouflage patterns for many years. When I started hunting with Predator camo in 2007 I did seem to get busted less by elk, but I was also becoming a more skilled elk hunter.

During the 2009 archery season I started hunting in ASAT camo for the first time. More elk seemed to relax after staring right at me than I have ever experienced before. It’s so frustrating to get “busted” by elk or deer while trying to sneak up for a shot.

Every year I get caught moving by elk that I didn’t see, or that I thought would not see me moving. It happens to everyone.

I have learned that when elk see me moving slightly with ASAT camo on, I should just relax and wait, silent and motionless. Much more often than before, after several moments of starting at me they just go back to grazing. It’s like their eyes play tricks on them and they decide I’m nothing to worry about. (If they see big movement, they still bolt.)

I think that’s due to the pattern of ASAT camo, because I get away with more now. They don’t run so quickly like they used to when I was wearing other camouflage patterns.

Be Seen Without Being Seen

Hiding your eyes helps, too. Close-set eyes mean “predator” to elk and deer. If I’m getting “the dreaded stare” from elk or deer, I slowly tip my head so the bill of my cap keeps them from seeing my eyes. If I can’t see their eyes, they can’t see mine. If I’m too close to move my head I just squint my eyes. (I learned that from watching my bird dog trying to sneak up on birds in our yard.)

Caught in the Open!

I was stalking up to a loud bull that was still about a hundred yards. I did an estrus whine and he got all excited, but stayed put with his harem. I moved closer to toward him.

Another bull, a 5 X 6 satellite, bugled very near. I knew he was coming in. I was willing to kill him, if given the opportunity. The problem was that I was standing right out in the open with nothing to “blend into” and no time to move before he arrived.

“helmet cam”

As the bull came into view at 35 yards he knew exactly where “she” should be, because he had pinpointed my call. He stared right at me, head on. No shot. I kept my bow in front of my face and carefully hid my eyes behind my cap visor.

The video didn’t turn out very good because of the lighting, but it enabled me later to time his attempt to process what he was seeing. It took exactly three full minutes of staring for him to decide I was nothing to worry about. Had I moved or been smelled, the outcome would have been different.

He then confidently walked out in front of me toward the noisy herd I had been stalking . I drew my bow back when his eyes went behind a tree. Then I stopped him with a cow chirp and shot him at 45 yards, while he stared at my ASAT camo patterned form yet again. He went 10 yards and laid down for good.

In 2010 I arrowed a six-point bull from a kneeling position on an open hillside wearing ASAT camo.

What About Other Animals?
How About Wallabies and Kangaroos!?

Just imagine a 3 foot tall jackrabbit thumping the ground and running ahead of you all the time. It can ruin a good hunt. Now they just seem more relaxed and let me pass quietly.

That might sound trivial but the property I hunt on has HEAPS of them. I really love my Leafy 3D Vanish. Sometimes it gets real hot here, so I hunt in shorts with the ASAT Leafy gear and nothing else. The breeze blows through just fine.

Trusting The ASAT Camo

Two bulls way off to my left were trading challenge bugles with a herd bull on my right. I moved up into an open area between the two sets of bulls. I could tell the one on the right had all the cows, but he was on the wrong side of the fence (posted private property). I knelt in the bright sunlight amongst a few Canada thistles and did some real sweet estrus whines. I deflected the sounds with my hand toward my right.

One of the bulls came in from my left and walked about 40 yards in front of me, looking for the cow that made the sound that I had directed to my right. I stopped him with a cow call. I arrowed him and he ran over a rise.

I planned to wait 45 minutes or more to let him die. While waiting I decided to play with the other bull to my left. I called again. While still in the trees, he answered and started coming out of his cover.

I wanted to bring him in close just for fun, so I called again and didn't deflect the sound. That bull walked straight up to me and stepped around me when he was just a few feet away. He stopped to my right and bugled right next to me. He had seen that I was “something”, so he walked around me, but he never recognized that I was anything but part of the terrain.

I don’t think I could have gotten away with that out-in-the-open setup in anything but ASAT camo. I’ll never know, because I don’t intend to hunt without ASAT camo on. It seems like the longer an animal stares at it, the more it causes an optical illusion and they stop seeing a recognizable form.

I think ASAT’s claim should be “fewer animals will see YOU”, rather than “see more game”, which might also be true!

Don't Play with Your Food

As he came into view I pushed the button that started “record”. I was pumped that I was getting all that on tape, even as he stood right next to me bugling! He walked away, so I called him again. He knew there was no cow there, so he took off. But, (sigh) in the bright sunlight I could not see the screen and “record” was not happening! On top of that, the bull I stuck crossed that fence and just kept going. I couldn’t get access to trail him.

In following hunts I couldn’t get that second bull to come in to me. I had educated him not to come to a call. I told my wife about it and she chided, “That’s what you get for playing with your food!”

Nonetheless, I have gotten closer to and have killed elk at close range every year to date since I started hunting with ASAT camo.

If you want to order some ASAT camouflage, you can do so by clicking on the links below. (Coming the week of 12/12/2011.) In most cases, ASAT will ship your order the same day via UPS, no later than the second business day.

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