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Camouflage Patterns: How Do They Look to Animals?

First, camouflage patterns will do you no good if you’re moving. Animals pick up movement very easily, especially elk. They quickly process human movement as a risk and flee. Elk can see very well a long ways off, even a half mile or more. However, what they have trouble with is “processing” what they are seeing. They have trouble deciding what is living and what isn’t without seeing movement, smelling scent, or last and least, hearing some kind of evidence, like a human voice, unnatural sounds, etc.

Sometimes you might get away with very slow, slight movements, but it’s best to play statue when you’re being stared at by an elk or deer. There are times when a hunter might get away with looking non-human while moving. I know of one author who claims to be able to “duck walk” bent over, as he moves slowly by elk and sometimes gets away with it. I actually drew an arrow and shot a cow elk once while she stood there and stared at me, but who knows why that rare thing happened.

It is possible, even while donned in the “perfect” camouflage pattern, that two legs, a face, and an upright torso are all elk and deer need to put “HUMAN!” together in their brains and panic.

Elk are not “smart” or “intelligent” in the true sense of the words. They do have incredible senses and very protective instinctive actions and reactions, however. They are well equipped by the Creator to thrive and survive.

No Matter How You Spell It

Camoflauge, camo, camouflage; How is that spelled, anyway? The third spelling is actually correct, but “camo” will do!

Cervidae, the deer family including elk, do not see colors the same way we do. So it’s a mistake to look at camouflage patterns to determine how good it might look to us humans.

The word “camouflage” means to use devices to blend into the environment in order to avoid being detected by predators or prey. An important device is camouflage clothing, but SCENT CONTROL, silence (or ELK SOUNDS), background colors and stillness are vital camouflage devices, too.

Lots to Choose From

Camouflage patterns vary widely by manufacturers, depending on what natural surroundings their potential customers hunt in. They are designed to make the hunters think they will blend in better with their particular camo pattern.

The names appeal to hunters around the nation: Mossy Oak camouflage, Mossy Oak Break Up, Shadowgrass, TreBark, TrueTimber, Realtree camouflage, etc. Funny, in most elk habitat we find ourselves hunting among evergreens.

Do we need to buy camouflage clothing with pine tree needles or Douglas fir trunks splashed all over them? Whenever we walk through aspens do we need to change to camo jackets with some aspen tree trunk white? How many animals do you see that look like trees and bushes?

What color are most animals? They aren’t expected to stay next to trees all their lives, so they don’t look like pine or oak trees, although I’ve seen a few bears that I thought were burned out stumps! Maybe we don’t need to look like trees either, in order to keep animals from “seeing” us.

Obliterate the Human Form

The ultimate goal of any camouflage pattern is to simply conceal the human form. Hunters through the ages have been successful using simple earth color plaid or even buckskin colored shirts. The lines and earth tones are somewhat successful at blurring the shape of the human form.

Many of us have successfully killed elk up close with archery equipment, while donned in any of the expensive and even inexpensive camouflage patterns on the market today. You don’t have to spend a lot of money on hunting camouflage to avoid standing out as a human being when elk or deer look your way.

Is There a Best Camo Pattern?

In our opinion, there are two camouflage patterns that are made to more effectively fool animals in any environment, instead of impressing the human eye. Those are Predator camo and ASAT camo (ASAT: All Season All Terrain). We have no marketing relationship with either company, but there might be ads on this page for their products, as well as other patterns.

Predator and ASAT camo clothing patterns are designed to make the animal look right past you, right through you, to distract them from your ominous human form. They aren’t designed to look like a tree. The light background colors not only blend in with most natural backgrounds, they keep the animal from being able to put together into one unit, the dreaded human form they are actually looking at. That is, if you aren’t moving!

I have bought both camouflage patterns and hunted with both for extended periods. I used Predator for two years, then used ASAT for the first time starting in September of 2009. Perhaps I suddenly became a much better hunter (not), but I have been undetected by elk more often while wearing Predator and ASAT camouflage patterns than in previous years of wearing the tree design patterns.

Frankly, the cheap Woodland camo that I used to buy at the Army surplus store, has a "somewhat" similar pattern to ASAT and Predator, although with significantly less light colored background. The light background on these two camouflage patterns are designed to look like “air” and other natural “busyness”. Hence, an animal has trouble telling where the human form begins or stops.

Behind Predator and ASAT

Predator camo has been around since the summer of 1991. Their various patterns seem to be slightly evolving into more human pleasing patterns. ASAT Camo has stuck with the same camouflage pattern they decided on after “twenty years of testing” prior to manufacturing it.

The ASAT company began back in 1986. To quote from their website the goal “was (to) develop a camo pattern that would be good at all times, in any environment, to fool any game animal or bird.” The “light khaki tan background and contrasting, curved striped shapes” is still the same today. The yellow-based tan is supposedly the only color that reflects all other colors.

I don’t know if that’s true or not, but when I wore out my Predator camouflage clothing I decided to try ASAT next. The manufacturer offers a money back guarantee that "you will see more animals" while wearing their pattern.

Let’s just say, I’m not asking for my money back. I am still fairly confident in Predator’s most basic patterns, though. I do believe the light background of these two patterns is an improvement over the greener, artistic camouflage patterns that probably just look like a dark form to an elk or deer’s mind/eye perception.

I did seem to get busted less by elk while wearing the Predator camo, but during the 2009 archery season, while hunting in ASAT camo, more elk seemed to relax after staring at me than I have ever experienced before.

A Personal Story: For What it’s Worth

On September 26th, I put myself near at least three herds of elk, all with loudly bugling bulls and estrus screaming cows. A group of three spike bulls took turns walking up to me to check out the cow I was sounding like. All stared at me for a second or two and then moved on, even though I made little effort to conceal myself. OK, spikes are stupid. Some cows didn’t “see” me either, until I moved too much trying to get to the bulls, then some of them ran off.

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

When a 5 X 6 satellite bull bugled very near, I knew he was coming in. I was willing to kill him, if given the opportunity. The problem, though, was that I was standing right out in the open with nothing to “blend into”.

I remember thinking, “Well, we’re about to see how this new (to me) ASAT camo works”. I kneeled and put my bow in front of my face and turned on my “helmet cam” mounted to my bow. 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. I had a head net on, but I kept my bow in front of the uncovered part of my face, hiding my eyes barely behind my cap visor, so he wouldn’t see me blinking.

The video didn’t turn out too 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 for him to decide I was nothing. Had I moved, spoken or been smelled, the outcome would have been different.

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

Any Camo Can Work

Use any camouflage pattern you want to, but avoid moving when elk are looking at you. Work the wind to keep it in your favor and avoid sounding like a human. In fact, sometimes you might want to sound like an elk walking, especially if you’re making ELK SOUNDS.

Consider the more basic, light background camo patterns of Predator or ASAT. We would love to hear your feedback about camouflage patterns, particularly if you have tried Predator and ASAT. Weigh in at the forum using the form below.

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