Camouflage: The Good, the Bad and the Worthless

A few minutes after my first jackrabbit squalls drifted across the clearing, a bright blue Stellar’s jay flitted out of the oakbrush behind the mounted jackrabbit decoy. The decoy was 50 yards from the motionless muzzle of my .220 Swift, which was firmly snugged onto a Harris bipod.

The curious jay circled the decoy, then flew in to land noisily in the oakbrush right over my head. My second series calls had barely died down when I a heard rustling in the dry leaves slightly behind and off to one side of me. I assumed it was the agitated jay – until a big dog coyote bounced to a stop at the edge of my peripheral vision, five yards from where I sat motionless. Its eyes were locked on the decoy. Fortunately, there was just a hint of breeze drifting from the canine toward me.

This was the perfect test for my new camouflage ghillie suit, produced by Jerry Gentellalli, of Rancho Safari in California. It was the first of its type on the market and consisted of a mesh netting parka with various shades of burlap strips sewed to the mesh.

The coyote glanced my way unconcerned, crouched into sneak mode and proceeded to stalk the decoy. He was only 25 yards out when the crosshairs of my scope centered him, and he came to a very abrupt ending.

The totally unaware canine proved beyond a doubt just how effective the right camouflage can be. That early encounter remains one of the closest and most memorable encounters I’ve had predator hunting. The ghillie suit, which I fondly refer to as my “Wookiee” outfit, still gets used effectively.

My first predator hunting camo was an Army surplus parka, olive drab on one side, reversible to white on the other. This outfit worked reasonably well for fall and winter predator hunting, but it didn’t take long to realize how extremely important a good background and minimal movement was – especially with the solid colors – to keep from being spotted. That, and the necessity of keeping the wind in your favor for all types of predator hunting.