Ghillie Suits for Hunters

I hear too many hunters arguing that a Ghillie suit is of no use to a hunter. No tool is of use to any craftsman unless he knows how to use it. A hunters gun would be of no use if the hunter didn't know how to use it. One of the most common arguments I hear concerns the use of "hunters orange". The argument says that if one has to wear the orange it defeats the advantage of a Ghillie suit. Not true. Game animals are for the most part color blind. The wearing of orange, with or without camouflage is of no consequence. The wearing of a ghillie is to break up the shape that strikes fear into the heart of every animal in the forest; The shape of a human being. Ghillie suit manufacturers could make a hunters suit with the orange already built in. The hunter only needs to be concerned with the shape and what it looks like with motion. Wild animals are acutely tuned to movement. If that movement has the shape of man, its panic time. If the shape is that of a bush just being moved by the wind, all is calm. In still hunting, a Ghillie suit could be a real asset. On a stalk, full body suits would be entirely to cumbersome, but a head and shoulders suit or a poncho would definitely be of value. In either case, a hunter could no more jump into a Ghillie suit and get the full value of it than He could rush in and buy his first gun and expect to be able to do anything worth bragging about. In fact, without instruction, he would probably shoot anything except wild game. That's why they wear "hunter's orange".

To use a Ghillie suit successfully, one should spend some time in the woods with it, observing effects on wildlife while sitting still, and also while making slow, controlled movements. Besides learning how to use your suit, this time has the added benefit of giving insight into the behaviour of different species of wildlife.

Most hunters have no objection to using a blind. A Ghillie suit is a blind being worn. It has the added advantage of keeping the wearer warm on cold,hunting season, days. The newer models even give protection from aggravating insects. Shape and motion give your prescence away. So does your scent, and there are plenty of chemical products out there to handle that problem.