Camo for Goats in the open?

[wyodog]

Are you hunting with a rifle or bow? I usually wear whatever I feel like at the for rifle hunting, however I tend to prefer lighter earth tones. When stalking antelope with a bow my favorite pattern is ASAT. I also wear Kings desert camo. I stealth is much more important than what cloths you have.

 

[spur60]

I only rifle antelope hunt in SD, but I take solids, sitka OC, Sitka marsh, and Real Tree max 1 with me when I pack. I know some guys like Sitka Subalp but I watched a guy walk across a chunk of school land wearing subalp shirt, pants, and pack, and he looked bright green from a mile away and in. Goats probably see a little differently than me though.

 

[CobraChicken]

So...Archery goats near the MT/ND/SD tripoint.

I know there's no silver bullet here, but I am trying to steer a buddy away from using dark eastern timber patterns which stand out like a walking tree in the prairie.

We tend to hunt very open rangeland with grasses and some low sage, and even the occasional stubble wheat field. I have some old, light pattern stuff from cabelas that is no longer made. It's fine.

Need recommendations for my RealTree-clad buddy - here's what I have so far:

Kuiu Valo is a decent option for our area, maybe a hair dark overall... a B+ in my mind.
King's camo desert shadow is similar - it's also a bit too dark, but a lot better than some others. B+.
Sitka's Open Country is really too dark: B-.
Sitka's waterfowl pattern is much better: A-.

So, my completely unobjective grading aside, what are some others to consider?

My wife shot this buck last year. Her first goat and hunt. She was wearing black leggings and a tan top. I was wearing kuhl pants and a silver SG top with a random ball cap. Just keep the wind in your face and the sun out of it. I don't put too much thought in the camo, low profile is more important for me and not prancing in the prairie for all to see.

60 yard shot. Moved through the night as we knew where he was all summer and my archery season and she dumped him looking right at us feeding about through us.

 

[Mnhunter2]

Doesn’t really make much difference, just something that kinda blends in and maybe a white cloth to flag them a little!

 

[BigTree]

It's been said by others, but I'll second the approaches with my own successes in wyoming.

Ultimate predator decoys.

White shirt used as a flag.
-This technique for us was successful when just behind the top of a hill glassing some just out of range pronghorn. Our movements, largely but not completely concealed, drew the attention of a buck we didn't see. He came in quicker upon seeing the white "flag"... we shot, sorry no surrender.

 

[TurkeyReaper69]

I don't think the camo pattern makes a lick of a difference personally.

 

[manitou1]

I've found that red/black plaid (like I'm wearing here shooting Skeet station low 8) works well. The antelope in this pic were 50-100 yards in front of our Skeet range for over an hour while we were shooting.

To seriously answer the OP's question, of the 3 dozen or so antelope that I've shot, I haven't noticed any real difference between any camo or plaid patterns. And on just about all of my antelope hunts, I've had my Golden Retriever with me.

You kill them with a bow?

 

[buffybr]

You kill them with a bow?

The only things that I've killed with my bow were a 5x5 bull elk and a bunch of grouse.

 

[Jimss]

I generally bring an assortment of camo patterns and colors along. The ones that blend in the best are what I wear. Obviously camo colors can change from one time of the year to the next. The one thing I try to do is wear different tops than bottoms to get rid of the human profile. Generally speaking, dark camo is not the way to go in most antelope country.

 

[khunter]

Always fun to decoy them. Have arrowed lope with the hat and shirt, pop up decoys, and really like the bow mounted decoy but not successful with that one my one trip with it but expect it to work best overall for spot and stalk.

Stalking in on antelope is a blast. Always a ton of action.

 

[camelcluch]

If you want camo, check out the camo matrix. They do a good comparison in several environments. Just don’t walk straight at antelope and you can get close.

 

[Conky]

Following

 

[roosterdown]

Reporting back after our spot-and-stalk archery trip: my buddy got a hot-weather Kuiu shirt in Valo and just wore some old, light khakis down below.

The advice on wearing solids is solid. His lower half was really way better than his upper at long distance. It seems to be about tone, not camo pattern, when trying to be less obvious at a mile.

Agree with the sentiment that camo is irrelevant up close - if you're seen, it's over, regardless.

Two out of three of us tagged decent bucks and the lone tag-soup member missed a chip shot at a really nice animal. Good hunt, all around.