Sitka gear forest series for Illinois whitetail hunts.

[Nuke Man]

I am wanting to upgrade my clothing this year. I have been looking at the Sitka fanatic jacket, stratos, and early season whitetail. Also the same for pants. I haven't used any high end clothing like this in the past and I remember trying on the fanatic jacket last year and thinking WOW! It was f he most comfortable jacket I've ever wore and had really well thought out pockets.
The thing that gets me is the amount of green in the series. I know it's not supposed to matter to how deer see you, but don't you feel like you stick out in late Nov and December when there is no green around?
Just curious to how those that have worn it feel about it before I mortgage my house to buy a set lol.
I would consider other brands like kryptek and kuiu but no stores around me carry them. I simply cannot order something online without getting my hands on them first. I have Cabelas, Scheels and Bass Pro within 2.5 hrs of me.

 

[Steve O]

The Optifade patterns are something that is differrent than we are used to. You either believe in the science that went into them (I am an engineer and it makes sense to me and I do) or you don't. I've researched this quite a bit and have never been busted in the field from what I would consider a pattern issue with the Optifade.

Sitka actually just posted a real good article on their website about how the Optifade patterns were invented.

http://www.sitkagear.com/insight/how-optifade-was-invented?WT.mc_id=New+Blog+Post+Email_17713729&WT.dcsvid=1111011515

 

[DWinVA]

I have the Fanatic bibs and jacket and they work great for deer hunting here in Virginia.

God Bless.

 

[jljmonky]

Living in IL I feel your pain... I sometimes think Desert Camo would work better in the rut than my real tree hardwoods green does, a lot of brown and tan... Fact is though, breaking up your silhouette is more important than the actual color scheme. Don't wear blue and you should be good. With that, in blue jeans and a blue fire department jacket I sat down and had a young 6 pt white tail walk to within 20 yards straight at me...

 

[bigfish87]

I used the fanatic series last year and it is very warm and functional. But it is one dimensional IMO. Its only use is really for when temps get below 40 and I wouldn't wear the forest optifade out west. Also, the fanatic series will pill a lot, like annoyingly a lot and burs will stick to it like you cannot imagine. Everything sticks to it. The quality is top notch, but I ran into the same problems with the color scheme in November. I hunt the great lakes area and just felt like I stood out like a sore thumb once all the leaves dropped. I was walking back to camp one day and my buddys all commented on how much I stood out walking up to camp from 100s of yards away. I know deer see differently but there are other animals to hunt and be camouflaged against than just deer. It is great gear, I am not trying to slam it in any way, shape, or form. I never was busted by deer while wearing it. The main reason I bought it was because I never wanted to be cold in my tree stand again, the fanatic series kept me warm as ever even into the teens. (I would not wear the jacket on your way into the tree stand, you will overheat)

I sold all of my sitka gear and switched to kryptek. The kryptek aegis is comparable to the sitka fanatic in warmth, fit, and function. The jacket does not have the kangaroo pocket but the separate hand pockets are still plenty warm. The outer material on the aegis is so much better than that of the fanatic IMO. It is also waterproof, which is a huge plus that outweighs the negative part about pockets on the jacket. The DWR coating on the fanatic stuff is a joke IMO. I sat out in a light rain with it and the fanatic stuff soaked up so much moisture I could barely wear it the next morning (was at camp with no power, just a cabin)

Price is what really killed me. I sold my used sitka gear for what I payed for it and bought all new kryptek gear and had a coupe hundred bucks left over. The quality, fit, and function is the same if not better with the kryptek than sitka, for me at least. Good luck, it's expensive and I researched the hell out of sitka and kryptek before I bought both. They both will work great. And you'll get plenty of dudes who will tell you camo pattern doesn't matter. Good luck!