Do you camouflage your rifle to match your environment?

[doubleh]

I have painted one for hunting just because I could. I seem to remember reading that science has determined that deer only see in black and white because their eyes lack either the rods or cones, I forget which, that give humans that ability Coyotes also see colors differently than humans. I have watched a few coyote hunting videos over the years and the most successful hunter I ever saw was one that hunted in central NM, a land of grass and scrub cedar. He wore jeans tucked into 16" brown lace up boots, a medium brown coat, a round brown campaign hat, and toted an ordinary wood and blued steel rifle.

My camo painted rifle made no difference in my success rate at all. I believe the two keys to be no movement and remaining silent. Wind direction is a big factor with coyotes, less so with deer from my experience.

 

[Beck]

No!

I live in Illinois for the time being, so I'd have to paint my guns yellow to match my environment.

 

[Ignition Override]

Absolutely not.

But regarding soldiers who did so...just one single exception: if I were wealthy, I would buy one of these types, already camoe'd in this war zone- preferably such an authentic FAL (really pricey now$) from a parts kit —Already—painted years ago in Rhodesia during the Bush Wars. Some of the parts might be too worn out-requiring repair by Mark Graham, the best FAL specialist (he owns ARS: Arizona Response Systems).

Here are Rhodesian soldiers who painted their G3s and FALs ("right arm of the free world") rifles. This normally is called the "baby poop" scheme.

Captured ANC rebels had remarked that all-black rifles could be seen from far away.

 

[wombat13]

Gonna malfunction before shot #2. Ejection port is covered.

Well, you're a pig hunter...but for deer I rarely fire a second shot and even more rarely really need to

 

[wombat13]

Paint whatever rifle you want in any way you want, but it’s a lame excuse to say the color scheme matters at all - in any way - for hunting.

I’ve killed deer for many years sitting under this cedar at the edge of a wheat/bean rotation field I own, and almost EVERY year deer will walk “on the high side” and slip within 5-10yrds from my feet. The rifle pictured has a bright blue and purple metallic paint job with a fat stainless steel barrel…


View attachment 1187410


Some hunters make up the silliest stuff that they swear will spook deer from a mile away… I wasn’t even downwind from these deer in the first photo above…

I was beginning to wonder about whether the satin stainless on my Ruger Hawkeye is less than ideal. Sometimes I have to maneuver in the treestand and it seems like the brightness of the satin stainless attracts more attention than the black, non-reflective finish on my Savage Axis II.

 

[Varminterror]

I was beginning to wonder about whether the satin stainless on my Ruger Hawkeye is less than ideal. Sometimes I have to maneuver in the treestand and it seems like the brightness of the satin stainless attracts more attention than the black, non-reflective finish on my Savage Axis II.

I was laying prone under a cedar about 23/24 years ago, on the edge of a deep ravine at the edge of an opening between two walnut orchards - for a few years I had watched deer there and knew where to expect them, and this was the best ambush position for the opening... UNLESS, as they did that morning, the deer scaled the ravine wall behind me, appearing only a few feet from my tree position, almost exactly behind me. I had my head and shoulders exposed from under the cedar, laying on a shooting mat, with a 7Rem Mag Remington 700 Sendero with a shiny, fat, 26" long barrel sticking out in front of me... I had no choice but to hold still and just watch as they walked within spitting distance, even one of them stepping OVER my rifle barrel...

Hunters worry about stuff which REALLY doesn't spook deer. Folks say it all of the time - "the camo is for the hunter."

 

[CraigC]

Deer recognize movement, though I have had them stop dead in their tracks and stare at me, though I hadn't moved. Presumably because I appeared as a big dark blob with eyeballs that was not there the day before. I've always discounted the significance of glare off a gun's finish but it would not surprise me if it does make movement easier for them to pick up. Especially if you're in a treestand, trying to get into your Little Debbies with your shiny rifle barrel wagging around. Color, not so much.

 

[wombat13]

I was laying prone under a cedar about 23/24 years ago, on the edge of a deep ravine at the edge of an opening between two walnut orchards - for a few years I had watched deer there and knew where to expect them, and this was the best ambush position for the opening... UNLESS, as they did that morning, the deer scaled the ravine wall behind me, appearing only a few feet from my tree position, almost exactly behind me. I had my head and shoulders exposed from under the cedar, laying on a shooting mat, with a 7Rem Mag Remington 700 Sendero with a shiny, fat, 26" long barrel sticking out in front of me... I had no choice but to hold still and just watch as they walked within spitting distance, even one of them stepping OVER my rifle barrel...

Hunters worry about stuff which REALLY doesn't spook deer. Folks say it all of the time - "the camo is for the hunter."

In that situation I would expect it was more an issue of whether you smelled different than the environment. I'm more wondering if the relatively shiny barrel would attract more attention when moving.

 

[wombat13]

Deer recognize movement, though I have had them stop dead in their tracks and stare at me, though I hadn't moved. Presumably because I appeared as a big dark blob with eyeballs that was not there the day before. I've always discounted the significance of glare off a gun's finish but it would not surprise me if it does make movement easier for them to pick up. Especially if you're in a treestand, trying to get into your Little Debbies with your shiny rifle barrel wagging around. Color, not so much.

That's what I'm wondering. Does a satin stainless barrel make my movement more obvious than it would be if the barrel were black. I do believe that obscuring the shape of my face with a camo headnet has made it much more difficult for deer to see me. I have had a number of times when wearing the headnet that the deer look directly at me from close range and aren't spooked. In years past without the headnet they would've headed for the next county. I don't think its the camo, I think they can see the "predatorial" shape of our face - two forward facing eyes, etc.

 

[CraigC]

That's what I'm wondering. Does a satin stainless barrel make my movement more obvious than it would be if the barrel were black. I do believe that obscuring the shape of my face with a camo headnet has made it much more difficult for deer to see me. I have had a number of times when wearing the headnet that the deer look directly at me from close range and aren't spooked. In years past without the headnet they would've headed for the next county. I don't think its the camo, I think they can see the "predatorial" shape of our face - two forward facing eyes, etc.

I think the face and eyes are a major component. Critters look at your face and usually make eye contact. How does your pet look at you? Right in the face. Can't help but think deer and other animals can see something looking back at them, even if they don't really know what it is. Of course this is all just my non-science based opinion.

 

[Sour Kraut]

Great video on how to camo rattle can an AR…..


https://youtu.be/wAeSKtluE-c?si=gHpxIKMf89Twh7So

 

[CraigC]

Great video on how to camo rattle can an AR…..


https://youtu.be/wAeSKtluE-c?si=gHpxIKMf89Twh7So

I like that channel. Garand Thumb had one on doing it as well.

 

[Hokkmike]

I would buy an AR or other tactical pre-painted, but beyond that - no. I am sure I would gum up the woks some how.

 

[red rick]

Nope I can barely find my black one if I lay it against a tree .

 

[Captains1911]

I would buy an AR or other tactical pre-painted, but beyond that - no. I am sure I would gum up the woks some how.

All you have to do is cover and plug up any areas that you don't want paint to get into with painters tape, tissues, etc. It's really easy.

 

[jmorris]

I don’t but the deer follow us around at our place.

Baiting the hog trap

www.youtube.com

And for pigs, camo isn’t very important in the dark..

 

[someguy2800]

I was laying prone under a cedar about 23/24 years ago, on the edge of a deep ravine at the edge of an opening between two walnut orchards - for a few years I had watched deer there and knew where to expect them, and this was the best ambush position for the opening... UNLESS, as they did that morning, the deer scaled the ravine wall behind me, appearing only a few feet from my tree position, almost exactly behind me. I had my head and shoulders exposed from under the cedar, laying on a shooting mat, with a 7Rem Mag Remington 700 Sendero with a shiny, fat, 26" long barrel sticking out in front of me... I had no choice but to hold still and just watch as they walked within spitting distance, even one of them stepping OVER my rifle barrel...

Hunters worry about stuff which REALLY doesn't spook deer. Folks say it all of the time - "the camo is for the hunter."

I had a similar experience when I was about 16. I was bow hunting on public land and I just hung up a piece of netting on some bushes to hide behind. A small buck came walking along the line of brush I was sitting in and stopped and stared at me for awhile from about 2 feet away. He made a nose print on the limb of my bow and then kept walking. I didn't have my face covered at all, just wearing a hat.

 

[someguy2800]

I don't think most people have 4 legged creatures in mind when they camouflaged a rifle. If they do its coming from a serious misunderstanding of how the vision of most animals differ from our own.

Even people have a really hard time picking out an object unless its moving or a heavily contrasting color. When I was like 14 one of my friends and me used to play "sniper" in the woods. The game was we would both dress up in a long sleeve camo shirt and pants and hat and we would take turns hiding in the woods behind his farm. The person hiding would take a BB gun and get a few minutes to find a hiding spot and could cover himself with leaves and branches. The other person would have to go looking for them and when you got within 50 yards or so you would shoot the bb gun into the ground. If you shot the bb gun without being found you won. We just had surplus US tiger stripe camo which didn't particularly match the background very well, but let me tell you it was shockingly difficult to find each other unless you caught them moving. It proved to be almost impossible so we changed the rules so you had to cock and shoot the bb gun 3 times without being found in order to win, and the victories were still heavily lopsided to the sniper.

 

[3Crows]

Birds see color and into the UV spectrum where humans (except for a very few who can see the first hint of UV) cannot. I imagine a camo shotgun for turkey hunting might be useful. But deer, pigs, varmints, much less so. I think I would just use camo sticky tape. As to human soldiers, we see in color and we also know what a rifle looks like, I can certainly appreciate trying to blend the rifle into the environment as being useful.

 

[CraigC]

I don't think most people have 4 legged creatures in mind when they camouflaged a rifle. If they do its coming from a serious misunderstanding of how the vision of most animals differ from our own.

I'll admit it. I do it because I think it's cool.

 

[Captains1911]

I'll admit it. I do it because I think it's cool.

same here

 

[rhino465]

I think I'll paint an AR to match the camo of a week old whitetail fawn. Or maybe to resemble the kid in grade school that even the girls bullied.

 

[Twisted Chemist]

Haven't really been drawn to the idea of painting firearms. My preference is blue/black and walnut, though that is getting harder to find. Polymer and SS do what they are designed to do, resist environmental damage but just don't have the same feeling of "value" as walnut and blue. IMHO....
Who knows, I may shoot one of my Poly/SS with paint someday, just for giggles.

 

[Hokkmike]

All you have to do is cover and plug up any areas that you don't want paint to get into with painters tape, tissues, etc. It's really easy.

Maybe so - I am one of those "ungifted" home mechanics......

 

[Captains1911]

Maybe so - I am one of those "ungifted" home mechanics......

i know the feeling