Some love them. I don’t. They are expensive, cumbersome, get snagged on the brush as you try to walk, can create too much visual action if the “tags” are long and the wind strong, are hot, take up a whole pack to stash, etc. The concept is good for snipers who mostly lie still on the bellies and crawl slow like cold snakes, but not for upright hunters. I’ve always done fine just dressing to blend in, staying in the shade and not moving at all with game in sight. I can’t recall a single time I’ve ever been sight busted after I’ve set up. Just this spring, however, I bought a big piece of light camo mesh netting — I’m thinking about $10 at WallyMort–which is multi-purpose and for my needs superior to a Ghillie in every way and just a wee fraction of the cost.: First, it weighs nothing and compresses so well that it’s hardly anything in the bottom of a day pack, or rolled up and strapped outside. You can hang it on brush or from tree limbs to make a fast good impromptu blind. Or you can sit down and wrap it loosely around you, covering your entire lower body up to under the arms so it doesn’t interfere with shooting, as some Ghillie’s can. With all the wrinkles and folds from wrapping it loosely around, it takes on a really natural blend-in appearance from a distance that I think is more invisible than a Ghillie, like a clump of brush. It’s as close to a Ghillie as I’ll ever feel the need to get. And it’s not at all silly.:P To each his own, of course; that’s what keeps the hunting industry fat and rich … all the stuff they’re so good at convincing us we “have” to have.

My limited opinion of them (I’ve never used them hunting or with a bow, only at work) is that they are excellent concealment when lying down/leopard crawling. I think a head & shoulders set up would be a better compromise of benefit vs hindrance for hunting as it does a very good job of breaking up your shape but leaves your legs free to walk quietly. Also you could buy a decent H&S for the same price as a rubbish full suit.

Jim

Concur with Dave. A little camo paint on the face, use the shadows, and no MOVEMENT. But then that other stuff does look neat in the pictures:).

Semper Fi

Mike

Like those guys said, it’s not really necessary. It is of most value when you have some other idiot looking for you with a high powered optic. Personally I don’t use any cam when hunting, but I get the feeling animals down here are a little less aware than where you guys are.

I used some camo netting turkey hunting a few years ago. Had a tom coming in and he stopped about 40 yards out looked right at me for about 2 nano seconds and high tailed it out. I could not understand what happened. There was only 20 minutes of legal hunting left so I pulled to a judo and took a shot at a stump close to where the turkey was standing. When I walked over to pickup my arrow I turn to what back to the blind and the sun was hitting the fabric just right to were it looked like a big shinny wall. I do not now if it the happens with all netting or the stuff I had. Since then I always make sure I am in the shadows.

Never used a gillie, but have had similar results with camo netting. One of these days I will find the right material for netting. Age has me thinkng more and more that trees are made for bushy tails and not me.

Maybe Ed will chime in on this one. I know he has used gillies quite a bit with good results.

Troy

Though I do, at times, hunt from a stand I prefer to stalk. For many years I got by without much in the way of camo. After I had a kudu fall on my last good knee I found that, without being able to squat, kneel and crawl it was becoming difficult to get as close to animals as I would like. I had become restricted to being a ‘stand up stalker’. This makes one a lot more visible. That’s when I started experimenting with Ghillie suits (and DETAILED bow camo).

I wasn’t very impressed or satisfied with the Ghillie suits I could buy so delved into making my own. It was a long learning curve but once I ‘got it right’ I discovered that I could ‘stand-up stalk’ with a Guillie suit on. Done right the Ghillie suit is, without question, the most effective camo I have ever used, or seen used.

In the “Old Derelict” series of articles I wrote a pretty lengthy article on the Ghillie suits; how I design, build and ‘tune’ them to the location they will be used in.

Done right, and used right, I think they are the best camo possible for the stalking hunter. That said, while hunting from a static location (blind or stand) they are still highly effective, but do not give as great an advantage as they for the stalking hunter. With a blind there are many more options, such as noted in above replies. One place where I did find an great advantage of using a Ghillie suit from a ‘stand’ was when predator calling. The responding predator is looking for something to be there, and the predators have color vision, which aids them in detection the otherwise well-concealed bowhunter. In this application I found the Gillie suit a great advantage.

The best way to think of a Ghillie suit is as a mobile blind that moves with you. If you are interested I can send you the Old Derelict Ghillie suit article, along with one on the bow camo techniques I use but, again, they are more useful to the stalking and predator calling bowhunter than to those hunting deer, etcetera, from a static location.

Ed

I have a couple of them. One by Natural gear, one by rancho safari. I like and use them sometime. It’s cool, especially since I hunt where there are a lot of hikers. I can dress in hiking clothes and have the ghillie balled up in a waistpack or small backpack, and put it on when I get off trails. Sometimes, wearing one boosts my confidence. I’m taking off Wednesday for a few days, to chase turkeys. I’ll try to take pics with them on.

Grew up following Kenny Waters around. He wasnt very bright, but he was older, and had spent most of his 17 years in the woods. He used to back into the shadows of a tree, and just stand still, until I was just a few feet away, then say Boo. Worked every time. No camo, no blind, he just STOOD STILL in the shadows. He also taught me that if you flushed a rabbit, then stood still, the rabbit would stop and look for you. They can’t see you while running. A few years ago I was fishing, wearing tan/green waders, and a tan/green vest, and just stood still while a beaver swam with in 2 feet from me, no gillie suit, just STOOD STILL. Bet he thought I was a tree. Oh, and like your teacher used to say NO TALKING!!!! Human voice in the woods is REALLY out of place.I do like to use a miskito net over my dirty old hat, hides the white mustash, and brakes up the outline. The outline is really what the animals look for.