My father-in-law, Gene, was my hunting buddy for more than 20 years. At 80 years young, he was still trekking throughout the Bitterroot Mountains in search of his trophy bull elk of a lifetime. By then, he had hunted for nearly 70 years, and if you asked how many deer he had taken in his lifetime, he most certainly wouldn’t have an answer — accomplished hunter is an understatement.

Oddly enough, his camo pattern of choice was red-and black-checkered flannel or wool, Woolrich being his favorite. Even in his early 80s, his choice of hunting garb was a toss-up — checkered or an honest-to-goodness camo pattern. While his getup was often as old-school as one could imagine — his checkered outfit dating back more than 60 years and still going — it was still as purpose-driven as today’s camo. To him, it was about breaking up his outline, period, even if he did it with scores of squares. Yes, even 60 years ago, hunters knew they stuck out like sore thumbs and sought to do something about it.

Fortunately, we’re decades away from Pop’s checkered Woolrich getup. Technology has improved so dramatically that hunters flat-out disappear when they wear the right camo and stop moving. That said and movement aside, the right camo pattern for the hunt does matter, especially when you’re chasing prey that are acutely aware of their environment, that are sensitive to objects and shapes foreign to them, and, in some cases, that see color exceptionally well.

Wildlife biologists have established that deer see color on the lower wavelength — predominately blues, including UV. This is also why hunters are learning to stay away from laundry detergents with UV/optical brighteners. Conversely, deer don’t see other colors well at all. Colors like green, brown, yellow and even orange are seen as shades of gray; of course, it makes sense to break up large gray shapes, too, and camo does exactly that. On the polar opposite side of color sight, you have the all-seeing eyes of a turkey. There’s a reason hunters don’t wear blaze orange, or perhaps more importantly, blue, red or white (colors found on turkeys).

Considering camouflage patterns and their purposes, environment is at least equally as important as a chosen prey’s vision. While a number of your customers may know what works best to leverage hunting success in their favor, many more may be camo-challenged. Whether they’re hunting a species or in an environment for the first time, they look to you for answers — and the more (helpful) answers you have, the more likely you are to generate repeat business.

Yes, advising folks on correct camo choices definitely can increase business. To that end, let’s dive into a handful of camo patterns worth understanding — and worth a bit of retail space. 

Mossy Oak Break-Up Country

Unveiled in 2015, Mossy Oak Break-Up Country has become the brand’s most popular pattern and a staple choice for hunters from coast to coast and beyond. Break-Up Country’s diverse array of right-sized natural elements makes it an easy choice for most environments. The balance of colors and shadowing also make Break-Up Country an excellent choice for any season, with exceptions.

If you’re heading to an arid desert landscape, perhaps composed of dramatically muted colors like dirt, dried grasses and sage, Break-Up Country isn’t the best choice. Likewise, this pattern obviously isn’t ideal for a snowy environment. That said, from spring turkey hunting to chasing elk or deer in high timber or dense woods, Mossy Oak’s Break-Up Country is more than capable of breaking up your customer’s pattern and hiding everything except movement.

Mossy Oak Shadow Grass Blades

Shadow Grass Blades delighted waterfowler eyes early in 2016. If your customers are planning to hunt areas rich with grasses, reeds, cattails, etc., this pattern is a top choice. The pattern of larger, naturally colored and laying blades and shadowing back-dropped by a thatch of pressed grasses makes the pattern a more diverse concealment option, and it layers with impressively realistic 3-D detailing.

Realtree Max-1 XT

2015 was a popular year for Realtree, with the introduction of Max-1 XT, an updated version of the incredibly popular Max-1 pattern. As Bill Jordan put it, “Printing technology just keeps getting better and better, allowing us to add more detail, increased depth, subtle coloration and realistic shadows.”

Like the original, Realtree Max-1 XT is purposed for hunting in drier, desert-type environments teeming with dry grasses, sage, shrubs and other muted colors. Regionally, at least as it relates to the continental U.S., Max-1 XT is well suited for central and Western hunting, although the original Max-1 has been a nationwide favorite among predator hunters chasing prey in open areas — Max-1 XT continues where Max-1 left off. Max-1 XT is also popular throughout Texas and other western states for spring turkey hunting.

Realtree Edge

Realtree struck hunting gold again in 2018 with Realtree Edge, capitalizing on advanced design and HD printing technology. Edge’s appropriately-sized natural details, well-balanced colors, shadowing and layering combine to deliver exceptional concealment in multiple environments, including spring thickets, lush high-altitude timber and even the dry, brown, late-season woodlands found in most areas of the U.S. Realtree Edge’s diversity makes it a solid option for hunting turkey, deer, elk, bears and year-round predators.

TrueTimber MC2 Snow

Nothing stands out like dark camo against a snowy backdrop. Even in a world of gray hues, a dark figure could certainly be easy to spot. Plain white may be better but definitely also not ideal in any setting with other non-white elements. This is where TrueTimber MC2 Snow is perfectly suited — snowy environments with a foliage backdrop, from lush shrubs, grasses and cedar stands, to high-country forests and brown, leafless, late-season woods.

TrueTimber MC2 Snow is composed of a snow base, layered in vibrant, contrasting natural elemental colors like brown gray and green. More than contrast and colors, MC2 Snow delivers big on realistic, natural imagery, inclusive of branches, twigs and brush. Of course, these high-definition camo pattern attributes combine to break up your customer’s outline, resulting in truly impressive concealment.

Kryptek Typhon

While there’s some truth to the idea that sitting further back in a blind with black interior makes you disappear, wearing the wrong camo pattern, especially with brighter colors, can ruin your hunt, especially when hunting turkeys and hogs at close range. Seasoned ground blind hunters understand this and focus heavily on darker colors, even black — that’s where Kryptek Typhon really shines. Kryptek Typhon is a muted-gray, web-like pattern on a black background. The combination works wonders for making hunters disappear within the black walls of their ground blinds. Even better, where light may reveal some semblance of a silhouette, Kryptek Typhon’s gray element does a superb job of breaking it up.

More than blind hunting, for some of us, Kryptek Typhon is a perfect choice for night hunting. Whether your customers prefer still-hunting at night from a blind or treestand, or closing the distance on a spot-and-stalk pursuit, Kryptek’s ultra-dark Typhon pattern is sure to make them virtually invisible.

Prym1 Woodlands

While Prym1 begins with the same purpose as any other camo company, the company accomplishes that task in a unique way. Where most patterns focus heavily on natural elements like rocks, leaves, twigs, limbs and grass, to quote founder and creator Stacie Walker, Prym1’s single pattern is composed of “textures of nature, combined with the organic patterns of wildlife.” As an example, looking closely, one might find inspiration from leopard hide. The dramatic pattern differences seem to be limited to color changes and shadowing, and Prym1 does exceedingly well in maximizing that — there’s a color and shadowing pattern suited for every manner of hunting one might imagine. That said, Woodlands has been popular.

Prym1 Woodland’s darker, shadowy blend of natural yellow, green, brown and black boast a remarkable balance of highlights and shadowing for impressive concealment in many densely wooded areas. From turkey hunting in the heavy thickets of east Texas to chasing bull elk in high-mountain forestry, Prym1 is an excellent choice. To further emphasize Prym1 Woodland’s usefulness, it might be better to state where the pattern wouldn’t be a good idea — muted colors in arid and effectively barren landscapes. Prym1 also wouldn’t be the right camo pattern to wear for duck hunting in muted grasses or in any environment where a pattern like Realtree’s Max-1 XT might be a better fit.

Treezyn Late Season G2

While Treezyn isn’t the most established camouflage company in the industry, by a long stretch, it’s not without the authenticity you find in the most well-known brands. Treezyn’s pattern is founded upon decades of hunting experiences in virtually every hunting environment imaginable. Moreover, as a relative newcomer, they work aggressively to produce insanely rich-contrasting, high-definition, multipurpose camo patterns for all types of landscapes. I’ve been especially interested in their growth, their expanding patterns and worthwhile upgrades to solid offerings like Late Season that, frankly, already accomplish buzzworthy concealment.

Treezyn’s Late Season G2 camouflage pattern is definitely a great choice for customers plugged into everything from spring turkey hunts nestled in lush green foliage to late-season big-game hunts with the brown-dominant scheme of the trunks, limbs, branches and twigs and green-thicket splashes. And, when I say everything, I mean Treezyn Late Season G2 camo is definitely a multi-tasking pattern. Aside from the muted palette of those desert-type arid environments often found throughout the western and southwestern U.S., Treezyn Late Season G2 can make you disappear in most environments, from sea-level shrubbery to those heavenly, nose-bleed-worthy high-timber sweet spots.

About the author: Kevin Reese (below) is an award-winning outdoor writer, Marine Corps veteran and avid hunter. His favorite pursuits include feral hogs with a bow or with a thermal scope and AR-style rifle in his home state of Texas. Of course, he also loves deer, elk, turkey, duck and dove hunting — and the list continues to grow.