Can Deer See Your Camouflage?

Does your camouflage pattern fool a deer’s eyesight?  If you are considering a new pattern for 2025, keep these points in mind.  Whitetail deer can see 300 degrees from side to side, which means you can be seen unless you are well behind a passing deer and probably at too great of an angle for the coveted quartering-away shot.  Although deer have a wide range of vision, research indicates they have a “fuzzy” view of their surroundings.  Here’s a look at some popular patterns:

KUIU

Kuiu offers a variety of patterns.  Shown above is the Valo pattern which blends well with open terrain and helped take this big mule deer on the open plains of South Dakota.  On the same hunt, I was stalking through a patch of cedars where I called in a basket-rack 8-point.  The buck didn’t see me standing at 25 yards as I tried to slip an arrow through a tiny hole in the brush.  My arrow peeled the bark from a tree the buck stood behind, and it escaped by half an inch.  Kuiu is known for its durability and lightweight.  Select a pattern that will disrupt the human silhouette.  For the Kuiu website, click here.

Nomad Veil

The Veil camouflage pattern is one of my favorites because of the extreme contrast between lighter spaces and dark graphics.  Contrasting light and dark patterns helps eliminate the human silhouette’s “blob” effect, especially when hunting from a tree stand where a hunter can be seen against a light sky. Nomad

SKRE

I’ve been using SKRE camouflage over the past year and like it very much.  The product is well designed with pockets in all the right places.  The hooded jacket above breaks the wind, insulates in moderate temperatures, and is cut with enough room for insulating in colder temperatures.  The digital dot pattern is printed on a light background, allowing the pattern to break up the human silhouette. SKRE

The following video explains the science of camouflage clothing and is well-constructed and concise.

Deer IQ