Hunting for turkeys is rewarding and fun, but it can take a lot of patience. Turkeys are challenging game animals, and when you spend almost twelve hours in discomfort due to your hunting camo gear, it can feel like a wasted effort if you don't secure at least one catch.
The solution to maximizing your enjoyment, comfort, and success is to have comfortable hunting gear. Your turkey hunting camo gear should allow you to remain hidden while simultaneously comfortable. But if comfort were the only deciding factor, hunters everywhere would wear jeans and a camo t-shirt.
Why You Need Turkey Hunting Gear
Despite common misconceptions, turkeys are extraordinarily astute and observant birds. They are not the most intelligent creature, but they can identify threats with their keen eyesight. Turkey hunting camo gear allows hunters to blend in with their environment and not disturb the bird's natural behaviors, allowing clean, precise shots.
Not Bird-Brained
Turkeys have exceptional eyesight and can tell if something is out of the ordinary. If you are not using turkey hunting camo that allows you to blend in with their environment and trick their notoriously keen eyesight, a turkey will easily spot you and not hang itself on your decoy.
Blending In
Turkey hunting camo gear is designed to help you blend into the environment so as not to alert the turkeys. Since these fowls have keen eyesight, using a leafy camo suit is beneficial to convincing the turkey you are part of the environment. You will also be sitting around, waiting for a while until a turkey appears, so ensure your turkey hunting gear is comfortable and fits well, as even a sliver of skin can alert an attentive bird.
The Most Effective Hunting Camo Gear
There are several types of hunting camo gear, and each hunter uses a combination of camouflage based on weather, location, and several other factors. However, one of the most effective pieces of gear is 3D leaf gear. These camo suits emulate leaves and foliage to help you remain concealed during a hunt and allow natural movements from the wind while you remain motionless.
Turkeys are perceptive; if a particular piece of the landscape is a little "too still," they will be hesitant to approach your decoy. Worst of all, inexperienced hunters manage to educate turkeys by failing at the fundamentals, which, in turn, makes the birds smarter.
The Importance of Camouflage
Camouflage is the bread and butter of a good hunter, and no suit should ever be a uniform color or style. It allows you to blend into the environment, which is precisely what you want with a bird as perceptive and flighty as a turkey.
The correct hunting camo gear adapts you to the environment, so always research the weather, location, and season you choose to hunt. These factors will decide what kind of camouflage you must wear and can exponentially increase your chances of success.
How To Remain Hidden During a Hunt
While turkey hunting, you usually use a decoy to lure the bird out of hiding so you can take it down. Remaining hidden during this process is crucial, as you will often have to stand motionless for extended periods to line up accurately and take your shot with a high chance of success.
Where Should You Hide?
Each hunter has their way of hiding during a hunt, but the general rule is to be at least twenty feet away from your decoy with your non-shooting hand at a 45-degree angle. You should also ensure your gear is comfortable before setting out your decoy. Turkeys will take note of sudden or subtle movements, so having equipment that chafes, pulls up, or generally makes you uncomfortable can lead to an unsuccessful hunt.
Hunting in Comfort
You may ask why you need a comfortable leafy suit for turkey hunting when function is its intent. There are several good reasons for comfortable camo, but the most straightforward reasons are that a hunt often requires long trekking, waiting, and setup.
Why is Your Comfort So Important?
Turkey hunting takes a long time, sometimes several hours, before you catch sight of the bird. Sometimes you need to head deeper into the wilderness, and other times you must crouch low and stay out of sight. Doing any of this can wear on your body and lead to discomfort.
Any shift to adjust may alert a turkey to your presence, making your leafy camo suit and equipment useless as the animal runs off in a hurry. This forces your hunting process to prolong, leading to even more discomfort. You should look for the following in each article of clothing and why it will contribute to your overall comfort when hunting.
Boots
When deciding on turkey hunting clothes and apparel, ensure your boots can withstand the abuse of the wilderness without ripping open or allowing debris inside to irritate your feet. They should also be loose enough to allow you to breathe but not so loose they would come off if you trip over a branch or root. Finally, your boots should feel comfortable to walk in.
If you need to, break them in a few days before the trip to ensure no discomfort, as you will need to wear them for several long hours when hunting turkey. You will need to do a considerable amount of trekking, hiking, and more when tracking your prey, and sometimes the ground can be uneven and apply discomforting pressure to parts of your sole, leading to long-term issues.
Pants
Proper camouflage pants are essential for turkey hunting. They should look the part while giving you enough space to breathe but not so much space as to allow loose material to hook on stray branches or other foliage.
The pants should be lightweight, quiet, and waterproof, depending on the weather. Elastic waistbands can contribute to comfort by contorting to your body when you need to bend or crouch; do not use a leather belt or other material that will dig into your skin.
Certain states have humidity or light rainfall during the spring season, so having pants that can handle sweat without retaining moisture that could ruin the turkey hunting camo pattern is essential for a successful hunt. We reiterate: they must have a complete camouflage design, or they will be ineffective.
Jacket
For jackets, we recommend wearing layers of turkey hunting clothes that are all camouflage due to the change in temperature throughout the day. Turkey hunting is an all-day event, so having the ability to shed layers is paramount.
Alternatively, you could find a complete set of turkey hunting clothes that insulate your body and provide maximum comfort in breathable materials. Again, you must consider where and how you are hunting.
Gloves and Face
A turkey's eyesight is dangerously perceptive, and even a flared nostril can send them running. There are many gloves and face masks you can add to your turkey hunting gear, and each one is important for deciding when and how you will snag your bird.
You should wear tight, breathable gloves that cover most of your hands, especially your ring and pinky finger. You want to show as little skin as possible, so having gloves that obscure everything except the essentials, like your index and thumb, is crucial to blend in with your environment. The flexible material can also make subtle motions more enjoyable, and if the fabric can breathe, you won't sweat or have that uncomfortable warmth when trying to line up your shot.
For your face, you want a hat and mask with the same camouflage pattern as the rest of your turkey hunting camo gear while also allowing you to breathe and see. Again, minimizing skin exposure is paramount, so you must cover most of your face except your eyes. A breathable material that won't impair your hearing, essential for identifying targets and knowing if there are other hunters, can help keep you comfortable and safe as you wait for the perfect moment.
Improperly Geared
Besides discomfort, having incorrect or cumbersome turkey hunting camo gear can lead to several disadvantages that hinder a hunt. Furthermore, intense discomfort makes the experience unbearable and frustrating, as every little movement can alert a turkey and send it fleeing.
Agitation
Nothing causes agitation more than discomfort. Turkey hunting gear that leaves your body agitated, either due to its material, sweat development, or tightness, can cause unnecessary stress to your body and make even the most straightforward actions challenging.
Agitation leads to a lack of focus, which is the quickest way to end up frustrated in the turkey hunting sport. After all, what is more irritating than an itchy suit or constantly having to move your facemask so you can breathe reliably?
Frustration
Turkey hunting takes all day, and if you don't receive anything for your hard work, aside from discomfort, that can lead to frustration. The sport is considered one of the most challenging, and having your big shot taken away due to an uncomfortable position or turkey hunting camo gear that just doesn't fit right, can be an awful feeling.
Having a comfortable turkey-hunting ghillie suit alleviates frustration caused by discomfort, as nothing will frustrate you more after a missed shot than a strong wedge digging into your skin or sitting uncomfortably on your frame.
Injury
Comfortable turkey hunting camo gear suited for the sport can lead to less injury due to hunter-to-hunter misunderstanding, bad falls, and other environmental hazards. While many game zones are large enough to accommodate several hunters, miscommunication and crossfire can and does happen. Hunting gear that allows you to hear other hunters and not look blatantly like a turkey ensures you can avoid friendly-fire.
Alternatively, having comfortable gear makes you more aware of your surroundings by heightening your focus. If you are too busy focusing on the itch on your back or the sweat building against your palms, you might not notice the other hunters closing in. It can lead to a miscommunication in the form of crossfire, where you accidentally assume the other hunter is a turkey slowly approaching or vice versa.
Furthermore, hunting camo gear that doesn't have enough "leeway" during movement can cause serious injury. If you slip, fall, or roll down a steep mound, your gear should be able to contort to allow your body movement. It shouldn't restrict your movement if you need to regain your footing or make a split-second decision.
Quality Matters
The quality of your hunting camo gear can decide several things, from comfort, success chance, and durability. While you could find a comfortable suit with decent camouflage that survives a hunt or two, it's better to use a company that supplies high-quality turkey hunting gear with the top camouflage patterns available.
Here is what you should be looking for to determine the quality of your hunting gear.
Camouflage Patterns
At QuikCamo, we use only the most high-quality and up-to-date camouflage patterns provided by our brands to create lightweight, durable, and comfortable hunting camo gear that increases the success of your next hunt. You want hunting gear with specific patterns that help you remain hidden and blend naturally into the environment. Using lower-quality manufacturers with splotchy designs that don't weave the natural colors effectively will lead to a long and frustrating hunting trip.
Comfort and Materials
High-quality fabric and comfort are the hallmarks of QuickCamo, and we proudly designed our hunting gear to survive the test of time and the rugged demands of the sport. However, we are hunters at heart and wanted to be as comfortable as possible when we went out. That is why we combined the highest quality fabric with comfortable accompaniments like elasticity and durability.
If you need high-quality hunting camo gear to bag your next bird or provide considerable comfort to last a long hunt, consider checking out our full selection and reading what our customers think about our equipment.
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