3D camo

[memo]

Out of curiosity, i've noticed a lot of guys in photos wearing the 3D camo and have noticed several types apart from the ASAT. Does anyone out there wear it, and curious on what type you have, and your thoughts on its effectivness.
That and i'd see if I did this avatar thing right.

[gundy]

Well, for one, the avatar looks excellent! Is it possible to get a larger version to place in the front page slideshow?

Second, I have been wearing the realtree camo for the past few years. It works really well as it has more browns in it than greens. I believe this to be an important factor in any camo. It sort of looks 3D-ish, as it uses larger gfx in front of smaller areas etc.

This is the main reason that I have a couple of 3D ASAT suits on their way. The color system. I belive that the Predator camo works in a similar way.

With the Realtree, I have had many people virtually walk straight past me. Animals too for that matter...

I can hopefully report on the ASAT gear after this weekend...

By the way - For info, I find that the general 'Auscam' stands out like....

....Not really sure how the army gurus came up with that!

[erron]

I have had many people virtually walk straight past me.

- that happened to me today, in Collins street!

Animals too for that matter...

- that happened to me today, in... oh never mind, you wouldn't believe how depressing it is working in the Big Smoke some days!



memo, I love the avatar too, and I second Guy's request for a larger image for the front page!

One of our members here has his own OZ brand of camo, and you might like to check it out on our Links page.

His user name is dave g, of Blackfoot Designs, on:

http://www.blackfoot.com.au/

cheers,

Erron

[Buford]

By the way - For info, I find that the general 'Auscam' stands out like....

....Not really sure how the army gurus came up with that!

was too easy to go awol! this way they can find all the boys with the guns!


just for interests sake, on ebay there is a guy making and selling 3d ghillie suits here in oz. good price compared to gettin one from the states too. check it out, he will make to order.
http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll ... 32227&rd=1

[memo]

Cheers boys,
glad you like the photo. I took it many years ago, of a mate Jeff Rankmore while out hunting rabbits. I'm not sure what size image is best for posting, but if you need another version, just let me know.

[Griffo]

FYI: here's the first of what is to be a regular monthly instalment from Simon Steele (ASAT Australia Pro Staff Bowhunter).

Luke

Adventures In ASAT (Part 1) By Simon Steele

It was at the recent 2004 National safari when good mate Luke Griffin (Executive Director of ASAT Australia and Webmaster/Manager of The Bowhunters Group of Australia), approached me with his idea to help promote the revolutionary ASAT camouflage pattern.

I had been fortunate enough to win a full ASAT 3D leaf suit in a recent Bow hunter’s group story competition and was very eager to field test the concealment ability of the product on my favourite quarry, the Chital Deer.

My good friend and bow hunting partner Steve Bridgman had been using his suit during 2003 and had a fantastic run of results while clad in the unique hard lines and broken form of the leaf suit, taking Pigs, Goats, Cats, Rusa and Chital Deer.

After hunting all of the deer species here and several in New Zealand I consider the eyes of the Chital deer to be the very best in the business, and a camouflage pattern or concealment method that can protect a hunters advance against this amazing sense would be worth its weight in gold to a trophy Chital hunter.

When you consider that one of the world’s apex predators the Tiger is only successful one stalk in fifty-four on Chital deer to sustain himself you have some understanding of the stealth required to take mature stags with archery equipment.

ASAT (standing for All Season All Terrain) has products to suit the requirements of every hunter from the snow of the Gippsland ranges to the heat of Cape York in both 2 and 3 dimensional forms with one standard pattern established out of 10,000 man-hours of testing to minimise the detection and flight response of game animals all over the world.

Three weeks prior to the Safari I had sat in the bush looking directly through a set of Chital antlers you could slide a 44 gallon drum through with an estimated length of 32 inches, fresh out of cover and with only a tail on shot offered with a stiff breeze blowing from left to right I chose to let the stag walk rather than risk the shot at 45 metres.

It was this stag that I thought of first when the new suit touched down, the stag had established a home with a small group of hinds on the fringe of what I new Chital deer habitat to be in my hunting area, and I was confidant that with the location of water and cover that this would be his home for some time as hunter pressure was limited to me.

As with much of the Chital’s preferred habitat a mixture of broken cover and open plains forms my stags home range allowing me (on good days) to glass into the daytime beds from a distance and plan a stalk to suit the prevailing wind direction.

The wide mix of horizontal and vertical branch patterns blazoned on the ASAT makes a slow moving hunter virtually invisible in the low branchy brigalo and mulga trees of north western Queensland, photo’s taken in semi open conditions shown here clearly show its ability to blend even to the human eye.



At full draw on Game the bow hunters outline is very well broken by the pattern, here spread wide in the draw of the bow, (shown in black and white as game would see you) the pattern works very well even broadside at 20 metres.
 
Drawing up to the gate late on Friday the evening was dead still and the bush was alive with the songs of birds roosting for the night, home to the bush I thought as I rolled out the swag and tied up the fly sheet, I was just able to make out the backs of deer in the long grass as the light faded on my way down the fence line and sleep came easy thinking of the days hunting ahead.

I was up well before daybreak and impatiently paced around camp establishing wind direction and trying to anticipate where the deer would be when the lights came on.  As the deer aren’t hounded on my block they do tend to feed a little later and walk back in to bed in the mid morning giving me a chance to establish a position on the line of travel.

Within 200 metres of camp I could see deer, spread widely in the open ground ahead and still feeding contently, with the heads down in the spear grass trophy quality could not be established but pure body size told me that three of the animals were stags, so rather than move further forward I sat with my Steiner Binoculars and glassed the animals and surrounding area.

After thirty mins I had established that the largest of the stags was about 25 inches and chose to skirt the group down wind in an effort to find the guy I estimated to be a full seven inches longer and many times wider.

It was after ten when I sighted the shining red coat of a loan hind bedded in the brigalo at the edge of the field she lay side on to me against a log push in the morning sun and her coat was reflecting light like a mirror. With no other deer observed at this end of the property and smoko time coming up I sat with my Binoculars and watched the doe sit calmly and chew her cud.

Fifteen minutes later on the other side of the log push the tips of two small antlers appeared (more deer) my eyes pried through the branches and dirt and I could see more orange coats though I could not make out numbers and type.

It was an impossible stalk to approach these deer to within bow range where they lay

They were tucked in around the log push on both sides with the lone hind facing my line of approach; I was at 130 metres and was able to use the ground and the ASAT to

Get in to 70 but that was it for cover.

The 3d leaf suit is cool enough to wear on the hottest of Queensland days while offering head to toe coverage.

Taking up position and again focusing on the tangle of branches I could make out three additional deer, one a hind and the others obscured, then it happened cattle passing on the field side of the deer caught there attention and it was heads up, A very large set of tops including inners appeared above the push and swung to face the cattle

It was he the very best Chital stag I have ever seen and something to admire.

I could not take my eyes of the perfect curve of his antlers and willed the situation to change, if the hind would move and bed with the stag I would have a clear run to the group but she sat tight, resisting temptation to move closer was difficult but blowing them out of the area without a shot was not an option, educating a stag this age could mean you never see him again.

Two hours later the deer were still in place and looking settled in the heat of the day

I had crept a further 10 metres to shade (could not help my self) but was now absolutely devoid of even a long blade of grass in the next 30 metres.

At 2:30 the mature hind bedded on the same side as the big stag got to her feet and milled around then began to walk almost directly away the smaller stag followed by the 32 incher also got up and began to follow her (they were walking away) out into the spear grass and towards the dam nearly 800 metres away, but the lone doe remained facing away she had not seen the others get up.

Sure that the prime target was gone from his morning bed I decided to try to stalk to within bow range of the bedded hind, not wanting to take her I left my bow behind and begun a slow crawl in the open ground directly towards her.

I moved from 60 to 20 metres without the flick of an ear (though drawing the bow would have been out of the question I suspect) the doe did not detect my movement and the ASAT covered me in the open right to the 20 metre mark at which point the doe stood Looking in my direction took one step towards me then walked off with only one additional look in my direction as she left.

In country with any sort of cover to hide the draw of my bow a shot was possible at any point during the stalk and the ASAT worked unbelievably well even with nothing at all around me to blend with, reaching distances under 20 metres in the open on Chital is unworldly and even more impressive was the unflustered response the doe made once she became uneasy with the shape.

I did catch up with the big stag again and was able to view him again from a distance just on dark as he fed undisturbed at the timbers edge he is truly a perfect specimen and a trophy I am now totally fixated on, finding him in a stalkable position remained the trick though, and maintaining my patients without forcing the issue is difficult when you are faced with a trophy animal like this.

I look forward to keeping you up to date with future efforts on this stag and hope that I will have some photo’s to share with you before to long.

Until them keep the breeze on your nose

Steely.

[Al Kidner]

I too own a ASAT 3d suit which I bought for the Chital in my area. As Steely said CHITAL ARE GOOD, full stop. I only were the coat and head dress and painted up some old desart camo pants like ASAT for crawling and spending time on my knees ( I hate things pulling on things when I wereing stuff!)
I've spent time up close and personal with stags but not as yet getting one into "Check mate". Soon though soon. They seem to get there way out of "Check" all the bloody time! Must look into my opening moves to see whats going on?

As for AUSCAM ,............... take it from me, one who knows........... this stuff WORKS. It was made up from 4 major colours in Oz through pic from outer space! I've had people, plenty of people, walk past me in all types of enviroments as well. MOVEMENT will goive you away before anything else.

At work we never where new cams bush. We always have "Bush cams" set aside for bush trip or operations. The best AUSCAM is stuff washed a few times or dirty from the area your in. After a day or two out feild they do blend in, trust me.

[Griffo]

Buying ASAT gear just got easier as you can now use your credit card via a PAYPAL account to purchase ASAT items online!

Just visit www.paypal.com and sign up for an account...it's that easy!

...and for the remainder of this week you can save 15% off ASAT 2D feild pants (until the 29th of May)...(15% off RRP of $139.99)

Monies can be forwarded to luke@thebowhuntersgroupofaustralia.com.

Happy shopping...

Luke

[pedro]

hey Luke, hows one become a assat pro staff bowhunter

[Griffo]

One must endure the pain, suffering, and emotional torment of an ancient ritual that exists purely to distinguish those bowhunters who are worthy of becoming ASAT Pro Staff Bowhunters from those who are not......

It involves tortures and terrors beyond that which mere man can comprehend. It is no place for bravery and bravado but guts, fortitude, self belief and self discipline. One must become not simply a bowhunter, no, he must rise above the average joe, he must outlast and outhunt the regular bowhunter...he must be and become an ASAT believer and hardcore bowhunter...that he must do...if successful he is, he shall be known as an ASAT Pro Staff Bowhunter...


Luke

[Buford]

either that or he is on the board of the company? eh mister executive director sir?

buford

[pedro]

ha,ha,

[Griffo]

not the case at all mate...

Luke

[Buford]

not the case at all mate...

i'm just messin with ya mate, don't take it so seriously.

buford

[Griffo]

No worries Buford...just thought I'd clarify it from the outset...we know how rumors start

Luke

[Buford]

fair enough

buford