Camo radio covers?

[bud45]

We use Motorola T6200 Talkabout radios when hunting, among other things, etc.; I haven't been able to find this, so I was wondering if camoflage radio covers are available? My wife won't let me paint them; a second benefit for covers would be the radios wouldn't get so beat up.

Anybody got any suggestions? Thanks!

Bud

 

[ACORN]

I dont know about camo, but Sears sells black and green nylon celll phone holsters that have a heay duty metal clip for you belt. IIRC they sell for about $6. I dont know if it'd fit your radio though.

 

[mete]

You could make them from cloth from www.seattlefabrics.com of www.beaconfabric.com

 

[Chawbaccer]

Does anybody else see the irony of a camoflage radio covers?

 

[Art Eatman]

I don't see the point of camo, although some little bag to keep shiny surfaces from glinting would make sense. But any old dull or earthtone color would do...

I've always shunned radidios. I figure that just as Bambi's Grampaw walks close by, some motor mouth is gonna have to yap about some butterfly or shiny rock or some such...

, Art

 

[bud45]

Haw haw, yuk yuk...

...and so on. Yes, thanks for the helpful comments; and to those who made fun of my question, we have a practical use for radios: SAFETY! Personally, we use earbuds and mic settings on "high" for increased sensitivity in quiet situations and use Quiet Codes...thataway, we DON'T have chatter and noise is kept to a VERY quiet level, etc. Only a couple of us use them, so that decreases the possibility of interference...plus, being out in the boonies and FRS' inherent short range, possibilities of interference decrease even further. AND, we only call each other at the end of the hunt for pickup at prearranged times and places...so, UNLESS there is an emergency, we DON'T make it a habit of chatting whilst up a tree or in the stand....

What I'd like to know is HOW the hunter/cameraman combos you see on TV actually get away with killing anything??? I think with all the precautions taken above, I'd stand a better chance at a harvest....

Worst comes to worst, I'll just get some tight-woven camo netting & stich something up...I just wanted to know if anyone saw/knew of anything commercially available, to save me the trouble.

BTW, Chawbaccer, what irony?

 

[rexelbion]

I believe Bass Pro shops (AKA: Outdoor world & Redhead) and/or Cabelas makes aftermarket neoprene radio holders in camoflage.

BTW, I too use radios with earbuds when hunting.

 

[Art Eatman]

Out of curiosity, explain, please, the safety aspect?

I admit that during walking hunting in brushy country, somebody not paying attention and getting ahead of other hunters is Not Good. I've seen times that I could have radioed somebody to hold back a bit. Trouble is, that's considered hunting via radio, and is illegal in Texas.

Art

 

[Mannlicher]

I have been using Midland GMRS radios while hunting for several years now. I also wear the ear bud, and keep the chatter to an absolute minimum. I have managed to kill deer, hogs, squirrel, rabbits, and birds, while using a NON CAMO radio. Go figure.

 

[bud45]

Art, I guess hunting laws differ between states, but I've never heard something so inane: hunting by radio? Personally, I'd rather keep in touch IF I'm running late or had part of my treestand malfunction or a hog got me stuck up a stump & my firing pin broke, etc. than have a partner wonder what happened to me....IMHO, hunting with DOGS is more harmful to wild game than RADIOS! Needless to say, one of these hog episodes happened to a friend of my father-in-law & it took the hunting party several hours to find him...after they heard the sow throwing a fit. They actually found him by mistake.

Mannlicher, you may have something there...but, to me, part of the FUN in hunting is getting camo'ed out like the Predator as much as possible! I've had nothing but my eyes visible & had animals & birds almost run over me! I've just been keeping the radio tucked away in a pocket. Since the VOX mic/earbud accessory only runs about $10, I may order one & try it for more flexibility.

 

[Chawbaccer]

Bud, I didn't mean to flame you or anything, I didn't realize you were talking about bow hunting, where camo rules. During gun season I have to wear blaze orange and having my radios camo covered would just be senseless.

 

[Art Eatman]

Firstoff, I fully agree about camo when hunting turkeys. And, to some extent, doves; maybe ducks--but I've never hunted ducks or geese...

Anyhow, I've never had a problem when hunting deer, coyotes or javelina when wearing Levis or old khakis. The main reason I went away from wearing Levis was the "wheeep, wheeep..." noise they make against brush when walking-hunting. An old army field jacket and khakis are, I guess, as close to camo as I've ever gotten.

But when I can sit back at the base of a tree, waiting for Bambi, and lip-squeak a fox up close enough to tap his nose with my boot-toe, I figure I'm doing okay.

Birds see colors. Game mammals see shades of gray. What's most important when waiting in ambush is learning how to think like a rock or a stump.

Art

 

[sm]

Having dove, duck hunted a bunch, the only time I can recall anyone having a radio / cell phone is if they were an expectant father - and expecting that frantic call from expectant Momma.

I used to work in a Hospital. The Docs, Nurses, Anesthesiologists had pagers, cell phones and such. I have hunted with these folks. Jeans, Kahki's, for doves, earthtone for ducks/ geese. They just had backup folks for on-call. Folks swapped out calls. The Cell phone in the vehicle would be checked when we got back in.

Safety: I / we carry a whistle, carries farther than voice. Gunshots - besides some folks don't know what it means. Air Horns for in the "way back in woods, resevoirs" .

I dunno - my bright red AM radio for weather reports never shunned a critter off. Allowed me find if dropped, see it if left in a boat, blind or somesuch.

High tech camo for me is a burlap bag , free, from a sack of 'taters. Granted I never turkey hunted a lot, I didn't wear jeans - except the last time out, took a Turkey on the fly. Family needed food and I had a shotgun, most appreciative the family was, along with the doe I took.

I don't do camo. What I had rec'd as gifts - I gave away. Now I do accept free burlap 'tater sacks.

 

[Art Eatman]

I used to hate to have to "tote" a 100-pound "gunny sack" of oats or corn or bran for my grandfather, but those old burlap bags are sure useful.

Art

 

[sm]

Art,
Yeah I have toted them as well. The 10# peanut ones are easier. 10# peanut burlap is more than enough to wrap a shotgun to fool Mr. Tom . Just right to cover head and break outline too. 10# holds a LOT of fish and keeps alive while wading and fishing...pc of rope and tote, fish, fill , repeat.

5# burlap is perfect to put doves in...all sorts of stuff. Toss in cooler with ice until can get back in to clean.

I like the old stuff, the simple stuff, especially if the price is right - like free.

I haven't bought any hunting gear in twenty years, except for ammo, shooting glasses, or similar.

 

[bud45]

Hey, guys, even in deer season, I go full camo as much as possible...the deer where I hunt are SMART! Today, however, the radios came in handy- five of us went (stalk) hog hunting (and got two!) and one of the guys used his to direct us close enough to where we could hear him "whoop!" We hunt in the Lower Delta of of I-65 here in Mobile/Baldwin Counties and the noise of the Interstate completely covered his .22 long rifle shots. Even 200 yards off the Interstate, I was 30 yards from him & barely heard him shoot several times at another pig. We were using .22s since we're hunting hogs during squirrel/rabbit season & have to use rimfires here in the Management Areas. Needless to say, I would have never known he'd needed help packing those pigs out without the radios today...BTW, one was about 275 lbs. & the other about 200...we had to drag the former, but we could pick the latter up, using saplings.

Yep, I know of guys who hunt in jeans, etc. They do quite well, in some instances. We have to use blaze orange, too, except for turkey season, where stillness & camo RULE! In deer season, I usually get up in my tree stand & stay for hours, moving v-e-r-y slowly to either eat or drink some water. It's fun to have a deer (non-shooter) walk around underneath & not know I'm there. One time, I had seven yearlings walk underneath me & I was only 16' up (had a back injury, couldn't go any further up, so got up high enough to take the orange off). Even in these situations, if I'm hunting with someone else, I don't turn the radio on until I'm back on the ground & hooking up with the ride out.

Burlap, huh? RADIOS GOT GHILLIE SUITS! Cool idea, though!

Art, I hope I can call turkeys this season as well as you call fox! I just wish I could owl-hoot as good as other folks....Chawbaccer, I see your point- well taken. I just want every advantage I can get, especially when I can take the orange off! If we're 12 feet up a tree/stand, we can take it off & I didn't want anything glinting in the sunlight!

As for animals' sight: I've been told that if you wear clothes that've been washed in regular detergent, deer can see the phosphorus glow and thereby avoid the hunter- is this true? This is why some hunters wash clothes in special soaps, to avoid this possibility; anybody know about the phosphorus deal?

Thanks- an interesting thread!!!!

 

[Art Eatman]

The detergent and glow deal was first made known to me maybeso ten/twelve years ago (?) in a magazine article.

I'm glad I didn't know about it back in the 1940s or '60s or '80s; I never would have been able to kill a deer, I guess.

Same as all this about barrel break-in. We didn't know about that, fifty or whatever years ago. So, we never could hit anything and now I know why...

I think it was Will Rogers who said, "It ain't what people don't know that hurts; it's what they know that ain't so." I'll modify that: "It's not what folks don't know that hurts; it's when they worry about stuff that doesn't matter."

Oh: Hog hunting with radios to help? Makes sense to me.

, Art

 

[bud45]

Draggin' hogs

I'll tell ya what, Art- it took all five of us, taking turns by twos, to drag those boogers out this weekend! Well, the big one we HAD to drag- we couldn't lift her! The second one, we were able to heft up on her pike pole on our shoulders & walk out, but it was after the big 'un- we were already tired!

A second thought occurred to me regarding sm's bright red AM radio: if the critters' rods & cones in their eyes make them only see different shades of gray, I could literally paint the radios in a camo PATTERN with bright colors! Problem is, my wife won't carry one in the mall when we separate, so I'll have to get her an exclusive one! I've dropped a radio back on the trail before & borrowed a fellow hunter's, hitting the Call button until I found it- it was on one side of a bush, me on the other before I heard the tone warbling and I had to hit it a couple times to make sure that was what I was hearing! Needless to say, this was after the hunt, no earbud & just hanging in my pocket.

Thanks, Art- you know, if we didn't worry about the little things, we could get a whole lot more hunting done, huh? Yep, Will Rogers had it right... Ha! Bud

 

[Art Eatman]

What I've noticed in walking-hunting in generally open country during deer season is that a guy who's standing still and wearing khakis is just as invisible as the guy in camo.

When there's movement, the camo guy stands out more than the guy wearing khakis. Most camo doesn't "fit" with wintertime grass. Desert camo isn't quite the right color of Texas grass and dirt; it, too is noticeable with movement...

Back to birds for a moment: I read somewhere that doves specifically dislike the color blue, if that helps anybody...So, get your buddies into wearing their Levis, and the doves will flare off toward you. (Would Art do that? Would Art do that? You bet your sweet bippie...)

Art

 

[bud45]

Movement vs. location

For some reason, I've had game within 10 feet of me, not to mention birds, etc. almost light on me while camo'd- then, I've known guys who couldn't get near a deaf deer if they tried...and, yes, I've known guys who hunt in jeans & a buff-colored or other brownish shirt/jacket who kill the crap outta game! STILLNESS, like you said, IS the name of the game...but it's for those times that I GOTTA scratch, etc. that I believe I need all the help I can get! I think the general idea is to break up the pattern of otherwise foreign objects (human, gun, etc.) so the game won't be as startled as if they looked square into a human face or a glinty, sparkly thing. But, true, it's HARD to get a camo pattern for each & every situation and locale!

Military snipers have it the toughest of all: they have to make their ghillie suits to suit the terrain to foil the most wily game of all: MAN! We hunters have it pretty easy, I'd say...but I still have fun with camo!

I've been thinking about a ghillie suit for turkey season....GOBBLE!

 

[Art Eatman]

The bug and bunny guys say that turkeys are among the best in pattern recognition: "That stump wasn't here yesterday! It's different! Different is BAD! I'm gonna practice not being here!"

I've been behind prickly pear and Spanish dagger, wearing an army field jacket and a fatigue cap, and had turkey hens spot some small part of my face and go "Prrrrrt!" and run...Spooky.

, Art

 

[bud45]

Ben Franklin wuz right!

Turkeys are SMART! Making the best of shadows, camo & cover is of utmost importance...or they'll tattle-tail on you!

 

[H&Hhunter]

I've got a bit of a different take on cammo gear. I do NOT want my radio or my knife or my cartridge holder colored up in camo. I have enough of a hard time finding these items after I set them down in the grass as they are. I want my radio colored yellow or hot red or something so as I don't lose the darn thing and that goes double for my knife.

I stalk hunt pigs nearly exclusivly and I don't wear cammo. I wear earth tones usually but the primary thing is always hunt into the wind with the sun behind your back if it's possible. Also use natural cover as much as possible hunt the shadows. That is all camo a guy needs. Same goes for elk, deer, sheep, coyotes, bears, elephants, cape buffalos kudus. etc etc.. Course turkeys they are a special case..

If a guy wants to camo up that is his bussines and I am definatley not begrudging a person for that. But the camo fade has gotten WAY out of control. I just read about new camo chew gum that camos your breath. heck I guess somebody will buy it. Me...Well I'll just keep hunting with the wind in my face. I just don't believe that you can hide your scent from a deer or a hog no matter what type of scent control you're wearing. the same goes for camo animals see movement not color for the most part.

I seldom get anymore camoed out than you see here and I'll be darned if you'll ever see me camoed up in a blind. I killed that kudu with a bow at 18 yards with what I was wearing in the picture.

 

[sm]

H&H - great PIC! Thanks again for sharing.

I have to respect H&H for his experiences. I respect Art for the same reasons - and he is an elder - one respects theirelders and those of experience. Just how raised.

Why I carried a Yellow Handled CAse Trapper, My Am Radio for weather was bright red...

Part of me is a Rebel by nature. Only Natural for me to buck the trend.

Doves and blue Jeans....heh, heh, heh. Hell I have worn white tennis shoes, French blue oxford shirt and blue jeans to dove hunt in. And since a single shot .410 is a pc of crap and not good for nothing - I used it to take 15 doves using 14 shotshells. I probably could have shot another double - but I was lighting up a smoke... That ticks off folks.

Show up in Blue Blazer, Cordovan Penny Loafers, white shirt and tie sometime and pop a few doves on the way home from work...you get some really strange looks doing that...

...the girl at the cleaners freaks when she empties the coat pocket 2 weeks later and spent 20 ga shells bounce onto the counter...

 

[bud45]

Cool pic, H&H! That goes to show what patience & stillness will fo for you- good goin'! And sm, I'd like to be that fly on the wall when that shell came rattling outta that pocket, heh heh!

Yep, I certainly respect my elders- I just like to throw something out there from time to time. I learned early on that the only stupid question is the one you DON'T ask!

Needless to say, my radios are a dark blue on the front, black on the rear; I think I'll break up the blue/black blob with alternating bands of flat yellow- that'll solve two things at once!