Why Ground Blind Hunters Should Dress Like Johnny Cash
Dave Maas 08.02.17
The use of ground blinds for hunting has increased tremendously during recent years, especially for those pursuing whitetails. The reasons are many. For starters, it’s safer than climbing into a treestand, and who hasn’t found that perfect deer hunting spot, but the only thing lacking was a suitable treestand tree on the downwind side of the deer trail?
Recent surveys indicate that ground blinds have become a preferred method of hunting, with 64 percent of hunters using them. In a 2017 survey, it was revealed that 88 percent of ground blind hunters prefer dark-colored apparel when hunting. (True North Marketing 2016, 2017)
I am one of those hunters. No matter whether I’m ambushing wild turkeys or whitetails from a ground blind, I prefer to dress like Johnny Cash. The reason is the inside of the ground blind is black, and assuming you keep enough windows closed to limit light inside the blind, you become invisible to game animals when wearing black.
For years, I’ve purchased oversized long-sleeve black t-shirts to wear during hot-weather hunts, or purchased warm camo jackets that had a black lining. That way, I could wear the coat inside-out and be camo’d in my blind.
Thankfully, my days of wearing coats inside-out look to be over, thanks to the folks at Mossy Oak. The company has recently released the first pattern designed specifically for hunting from inside a ground blind: Mossy Oak Eclipse (above).
Eclipse is a black overlay version of Mossy Oak’s popular Break-Up Country pattern, with cutout portions exposing the pattern (below), erasing the human outline inside a ground blind. Where lighter camo options stand out when worn inside the black interior of a ground blind, Eclipse disappears.
Hunters across the country should have no trouble finding this new ground blind pattern, because Eclipse is hitting the shelves at local Walmart stores with lightweight apparel options for early season bowhunting. Here in the Midwest, most archery deer seasons get rolling in mid-September, so I’d say the timing is perfect.
