• Camouflage is a critical part the hunter's gear selection.duck hunter image by cherie from Fotolia.com
  
  Camouflage is an important component of the hunting lifestyle. In recent decades, an explosion of camouflage pattern choices has made selecting camouflage more challenging. Just wearing camouflage is not enough; you need a pattern that mimics the surroundings where you intend to hunt. Even if you regularly hunt in the same location, you may still need several camouflage patterns to accommodate seasonal changes.
  
  

Woodland Camouflage

• Woodlands contain varying terrain.In the woods image by Carsten Straaberg from Fotolia.com
  
  Hunters spend a lot of time in the woods so many camouflage choices mimic the look of the forest. Woodland camouflage is a broad category because wooded terrain includes many types of vegetation. During the spring and summer, there are green leaves that should be represented in the pattern you select. In the autumn, the hunter should be selecting woodland camouflage that includes foliage as well as some bare branches.
  
  Be sure that you have light as well as dark components to the pattern you select so that you won’t form a dark human outline against a lighter background. When you are in a treestand, the sky might be a prominent part of your background so be sure that your pattern also has some sky.
  
  

Snow Camouflage

• Don't reveal yourself with dark pattern camouflage in front of a snowy background.snow image by Annika from Fotolia.com
  
  During the winter months, most parts of the country have snow. Camouflage with a snow component is critical in these situations because such a high contrast background will betray your outline. Having white in your pattern is not enough. Be sure your pattern breaks up the snow with darker shapes so that when you pass in front of a dark-colored background you aren’t given away by your white human outline.
  
  

Marsh and Field

• Wear the right camouflage when hunting in marshy terrain.marsh reeds image by Jorge Moro from Fotolia.com
  
  Some terrain doesn’t include forest components at all. Bird hunters often frequent river banks, crop fields and cattail marshes. This terrain includes cattails, corn stalks, tall grasses and other types of reeds. Even within a given pattern category, it is still necessary to know what specific vegetation will be present during the season you’ll be afield.
  
  

Brush

• Cover in brushy terrain is sparse.Eastern Oregon image by pearlguy from Fotolia.com
  
  Brushy country might be rich with game but not with places to hide. Adopting a brush patterned camouflage is a wise choice when cover is sparse and the hunter needs to blend in with what little vegetation there is. Brush camouflage contains imagery that includes dead grasses and dirt. These patterns also contain subtle contrast against the background.
  
  

Blaze Orange

• There is still debate about whether deer can see the shade of blaze orange. To offset this potential disadvantage during the firearm season, you should break up your outline using camouflage blaze orange. Choose a pattern in the blaze orange category but make sure you are still following your local hunting regulations that may specify a certain amount of uninterrupted blaze orange on your head, chest and back.