How to Camouflage a Rifle
When hunting deer or other large game in the forest, every hunter knows that camouflage is very important to having a successful hunt. It can change the entire scope of the event, as a well-hidden hunter has a much better chance at taking a deer than a hunter who can easily be spotted, as he or she does not blend in with the forest. For this reason, hunters will spent a lot of time and money on their outfit, getting a jacket, a vest, a hat, gloves, pants, and boots that are all camouflaged to perfection. Unfortunately, many will often then ruin it by carrying a rifle with no camouflage whatsoever, a shinny new weapon that looks very out of place in the woods and that deer will notice if they come within two hundred yards of it. What is needed, then, is rifle camouflage. Some rifles come with it, and those patterns will be discussed, but hunters can also camouflage rifles themselves, which is sometimes even better.
The store-bought camouflage rifle has its advantages. First, the patterns will often be very intricate and very well-done, giving them a professional look that many people love. Also, the rifle companies have done studies, the same way that the military has, to find out which patterns work the best and are the least noticeable to game. So, by going that route, the hunter is guaranteed to have a rifle that will be professionally designed to succeed. They will also have a nice-looking gun, as the camouflage paint jobs really fit with the weapons and are done to a high standard. The downfall is that these still sometimes have the sheen of new weapons, so the sunlight can catch them and reflect back brightly. They also still have the distinctive shape of a gun, which game may be more prone to notice as it will be foreign to them.
For doing the job oneself, spray paint can be used. One will have to be sure, as this is an irreversible process, that one does not care how the gun looks. Once painted, it can not be restored to its natural state. The main thing that the hunter wants to do is to choose flat paints, also known as matte colors. These do not reflect the sun or any other light, but will look dull and unnoticeable. The hunter then wants to select common forest colors, with green being the most prevalent. Brown, black, and gray can also be mixed in, as they will break up the shape of the gun for a deer, making it look the most like the forest. If only one color can be purchased, green is the best to choose, as the gun will generally be at the height of tree branches, and that is where it needs to blend in the most.
There are some more unorthodox tactics that can be applied, much like those used at times by the military. These include dressing the gun up in other materials; the hunter must always be careful when doing this not to block the moving parts of the gun, such as the breech or the pump or the hammer. Also, the hunter must take extreme caution not to block the barrel.
There are a number of things that can be used to dress a gun up so that it is properly camouflaged. One easy thing to use is a burlap sack. These are often the sacks used to hold apples or potatoes. They are coarse in feel and green-brown in color, so they fit in well in the forest. They can be wrapped around the gun and strapped on, breaking up not only the color of the gun, but the shape as well. To this, one can add sticks and branches and other natural cover. Most of this can be held on with glue or tape. Using this material is sort of like building a blind, trying to make the gun look as organic as possible.
No matter what way one chooses to go, having top rifle camouflage is important. The deer must be fooled a bit in order to get them close enough for a shot, and camouflage is the best way to do it.