Brandon Rapp
Leafy suits for hunters aren’t new, but they are kind of new. They are an adaptation of what’s commonly known as a Ghillie Suit used by military sharpshooters for over 100 years that were invented by gamekeepers in the Scottish Highlands for hunting predators, game, and capturing poachers.
After seeing someone hunting in a leafy suit, you might be curious if a lot of hunters are using these, if you have to get one from an army surplus store, or if they even work at all. These days a lot of hunters are using them, several companies offer them for hunters, and once you hunt in one, you’ll probably always hunt in one.
Leafy Suits for Hunting
A leafy suit is a loose-fitting light cloth base layer of a shirt or pants, usually mesh, that is covered by a second layer of camouflage or earth tones with patterns cut out in the shape of leaves adding an additional 3D component to the exterior garment.
The purpose of this design is to hide the human form by utilizing the benefit of independently moving fake vegetation. Since the outline of a person can be easily recognizable by game animals, all camouflage works to distort, or blend our outlines from watchful eyes up close and especially at a distance.
A leafy suit will usually take this to the next level by mimicking the look and movement of local vegetation and enhancing your ability to blend in with the surrounds and hide your human form.
Best Setting for Leafy Suits
A leafy suit’s default setting for hunting is almost always on the ground. Every spring it seems that more and more turkey hunters are either dusting off their leafy suit from last season, or more converts are buying one to bring out for the first time.
Mossy Oak and North Mountain Gear offer leafy suit tops and bottoms ready to go in your favorite patterns you’re already using like Bottomland and Greenleaf. Their design works as a light outer layer to be worn in the higher daytime spring temperatures, or over top of colder weather base layers.
For the hunter looking to get the most for their dollar, don’t put the leafy suit away come fall hunting season. The leafy suit works equally as well high in the tree stand to confuse unsuspecting game on the ground from thinking the large object they see in the tree is not the typical human threat.
With patterns as interchangeable in almost any environment like Bottomland, don’t leave the leafy suit home when you take that big trip out west. With ground hunting of mule deer, pronghorn, and elk, a leafy suit is the perfect addition to your lethal set up to fill those once in a lifetime tags.
Plan to Use It
Today’s options for hunters offer something for almost anyone. Hunters can choose from tops with or without a hood, pants, face masks, or hat and face mask combinations all in the popular Mossy Oak patterns you are already used to.
Think about how you plan to use the leafy suit whether solely for ground hunting turkeys in the spring, or if it will be in your kit all year long and the temperatures that come with those pursuits. Make sure you have room for movement and extra layers when you need them.
Bowhunters will also want to shoot some practice arrows before heading to the woods as sometimes the leaf patterns can impede the travel of the bow string. In any case, most hunters will trim away any leaves that are in the way, though this should be minimal.
In addition to quality camo patterns, minimizing your movement, and quality shot placement, a leafy suit could be a good option to help trick your next wary gobbler this spring and fill that tag. The leafy suits offered today are durable, lightweight, and effective when stalking or ambush style hunting. It’s a tactic that’s worked for over 100 years so why not have it work for you?
