So many choices. Real this and mossy that. Timber spooks and prairie switches, to name a few. It's big business. Over the years camouflage has evolved from granddad's plaid shirt to a gazillion-dollar industry powered by marketing professionals in pursuit of the almighty dollar.

Granted, some of these bigwigs really do hunt, and some of them really do kill monster bucks, but that doesn't mean you have to purchase their latest camo pattern to have a successful hunt.

Truth is, choosing your camouflage from professionally staged photographs in glossy magazines can be a big mistake. If you work hard for your money and don't intend on dropping a 10-pound sack of $20 bills for new camouflage every fall, you may want to read on.

You’re right, it looks good, and it ought to with all those computer-matched colors and photo-generated images. And if you're hunting long distance with a rifle, just about any one of them will work just fine.

Even fluorescent orange works just fine. But when you're 10 yards away from the buck of a lifetime, looks aren't what matters. Quiet is king then.

If you can't move, you can't shoot — doesn't matter how pretty you look. Try on the camo that straightens your arrow, sit down, stand up, turn around and draw back.

Did you hear anything? If you can hear fabric rustling in the store, you can be sure that old buck will hear you when you draw back on him in his woods.

Try another material, and don't trip over it being a slightly different pattern. Anything that breaks up your outline and has sufficient contrast between light and dark will work just fine.

Remember, there are no fluorescent light fixtures out in the woods, and something that looks mighty nice in the store might be too dark overall in the field. Make sure your camo fits loose enough to layer underneath as seasons shorten and mercury drops.

And keep your camo out of the kitchen and garage and away from the neighbor's cats. A deer's nose will pick up on out-of-place odors clinging to any type of fabric.

Mix yourself up a batch of bowhunter's lasagna: dry leaves and fecund earth gathered from the area you're hunting, evenly layered with your camo inside a stout plastic bag and stored in a cool, dry place.

Don't wash your camo with phosphate detergents. Camo fades, shrinks and brightens rapidly when thrown in with common household laundry. Blast it off with a garden hose and hang it out on the line if you must — but don't throw it in the Maytag.

Remember, when you're up close bowhunting: quiet is king. The rest is just a fashion show.