Dark, woodland patterns with limbs, sticks and leaves stand out in the vast tracts of western plains like Bigfoot would at a White House formal.

As a Nebraska-based company with a foothold on the edge of the Western frontier, Cabela's offers an alternative for the open-country hunter in their Seclusion 3-D Open Country camouflage pattern. Although I've used it extensively for pronghorn hunting in both Wyoming and South Dakota, and for calling predators on the plains, I gave it the best field test while on a bowhunting safari in northeast Namibia, Africa recently with Eden Trophy Hunting (www.eden-wildlife.com).

When one thinks of Africa, jungles, gorillas and swinging apes come to mind, but much of the southern end of the continent is arid desert that supercharges to life in spring and takes on a faded, tired look with the onset of winter. Winter was the season during my visit and I needed the perfect camouflage to match the stark backdrop. Namibia lies in a region on the brink of desert with sand instead of soil covering much of the landscape. Patches of parched, yellowed grass dot the underlying landscape of leafless bushes and scattered plots of scrub timber.

Matching your backdrop is critical for close encounters on bowhunts and the Seclusion 3-D Open Country pattern matched Namibia's terrain perfectly. Whether I was crouching in the shadow of the bush, highlighted up against sun-faded grass or hunkered on a sandy trail waiting for a gemsbok to rise from its bend, the Open Country pattern blended perfectly into the sandy setting. When stalking was required, I immediately switched to the Seclusion 3-D Open Country pattern and even the Professional Hunters on staff at Eden were surprised at its effectiveness in the Kalahari Savannah.

Seclusion also comes in several other flavors depending on your hunting location. And as I discovered, Seclusion isn't just for North America any more.

Click here for Cabela's Silent Weave Camouflage Clothing.