Mossy Oak Adds a New Dimension to Camouflage
Founder Toxey Haas Believes Brown is Beautiful in Camo
Mar 13, 2009
Jim Crumley founded modern hunting camouflage, with the introduction of Trebark, in 1980. Bill Jordan unveiled Realtree camouflage in 1986. Simultaneously, Toxey Haas of West Point, Miss., introduced Mossy Oak to hunters.
Haas' Focus Was Getting Closer to Animals
“I always thought, even as a kid, how cool it would be to be invisible so I could spend time in the wilderness without spooking animals,” Haas recounts. “When I got out of school and was working on my own, I realized that what I was trying to do for myself, as a hunter, by trying to manipulate existing camouflage might help a lot of people.
“To my eye, even with the influx of new hunting camouflage in the ‘80s, I still felt hunters stood out and looked unnatural. From day one, the good Lord just looked out after me and put the right things in front of me that made Mossy Oak successful.”
Mossy Oak Brings Browns to Hunting Camouflage
Haas says that Mossy Oak’s belief that brown is beautiful has been the company’s biggest contribution to hunting concealment. Deep brown tones were the foundation for Mossy Oak’s first pattern, Bottomland, which today remains the backdrop for Mossy Oak camo patterns.
“Brown-based camo patterns became the rage from that point forward,” Haas reports. “I also felt the use of over-enhanced shadowing of elements to give the patterns more depth and our belief that camo didn’t require a lot of color contrast to effectively break up the hunter’s outline were important.
Mossy Oak's Breakup pattern used a lot of dark coloring, which was met with resistance by many. They felt it was too dark, at least until they took it into the woods and saw how good it worked.
Hass says this was significant because hunters finally realized that their outline could be interrupted without using colorations that appeared foreign in the woods – colors that actually caused them to stand out not become more invisible.
Camouflage is More than Function, It's Fashion
One of the most fascinating aspects of modern hunting camo goes beyond functional innovations. It’s the evolution of camo from function to fashion.
“Although fashion is a big part of the camo market, function is still the primary draw,” Jordan says. “It has to look right, look good in the woods and in different wilderness settings. But today’s hunters are different than the hunters of just 20 years ago. They want to look the part. It’s almost unfashionable not to wear one of these designer-type camouflages.”
“What makes camo fashionable is the fact that it works,” Haas adds. “Some of the new leafy products are the perfect examples of how the fashion side works. A few years ago, hunters were embarrassed to be seen in leafy garments. Now, they’re cool and fashionable, because hunters know they work.”
Mossy Oak Featured on Everything From Furniture to Wine
Today, Mossy Oak is far more than just camo. Haas' entrepreneurial genius and outside-the-box thinking have grown the Mossy Oak tree into divisions that include BioLogic wild game (nutrition/food) products, Mossy Oak Properties rural property brokers and more than 700 Mossy Oak licensees who put the Mossy Oak camo pattern on everything from furniture to fine wine.
“I’m so humbled by what Mossy Oak has been able to accomplish,” Haas says. “Mossy Oak isn’t Toxey Haas, it’s a whole group of people who love the outdoors. So, when I see people wearing our clothing or using products with our camo pattern, I’m just so grateful.”
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