onestab,
True, but then I think daystalker's comment would fit....
i think it all depends on the area and surrounding cover.
Case in point, I cannot see myself wearing Realtree hardwoods as I believe it is too dark of a pattern for many situations. However, a buddy of mine wears it and when he is up a tree in our area I have a hard time picking him out....from almost any angle. Now, that may seem hard to believe but the truth is that we hunt in area with many mature trees that are located relatively close to one another. The overall "grayness" of the pattern blends in exceptionally well with the actual color of the trees trunk to the point where he looks like nothing more than an overgrown section of the trunk....or part of the tree behind the one that he is sitting in.
Now, I believe this also has to do with stand placement. If you place a treestand in a tree with little surrounding cover or even a fairly open set of hardwoods then the chances of a convential camo pattern sticking out would be greater. But then again the "background" of what it is being placed against is different. There is more sky and thin branches around the archer as compared to full tree trunks.
As I stated earlier, I am in now way doubting the effectiveness of open patterns but would rather point out that convential camo patterns aren't as bad as the open pattern companies would like folks to believe.
Again, just my opinion.