Ticks & Turkeys!!!

[ElkNut1]

I hate those little buggers!! Why is it ticks have to ruin a good Turkey hunt! (grin) When I took my daughter out last year she had a tick on her knee & I had one on my pants leg, caught him before he got me though! What do you guys use to ward them off or keep them off of you?

ElkNut1

[idahoghost]

Hey Paul,

I have tried this and it seems to work. I say seems because I haven't found any ticks on me yet, don't know if that's because it works so well, or there are no ticks around when I am turkey hunting. It is rated very highly. Permethrin Insect Repellent- it's available at Cabelas, REI, etc.. If you are not headed down this way, I'll be happy to pick some up for you and mail it up.

Since I didn't shoot a turkey last year, maybe it repels them as well

Safe hunting and tickless travels, my friend

[ElkNut1]

Hey Larry, thanks! Good luck in your turkey hunting endeavors!!

ElkNut1

[bnsafe]

permethrin will keep them off of you. but you gotta spray it on your clothes and let them hang outside for awhile. follow the directions. mo is loaded with ticks and i hate them to, but they wont get on you if you spray your clothes, just be careful

[buglmin]

Paul,
funny that I just seen this...since I've gotten sick way back in november, the docs just started testing me for tick fever and lyme disease...
I use a product from Scent Shield called No Stinkin Ticks...and that stuff works. In Texas, the ticks and the fleas will just ball up and roll off you. I played with the ticks, spraying some on one arm and nothing on the other, and to see them roll off was a great feeling. I usually dont go outside without it...

[ElkNut1]

Anthony, thanks, I'll check that product out too, man I hate those things with a passion! (grin)

ElkNut1

[cnelk]

Last spring while my son and I were in Nebraska hunting turkeys, the ticks were climbing the inside of blind.
At one time, you could count a couple dozen.
Then a rain storm came thru and the ticks went away...

Growing up in Minnesota, ticks were horrendous. Just got used to them, like mosquitoes...

[WVARCHER]

I've been using sawyers tick spray....treat ur clothes and let air dry...also rubber knee boots...last yr the only thing I didn't spray was my gloves...the only tick I found was on my hand

[Freebird134]

Oh you guys sound like little cry babies! Tick's don't drink that much

I never encountered ticks in Idaho, and it wasn't until I went to Connecticut for grad school that I ran into them....by the hundreds. The ticks in that area averaged about 50% infection rates with Borilla (the spirochete that causes Lyme). I was always cautious, but ended up with Lyme disease one summer. That was a pretty terrible week until the drugs took over.

Permethrin is fantastic, but so is regular ol' deet. But, with ticks, the trick is to tuck your clothes. No, you won't look too stylish, but it works. Pants get tucked into the socks, shirt gets tucked into the pants. Every junction (socks-pants and shirt-pants) gets sprayed with Off or similar (with a good amount of Deet in it).

Ticks can carry a lot of diseases, but fortunately it takes about 24hrs of attachment for a tick to transmit the spirochetes that cause Lyme or similar diseases. When you get home, you gotta do the full check. And I mean THE FULL check!!! Get them off in the evening and you are basically guaranteed disease free!

[pointysticks]

i wear tall rubber boots and i tuck my pants in. we have ticks THICK here in california. every hunt, i see one trying to run the gauntlet of fabric to try to get to my warm bits. if i had white boots and white pants, i bet the ticks i see would freak me out.

i told my brother to pack his rubber boots also.

[WindedBowhunter]

We have a tick issue where we hunt, backed by the highest concentration of Lyme Disease in the US.

Below are some of the tools I use to protect myself, friends and family:

Caribou Gear Single Quarter Bag (Turkey) keeps ticks in bag, off you - http://www.windedbowhunter.com/caribou-gear-single-quarter-bags/
Caribou Gear Full Carcass (Deer) keeps ticks in bag, off you - http://www.windedbowhunter.com/caribou-gear-full-carcass-bags/
Tick Nipper > http://theticknipper.com/


Order 10% permethrin online, this seems to be the best deal 32oz for $17

http://www.amazon.com/Durvet-Inc-Permethrin-10-32oz/dp/B00061MSS0/ref=pd_sim_sg_1

keep both pre-mix and solutions away from cats and fish.....very bad for them, dogs are ok, I think. Permethrin is a low level nerve agent, kills bugs dead pretty much on contact. That includes chiggers, ticks, mosquitoes, gnats, flies, etc. Commonly used for farm and veterinary applications for insect control.

read up on permethrin, get smart on the best uses and applications. Use it primarily to treat clothing and gear. Not for use on skin, because skin enzymes tend to deactivate its effectiveness within 30 minutes or so. Most people have no adverse reaction to using it, if you are not sure, use .5% and see if you have any reaction.

Mix 20-1 with water for.5% solution (equivalent to Sawyers commercial brand, retails for about 15 bucks a bottle)

Mix 10-1 with water for 1% solution (my standard mix, stronger than retail solution, easy to remember too)

Mix 5-1 with water for 2% solution (if I'm going into high danger areas like the I-66 dump site, I'll mix up 2% for sure)

Mix your preferred strength into a 5 gallon bucket, soak all your hunting gear and clothing, air dry in the shade not in the dryer or direct sunlight. If you use a strong solution, you'll notice a slight odor for while, haven't had any deer alarm on the smell yet...kind of like a Thermacell. Low strength (.5%) is practically odorless after it dries. Soaking is the most effective method for treating clothing.....lasts a loooonnng time. Everything goes into the bucket, pants, shirts, socks, hat, gloves, camo, etc. Boots get spray treatment before every hunt or you can soak those too.

I also have empty spray bottles from when I used to buy commercial Permethrin spray at Dicks, I refill these and keep one in the truck all season long.

If you don't wash your hunting clothing too often, it should last most of, if not a whole season. you can "recharge" by using a spray bottle or soaking again.

For exposed skin: I purchase commercial 15-20% picaridin insect spray. Unlike DEET, picaridin dries odorless and doesn't hurt your gear. Usually find some at Sports Authority or order online.

http://www.windedbowhunter.com/natrapel-plus/
http://shop.biteandstings.com/product.sc;jsessionid=C0AAB8F0D8AA3DACC477C698726CAA45.qscstrfrnt02?productId=8

Permethrin treated clothing + picaridin on skin + thermacell is pretty much 100% protection against all bugs and insects flying, crawling, walking, or creeping....

If you like Deet, others on our team use Ben's Tick & Insect Repellent > http://www.windedbowhunter.com/bens-tick-insect-repellent/

The last few years I have hunted the nastiest places a Suburban hunter could go all year round, and came out without a single tick bite...hope to do that again this year!

Good luck to everyone out there - stay safe!

[RockChucker30]

I've had literally thousands of ticks on me growing up here in Middle TN. The worst is when you get into a "pod" of seed ticks, which are only as big as the period at the end of this sentence. You brush up against a leaf, the pod gets on you, you see a brown spot on your leg and inch and a half across, then it starts disappearing as the little buggers go all directions. They you run home to throw everything in the washer and hop in the shower.

Makes me itch just thinking about it.

I use permethrin on clothing, and double up with deet on my legs under my pants. That works unless you're fencing or working outside and sweat a lot. I've sweated all the repellant off before. Then I just tuck my pants into my socks, duct tape them, and spray down with permethrin every couple of hours.

[easeup]

another tip you can guys can use is plain ol sulfur.
It is alot cheaper than the chems and has no weird odor.
just poor a little into an old sock. tie the top of the sock and justs tap yourself with the sock like the pitchers do on the mound with the bag. you get a nice even coating of sulphur dust on your ankles and jeans or where ever. do your waist too for you guys that hunt in the south where we have chiggers.

[WindedBowhunter]

easeup - we'll have to give that a try here in a few months, those buggers will be on us in no time! Thanks!

[ElkNut1]

easeup, sulfur will work that well huh? Where is this had?

ElkNut1

[Freebird134]

We found the first tick of the year yesterday after walking the dogs. The snow just melted and they are out already!

[wawhitey]

last april in my first two hours of turkey hunting in ne washington i got 8 ticks on me. weird thing is, in november neither of the deer we got had a single tick on em.

[ferris bugler]

I hate those things. I hear wearing a dog tick collar on each leg works. I just changed where I hunt turkeys just to avoid them.