Ticks

I took a hike recently in the national forest to try and find a place to pattern my shotgun. Had to walk off trail to find a nice berm with a good backstop so I stepped in a lot of dead leaves, vegetation, and ferns. This was my first time using Oil of Lemon Eucalyptus so I drenched myself in it. Primarily all over my skin, very limited application on my clothes beyond a few sprays on the outside. The gnats, flies, and mosquitoes would all try to land and find an uncovered spot but they couldn't beyond a few tiny areas. I only had about 5 small low duration mosquito bites. This is a heavily infested area, and if I were to go without repellent it would only be tolerable for about two minutes with the flies and mosquitoes so I would count the 5ish bites as a success. I kept checking my skin throughout the hike for ticks and was surprised to find none of them. Well........... that changed very quickly when I got into the car and it turned into a horror movie scene as probably 40 of them came out of me throughout my long drive home. Surprisingly, I only had one attached to me when I got home and did the full body check. Just gently pulled it out with a tweezer. I think the OLE works, as evidenced by only one attaching to my skin however this experience has left me shook a little bit and I am just thinking of using the nuclear option of Picaridin on the skin and Permethrin treated clothes. I do wonder however what the results would be if I thoroughly sprayed the insides and outsides of my clothes with the OLE along with my skin and want to test it out sometime. The OLE has a very strong scent to it and although is a natural plant derived oil, I wonder if big game or game in general would associate it with danger.
 
I’m going to say that if the scent is not natural to the area then the game will most likely not tolerate it, plant or man made.
I would love something natural to use but after getting bit last fall I’m on the picaridin, and permethrin band wagon.
I was out scouting about a week ago and nothing, even when I was finally home and did a full body search, nothing.
I’m sure that they do give off their own scent, although I can’t smell it, I’m sure that game can most likely.
As always play the wind with what ever you choose, and best wishes.
 
well , the Ticks are starting to be active again . about 2 weeks ago , we were scouting a swampy area with high grass and ferns , for a few hours . Sally had one tick when we got home . I really didn't think much of it knowing the area we were in . two days ago , Sally had one tick again , and we were not in high weeds . yesterday she had a couple on her , we were not in high weeds . PA archery season starts in a week , so get your clothes treated .
 
JD338 said:
A good freeze will put an end to those parasites.

JD338
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Not really, I killed and skinned a bear couple years ago, 2 days later had a tiny tick embedded in my belly, It was December 9th. I use permethrin all year now.
 
Ridge_Runner said:
Not really, I killed and skinned a bear couple years ago, 2 days later had a tiny tick embedded in my belly, It was December 9th. I use permethrin all year now.
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It's scary and terrible and unfortunately unavoidable. I am using picaridin now, lightly in the winter, but a good amount in warm weather of course.

Still searching for a natural and effective tick repellant. Nootkatone seems really promising but it appears that big chem is purposefully killing it by refusing to manufacture or market it.

I want to try Wondercide. The concentrated formula with 40% cedarwood oil.
 
they seem to go dormant during the heat . I seldom see them during the hot summer months . just the opposite as one would think . Sally had a couple on her yesterday .
 
Saturday night and Sunday, I was in the woods helping a friend look for a wounded deer. Sunday evening, I found a tick embedded in my left butt cheek. Since I obviously couldn't do it myself, my wife had to dig it out with a tick removal tool. :rolleyes:
 
6mm Remington said:
One spring quite a few years ago I got one of the tick diseases. Not sure which one. The doctor just put me on really high medication to combat the effects I was having to fight the disease. He said it didn't matter which one I had, the remedy was the same. I was running 102-103 degree temperature steadily and they almost put me in the hospital. The doctor called me every day to see how I was doing. One of those buggers dug into my belly button on a spring black bear hunt outing with a friend. I remember my wife was not happy either because even though I stripped off my clothing right after the hunt just inside the front door and put the clothes in the washer right away, somehow a couple of those buggers broke past the guards! A couple days later my wife woke up with one on her shoulder. She was not happy. Not mad at me, just not happy at all! I was sick for about 10 days.

A couple of days passed before I found the tick in my belly button. He was face in and just a wee portion of his butt was visible sticking out. I was not feeling ill at this point... yet! The way he was burried in there I wasn't quite sure how to get him out. I know use a hot needle heated with flame to touch him with to get him to back out. Just wasn't sure if that would work or how it would work without burning me in the process. My wife was not too thrilled about being the removal squad. I have an inny bellybutton so I had my wife get fingernail polish remover and fill my belly button like a swimming pool while I laid on my back. She did and we let it sit for a few minutes. Figured that high potent stuff would get the bugger, and I was hoping that it would somehow disinfect the wound. Probably too late at this stage. After letting it sit for a spell my wife used a paper towel and got most of the fingernail polish remover removed from the tick swimming pool. She then used a tweezers to pluck him out. This lasted for several tries with her gently trying to removed the vermin but she could not get him. I finally had to tell her to grab that bugger and pull him out. She did and he came finally with flesh still in his mouth that came with him. I may have cussed a couple of times as some of the fingernail polish remover went into the void left by the ticks removal. IT STUNG like a son of a gun. Amazed the head came with him too. My limited understanding is you want the head to come as well for best results. The tick was quite dead. It was not very long after the removal that I started getting a really high fever with Doctor visits shortly after. I hate those buggers!
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I used to use vinegar to remove ticks quickly that had not been present for more than a few hours, still hard and not swollen gray. But I read a month ago, Gemini said that can cause ticks to empty their stomach when done, and make matters worse, but if that’s the case why wouldn’t that happen when using tweezers instead squeezing them even if you’re holding them tight to your skin?

Seed ticks can be very hard to detect, especially on a dog. I found one buried in my forearm when I was in Myrtle Beach, North Carolina and traveling around back East was just as bad since they hatch in September-November.
 
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