Help.... Any advice for tick repelents while relic hunting??

strateloss

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Aug 21, 2012
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NJ
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I was out last weekend and had a great time hunting a stone foundation but I did pull 2 small ticks off my hoodie before I got into the car. No worries though, I checked myself when I got home and put all the clothes in the wash with hot water including my bag and took a shower. I plan on going to a new site in PA tomorrow but after last weeks encounter with 2 ticks on my sweater, I'm having second thoughts. I picked up some OFF Deep Woods, and read something about how hikers use bounce dryer sheets to help keep that at bay. I'd really appreciate any tips from the guys who hit the woods hard this time of year. The little shits got me freaked out from the lyme disease they carry. I refuse to let them keep me from getting hitting the woods this time of year.

Thanks again guys HH!!!
 

GMD52

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Feb 22, 2013
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I have found that the strongest repellent with the highest concentration of DEET seems to work best. Ben's100 is about the strongest you can get today. I remember that in the beginning of my forestry career, the US Forest Service used to issue 100% DEET, which was great on repelling all flying and crawling creatures, It also melted the crystal on my watch........it's not available to the public any more. Also note that lyme disease is most commonly carried by the deer tick, usually encountered with the handling of deer and moose, the common wood tick isn't as contaigious, but just as bothersome. Good luck and HH???:icon_thumright:
 

wainzoid

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Jan 29, 2007
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morrisons cove = smell our dairy air
I live in the woods of Pa. and deal with them everyday. That's pretty much it...I deal with them. I just check myself and the dogs everyday. I get some off the dogs nearly everyday. Me....I found a couple after morel hunting yesterday. Some on my clothes and one burrowed in my leg.

I vote for a forest fire!!!
 

desmobob

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Apr 10, 2005
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The best way to go these days is to buy a spray bottle of Sawyer's Permethrin (synthetic Pyrethrin, an insecticide and repellant made from flowers) and treat your clothing. If you use a total of three ounces of treatment on your socks, shoes/boots, pants and shirt, you'll be amazed at the results! An application last through six washings, too. Google it to find out more about it. You just spray it on the outside of the clothing and let it dry for a few hours. This is how the new Bug-Off type clothing is treated. It's safe - much healthier than DEET- and effective.

Good hunting,
desmobob
 

OP
OP
strateloss

strateloss

Sr. Member
Aug 21, 2012
266
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NJ
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The best way to go these days is to buy a spray bottle of Sawyer's Permethrin (synthetic Pyrethrin, an insecticide and repellant made from flowers) and treat your clothing. If you use a total of three ounces of treatment on your socks, shoes/boots, pants and shirt, you'll be amazed at the results! An application last through six washings, too. Google it to find out more about it. You just spray it on the outside of the clothing and let it dry for a few hours. This is how the new Bug-Off type clothing is treated. It's safe - much healthier than DEET- and effective.

Good hunting,
desmobob

Thanks bud!! Just got back from Walmart with it!! Look forward to paying attention to the sounds of the machine and not the ticks around me...lol

HH to all
 

Bum Luck

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May 24, 2008
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Permethrin. Kills 'em.
 

Native Floridian

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Permethrin is the answer. Treat your clothes not your skin. Also wear light coloer clothing and employ barrier techniques lie tucking pants into socks and shirt into pants etc.

Hikers in some sections of the Northeast report coming off trails with tick counts approaching 1000. permethrin has them coming off trails with counts in the two dozen range. All walking wounded ready to chk out picked up in the last few yards of woods.

Bring a lint roller with you and roller the little *******s off. have a friend help. Plastic bag, for the outerwear and a 20 minute ride on high in the dryer should kill any mutants that the permethrin missed. Then a though check of yourself.

if you are bitten by a deer tick don't panic and don't run to the doctor. Only one out of three deer ticks is infected with Lyme. So odd are in your favor. tell tale sinces of a bullseye rash may or may not appear. It takes lyme about a month to reach detectable levels. Most docs will not prescribe the fix, Doxycycline, without a postive test. But if yoyu get the rash call and see what the doc wants to do.

The danger with these tick bites is that most likely you will not know you've been bitten. A couple months later you've got what you think is the flu but can't shake it.
 

Frankn

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Ticks like light color clothing! Frank... 111-1 profile.jpg
 

gldnbrew

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I use military blousing bands on long pants, get the wide velcro ones and wear a light long sleeve shirt no matter the temperature then I spray my clothes with 40% Deet from wally world. Never had a tick or flea.
 

Mr Redneck

Tenderfoot
Apr 10, 2013
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I've always used "sulfur" . I put some in a sock and pat around shoes and ankles. will work for ticks, chiggers and fleas.
Thats how we do it in Texas.
 

Last edited:

DPenhead

Tenderfoot
Oct 9, 2009
6
3
Mocksville, NC
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I was out last weekend and had a great time hunting a stone foundation but I did pull 2 small ticks off my hoodie before I got into the car. No worries though, I checked myself when I got home and put all the clothes in the wash with hot water including my bag and took a shower. I plan on going to a new site in PA tomorrow but after last weeks encounter with 2 ticks on my sweater, I'm having second thoughts. I picked up some OFF Deep Woods, and read something about how hikers use bounce dryer sheets to help keep that at bay. I'd really appreciate any tips from the guys who hit the woods hard this time of year. The little shits got me freaked out from the lyme disease they carry. I refuse to let them keep me from getting hitting the woods this time of year.

Thanks again guys HH!!!

I work in the woods constantly as part of my job. At times, in some Hell-holes, we can be covered with 3-5000 ticks at once, with no warning...usually in the swamps of Georgia. I will tell you a solution that I came across that WORKS. I don't use DEET at all...no chemicals either. What I do is eat 2-3 individual garlic cloves per day while I am working in the woods, or a heaping tablespoon of roasted minced garlic on a burrito, or other food that sort of 'absorbs' the taste. It works best if I start the day before I expect to be in the woods for a project. Do NOT use 'Garlic Pills'. These are chemically reduced down from the original, and the naturally occurring sulfides in the garlic are not as potent. You can't cut corners. And No, you don't smell like garlic or spaghetti when you sweat. I have used this many times to fight off the ticks, and have seen it go day-to-day from 3-5K the first day, to 20 the next, to 5-10 the next, to 1, to NONE for 3-4 months... I am eating garlic right now for working in the woods of Ohio, and I haven't had one on me for over two weeks. The first week here we saw them on us daily. It works.
 

Bum Luck

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May 24, 2008
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I'm a land surveyor, and I've found that DEET isn't as effective as Permethrin.

Besides, it stinks, melts plastic, and makes my skin "crawl" because of its chemical makeup.

I use it as little as possible.
 

gldnbrew

Full Member
Feb 16, 2013
151
170
The 1000 Islands, NY
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Garrett AT Pro and ATMax, 8.5 x 11, 5 x 8 & a Super Sniper - Pro-pointer.
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I work in the woods constantly as part of my job. At times, in some Hell-holes, we can be covered with 3-5000 ticks at once, with no warning...usually in the swamps of Georgia. I will tell you a solution that I came across that WORKS. I don't use DEET at all...no chemicals either. What I do is eat 2-3 individual garlic cloves per day while I am working in the woods, or a heaping tablespoon of roasted minced garlic on a burrito, or other food that sort of 'absorbs' the taste. It works best if I start the day before I expect to be in the woods for a project. Do NOT use 'Garlic Pills'. These are chemically reduced down from the original, and the naturally occurring sulfides in the garlic are not as potent. You can't cut corners. And No, you don't smell like garlic or spaghetti when you sweat. I have used this many times to fight off the ticks, and have seen it go day-to-day from 3-5K the first day, to 20 the next, to 5-10 the next, to 1, to NONE for 3-4 months... I am eating garlic right now for working in the woods of Ohio, and I haven't had one on me for over two weeks. The first week here we saw them on us daily. It works.

AND you won't have to worry about thous pesky vampires either.:laughing7:
 

Produce Guy

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Dec 17, 2008
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Sulfer works great,so does a mixture of water and B-1 tablets,crush the tablets in a bowel & add water,to make a paste,put paste around ankles and some on your bare arms or legs( this stuff stinks,so no one will bother you),it keeps the ticks off.
 

Sager8130

Jr. Member
Apr 3, 2013
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6
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Deer ticks are also carried by small rodents like mice, chipmunks, squirrels, and even birds. So just because there aren't deer around an area doesn't mean there aren't deer ticks.

If you have a deer tick (very small) and it won't come out easily, the best thing you can do is go see a doctor. They will remove the tick properly and prescribe an antibiotic that will kill off the Lyme disease before it starts.

Leaving the head of the tick in you is the worst thing you could possibly do as the lyme disease is transffered through the saliva of the tick.
 

Produce Guy

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I didn't think about this one,but see if your vet has any suggestions.
 

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