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Ticks...yet another disease :-(

One of the most embarrassing things in my life was when I was a kid I used to go to my Aunt and Uncle's on Chesapeake Bay, Kent Island as a matter of fact. Anyway, they had a tick infestation down there it seemed all the time. One evening I felt something on the base of my........ you know what. Yeah, I called my mom and she said, well you're gonna have to have your aunt help you with that. Man that sucked. Anyway, I hate those little suckers!!!
 
If I had a fear of ticks I could never go in the woods here in Northern Wisconsin. Last weekend me and my boy went to refresh some Mocks and change a few cards and we pulled off a combined 43 ticks in an hour. The time before that my daughter went with us and it was over 70. When I say pulled off none of them were attached. We stop often and do checks.
 
WISCO said:
If I had a fear of ticks I could never go in the woods here in Northern Wisconsin. Last weekend me and my boy went to refresh some Mocks and change a few cards and we pulled off a combined 43 ticks in an hour. The time before that my daughter went with us and it was over 70. When I say pulled off none of them were attached. We stop often and do checks.
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Can't fear them. Just be aware and be prepared.
Permethrin clothing is the ticket.
On that subject, unless it's my imagination, I've been noticing that the factory treated clothing (Insect Shield in this case) seems to work better than the clothes that I treat with concentrate permethrin.
We just spent a week in the Boundary Waters in MN and the mosquitos were off the charts. They were thick! I wore Insect Shield pants and the blood suckers wouldn't even land on them. Some of the regular clothes that I treated still had some land and a few even bit thru.
 
Shapeshifter said:
That reminds me of something that happened about 25 or so years ago. I'm in the medical imaging field. I was working as X ray tech assisting the urology surgeon performing a cystoscopy. He was going to look inside this lady's urinary bladder and up into her ureters via a scope inserted through the urethra. As the surgeon started to insert his scope he noticed that this lady had a tick stuck inside of one her labia. He removed it of course but he also recorded a picture of it as documentation.
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Would you have suspected such a thing just by looking at her on the street in normal attire? Asking for a friend........
 
mschultz373 said:
don't the deer smell permethrin?
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Yes and no.
I've not found a concentrate that doesn't leave a residual odor even after it's dry. I think some guys on here have mentioned "Martin's" brand as not having an odor, but I've tried Martins and the stuff I had did have an odor after it dried.
The pre mixed stuff that I've used, like Sawyers, has little or no odor after it dries.
The factory treated clothes (Insect shield, Buzz off, etc) has zero odor and it's treatment lasts A LOT longer than do-it-yourself treatments. In the long run, factory treated clothes is by far the best route. The clothes are always ready at a moments notice. There's no waiting around waiting for clothes to dry for an impromptu hike or outdoor chore.

Now, on the subject as to whether deer smell it or not, I'll say this. I've started to come to the conclusion that, in most areas, deer are not alarmed by chemical odors. They encounter every sort of chemical odor on an almost continuous basis. I really don't believe that they've learned to associate chemicals with predators. It's ORGANIC odors that they associate with danger. Humans, wolves, lions, coyotes all emit organic odors, not chemical odors. Take a logging operation for example...all sorts of chemical odors and deer are actually attracted to logging.
If chemical odors alarmed deer, then there would be no such thing as a road kill because a roadway contains pretty much every odor known to man or beast.
With that being said, I still try to reduce all odors when I hunt. I don't want to assume that the one and only B&C buck in the county won't react to an odor that I can control. But when it comes to hiking, off season scouting, berry picking, habitat chores, etc, in tick country, I'm going to use some form of permethrin. The diseases that ticks transmit are far worse than any risk of spooking a deer.
 
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Allegheny Tom said:
Yes and no.
I've not found a concentrate that doesn't leave a residual odor even after it's dry. I think some guys on here have mentioned "Martin's" brand as not having an odor, but I've tried Martins and the stuff I had did have an odor after it dried.
The pre mixed stuff that I've used, like Sawyers, has little or no odor after it dries.
The factory treated clothes (Insect shield, Buzz off, etc) has zero odor and it's treatment lasts A LOT longer than do-it-yourself treatments. In the long run, factory treated clothes is by far the best route. The clothes are always ready at a moments notice. There's no waiting around waiting for clothes to dry for an impromptu hike or outdoor chore.

Now, on the subject as to whether deer smell it or not, I'll say this. I've started to come to the conclusion that, in most areas, deer are not alarmed by chemical odors. They encounter every sort of chemical odor on an almost continuous basis. I really don't believe that they've learned to associate chemicals with predators. It's ORGANIC odors that they associate with danger. Humans, wolves, lions, coyotes all emit organic odors, not chemical odors. Take a logging operation for example...all sorts of chemical odors and deer are actually attracted to logging.
If chemical odors alarmed deer, then there would be no such thing as a road kill because a roadway contains pretty much every odor known to man or beast.
With that being said, I still try to reduce all odors when I hunt. I don't want to assume that the one and only B&C buck in the county won't react to an odor that I can control. But when it comes to hiking, off season scouting, berry picking, habitat chores, etc, in tick country, I'm going to use some form of permethrin. The diseases that ticks transmit are far worse than any risk of spooking a deer.
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That's consistent with my experience with treating clothes myself.

Sawyers premixed solution doesn't smell to me at all when it dries. A mix I made myself with Martin's smells a little after it dries, but isn't bad. This other concentrate I used once had petroleum distillates in it and I would get a headache wearing the clothes indoors from how strong the smell was.

Sent from my SM-G975U using Tapatalk
 
I’ve got no horse in the race… but when they say it’s odorless, im pretty sure they mean that humans can’t smell it. Deer have something like 10,000 times more scent receptors than humans.
 
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Jammintree said:
I’ve got no horse in the race… but when they say it’s odorless, im pretty sure they mean that humans can’t smell it. Deer have something like 10,000 times more scent receptors than humans.
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When it comes to a deer's nose, there is probably nothing on the planet that is completely "odorless". The question is, how will a deer react to a certain odor and will it effect our hunt?
 
Bwhana said:
Not a tick disease, but even more reason to soak your clothes in permethrin… 70% fatality without treatment should get your attention! https://share.newsbreak.com/4f2dr745
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Thanks for that info John. Between all of the invasive plants, bugs, diseases, and 2 legged invaders, it's getting crazy out there.
 
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