Ticks... Overreaction?

[J20Hunter]

The strain I had did not leave the circle rash. They said it would not detect on test for 12 days after bite. Crazy shit . They are the little ticks you can hardly see till they get blood in them. Luckily I can still eat red meat

 

[ilikeshootin]

Lyme disease is awful!

I have no experience with it... I did have a tick attach itself to my eardrum one year while turkey hunting.

Minor emergency couldn't remove it so I had to see an ENT specialist. He gave me a shot in my eardrum in order to remove it.

When the meds wore off, it was the worst pain I've ever experienced.

Ticks are the worst!!!

I'm constantly checking when I'm in the woods. I even drop my drawers a couple times a day...

If it's too bad I won't go out...usually shed hunting.


I too use Permethrin concentrate...now

 

[247 bowwalker]

I've never heard of this stuff before but I'll have to check it out. It sounds like a great preventative measure to take.

 

[Coldtrail]

Permethrin everything! Take the ticks very serious! If you have a good DR they might give you a prescription for a few pills for a doxycycline jump start if you spend much time in the woods and find an embedded tick in the middle of the night or weekend...vets will do this for your "dog" sometimes too, just sayin'. I leave all woods clothes outside & even bag them up and freeze them in my garage freezer overnight during the bad season.

I've been fighting mystery health issues for 15yrs that my DR says his best guess is something tick borne that has caused a variety of issues.

 

[KoolBreeze]

They are awefull. Hate them worse than snakes or spiders. Always check myself immediately after coming in if I've been doing yard work or in the woods. Folks around these parts are getting the red meat disease from ticks.

 

[Trial153]

The northeast is terrible. I have my yard, driveway, road and kids play areas sprayed monthly and it still doenst stop them completely .
Using Sawyers on clothing helps, however you will just as easy one up taking the trash out.
My drive way a quarter mile long and is all gravel exect being paved around the house. I have gotten them on me just walking from the house to the mailbox and back on the gravel. I dont know what the freaking answer is.

 

[OXN939]

Thanks for all the feedback, especially Cdroot89 - That sounds like really good stuff and I will follow those recommendations. Anyone who studies ticks should get his college paid for!

You’re exactly right… Since I couldn’t be certain that I got it on my hike because I also live in the country, I was prescribed a single dose of Doxy.

J20 -
Sorry to hear about your experience. That is no fun. And one reason why I really hate ticks! You’re a better man than me. I probably would’ve sold the property. LOL

Another item that hasn't been mentioned is that you should disinfect the bite area as soon as you remove a tick, preferably with isopropyl alcohol but hand sanitizer or any other kind of antimicrobial solution works. As Cdroot mentioned, the risk is very low if you remove the tick in this fashion within the first 12 hours of attachment.

To clarify, though, this does not eliminate the chance that you'll get Lyme or the Alpha-gal allergy. The only way to do that is to prevent ticks from ever attaching in the first place. I personally wear hip waders that are sprayed with repellent over pants that are sprayed with repellent and a shirt that is sprayed with repellent during Turkey season.

 

[NYyotekiller]

Being a Land Surveyor here in the Northeast for going on 20+ years I’ve had more than few ticks on me. I’ve had somewhere around 200 or so ticks attached to me that I’ve had to pull off. Luckily, I’ve never had to deal with Lyme disease.

I never got into using any of the preventatives for fear of long term effects and instead I would just check myself every night when I got home. This is the only true way to stop from having to deal with Lyme is if you can get them off you within the day. Even if you do use a preventative then you still need to be checking yourself anyway.

 

[Block]

Man they are so bad April/May... between them and the rattlers,, you gota watch it! I have “heard” that the tick has to be embedded in you a minimum of 24-48 hours to transmit lime but I have no idea if that’s true!

 

[Bbrinks]

I’ve had good luck with the Martin’s concentrate for the last couple years. I haven’t used any, but I’ve always heard to avoid the petroleum based ones due to the odor it leaves. If you want something more permanent, you can look at clothes that have the permethrin impregnated in like insect shield or craghoppers nosilife (my fav) to name a couple.

 

[fish impaler]

Got Lyme from a tick bite I never even noticed. Presumably during California Azone archery , got really sick for a week. Went away then joint pain started in the fall, took a while to get my dr to test for it, but came back positive. A month of doxy got rid of pretty much all symptoms for me, going on 6 years now.

 

[manitou1]

Almost died from blood poisoning from a tick. I hate those things.
Permetherin will probably be the end of me.

 

[SoDaky]

Lymes ruined my wife's life-and I lost my best hunting partner.She has suffered a couple decades now.Brutal disease.BRUTAL!
I would use permetherin on all your exterior clothes and boots and check yourself after every day in the field.

 

[Coldtrail]

It is really important to jump on it early, it can be nasty battle. Here in WI if you go to the Dr with flu like symptoms and spend a lot of time in the woods, many of them will immediately start you on Doxy.

I raise hunting dogs and even with the tick preventative they all test positive for Lyme's and anaplasmosis later in life but many times don't show the symptoms. I also know of 3 people that battled Lyme's that later contacted ALS....no proof there is a connection but???

 

[FLAK]

Pulled one off of my Nether Regions the other day after a fishing trip.
He was only slightly attached. Just goes with the program of being
outdoors. Just don't let them stay too long.
On a side note: I once pulled off 17 after a morning of Turkey hunting.
THAT did freak me out.

 

[MuleDeerMike]

Soak everything in permethrin, then soak it again! I use it every year and have never had a tick get under my clothes, my hunting partners don't use it and are pulling ticks off themselves all the time during turkey season. The stuff flat out works and is safe unless you have a cat, then it can harm them when it is wet but is okay after it's dry.

 

[Leatherneck]

I've had a few. Actually walked into a tick bomb once. I was wearing blaze orange on upper body and saw a small patch of something. Kept on looking at it from time to time and realized it was spreading outwards. Pretty sure they were in the larvae state - extremely small with naked eye. No matter how hot, I now wear light colored, cool long underwear like lightweight Capilene when I walk into the woods. I tuck my bottoms into my socks and my top into my underwear bottoms. I'm now going to start using Pemethrin and Picaridin. I'm worried DEET will eat all the synthetic stuff I have.

 

[Shootinsurveyor]

Another 20 year land surveyor here. Our company bought us permethrin treated pants and tops. I wear knee high rubber boots that get treated also. Pretty good combo. I wear the shirts even when home as a tucked in shirt that kills ticks really drops the numbers. Even wore them during Montana archery season because I don't feel right in the woods without them. Spraying the clothes doesn't work as well as soaking, but better than nothing. I remember when our best defense was tucking our pants and shirts in and hoping to feel the ticks on the back of our neck.

 

[Hill Difficulty]

So I went on a hike after work on Friday afternoon. On Saturday evening I found a tick lodged in my back. I was able to carefully remove it and followed up with the doctor today to take a dose of antibiotics as a precaution against Lyme disease. I know spring is always worse than summer with regard to ticks.

Do you guys worry about ticks and do you get bit often? What is your protocol for dealing with them - particularly if you find one on you?

I usually give myself a good look over, but this one was a nymph and very hard to see. I also tend to use permethrin as a spray but did not this time.

Any suggestions? It honestly makes me think twice about going into the woods this time of year. I hate ticks!

What kind of tick was it?

If not a deer tick, no worries. Was it tiny, black legs with orange/red rump? Was its front end buried in your skin?

If a deer tick, there's a rule of thumb that goes something like this: On the west coast, less than 10% carry the bacteria...on the east coast, can be as much as 50% of ticks can infect.

10% is a favorable starting point for avoiding most things you don't want, and if not a deer tick, 0% chance is even better.

 

[davescarp]

if you have lone star ticks, they are super bad news too. they don't transmit lyme but tuleremia and and give you an allergy to red meat. FAaaack if I get that...