What do you all do to fight the ticks during spring

[Luked]

What do you all that Spring bear hunt do to fight the ticks.
That is prbably the one thing that keeps me out of the woods during spring.

 

[Felix40]

Spray down your clothes with permethrin. I just spent two weeks in the South Georgia woods without a single tick. Almost everyone I was with had to pull off a few.

 

[2muchhp]

That is the only thing that I have found the even remotely works.

 

[Mighty Mouse]

I'm not a spring bear hunter, but I'm outdoors a lot year round in the Ozarks and permethrin has worked very well for me. I toss several sets of pants/socks/shirt in a bucket of diluted farm store permethrin in the spring, let them soak for a few hours, then hang them up to air dry. I usually retreat them again mid-summer. If you make your own permethrin mixture, be aware that the versions with "petroleum distillates" on the label will likely leave behind a diesel-like odor.

 

[LookinforDirt]

Permethrin. Been using it the last three years for spring Turkey and have had only one tick on me. And I think that was because I wasn't wearing OTC socks. Treat everything you will wear.
Picaridin. Even with Permethrin treated clothes I'll still spray Picaridin on my boots and knees to bottom of pants. Sometimes around my waist too.
Over the calf socks. Also treated in Permethrin.
Rubber boots. Not always an option if you will be walking steep terrain or for miles on end.

 

[Stave]

I use permethrin spray by Sawyer on boots, socks, pants and shirt. No ticks for 5 weeks (wearing in the woods 2-3 days a week)

 

[samuela]

I dislike bug spray, but I've had success with long, light layers.

At the risk of stating the obvious, long lightweight wool socks and long pants with gaiters or even a rubber band around the ankle work pretty well. Up top I'll wear a long sleeve, close fitting, tucked in shirt. Depending on the weather, you might have to search for the right materials that stay cool.

If it helps, ticks are usually slow to transmit disease. So if you tick check regularly there isn't a high risk.

 

[mtnbiker208]

I just pick them off, but i am in north idaho.
Found one on the scale a couple of days ago.

 

[Stave]

I know more and more people hospitalized for 1+ weeks and/or living with red meat allergy due to tick bites. So for me, in KY, permethrin is worth it. It is odorless too.

 

[ledflight]

Permetherin works, you can add piccardin lotion on your skin around entry points for them.

 

[yfarm]

Permethrin and tick gaiters= no tick bites

Tick and Chigger Gaiters

Tick Gaiters. Keep ticks and chiggers away with Tick and Chigger Gaiters. Great for outdoor activities and adventures. Shop now at Gemplers!

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[lifeisgoodsteve]

Agree with others. My routine is:

• Sawyer permethrin spray on long pants, shirts, shoes, cap, backpack
• Look sexy by tucking pants into socks (chicks dig it by the way), so they can't crawl up the skin of my legs
• Take off clothes right away when home and keep separate (have found a tick in laundry hamper before, so not separate), washing as soon as I can
• Shower / check for ticks without waiting too long after coming home
• Cut my hair especially short below the cap, as I once had 3 ticks in my hair that I picked out on the 10 minute drive home from my hike.

I admit that they gross me out, but this has worked pretty darn well so far. Before doing this on a local 1 mile up and down training hike I'd do, sometimes I'd pick off my pants literally 20 ticks after just the first 1/2 mile.

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[TaperPin]

I know more and more people hospitalized for 1+ weeks and/or living with red meat allergy due to tick bites. So for me, in KY, permethrin is worth it. It is odorless too.

We have a family member that developed a red meat allergy while in the Carolinas - it really does screw up family meals. Lol They are a couple years in so we were hoping it would fade away, but a recent test shows not much has changed.

Over the years out west I’ve known a few people who gave up red meat and it didn’t seem like the kind of thing they would do - makes me wonder if they picked up a tick on vacation to one of the places with the ticks that cause it.

 

[sneaky]

I have a good friend who has the alpha gal allergy. It's been 6 years or more I guess. It really does wreck your world.

Sent from my SM-S918U using Tapatalk

 

[Carr5vols]

If you don't care about scent diesel works well...

 

[roosiebull]

What do you all that Spring bear hunt do to fight the ticks.
That is prbably the one thing that keeps me out of the woods during spring.

2 things have helped me a lot… sawyers (permethrin) and exposure to ticks.

I used to really get effected by them, didn’t stop me from going, but I was always paranoid

Over time I’ve just accepted that they are thick in the spring and me being paranoid didn’t help anything, so now I don’t care much… I treat everything with sawyers a couple times a spring, and stay aware, but I don’t get all itchy all day after finding one crawling on me, they just don’t bother me much anymore after a bunch of exposure to them

Can’t be scared of the local wildlife… I have always said that and then realized ticks fall into that category

 

[pirogue]

I just pick them off,

That’s probably what most people, who didn’t grow up in the city, have done all thier life. But if you want to spray or soak clothes, I would recommend to consider this:
Products like Sawyer only contain .5% Permethrin and cost anywhere from .50 to a dollar/ounce. Go online and get a 32 oz bottle of Martin’s Permethrin SFR for about $1.25/ounce. SFR basically means it is 36.8% Permethrin. Where I went to school, the mix of 1 oz Permethrin to 24 oz water, would yield a content of 1.47% Permethrin( almost 3 times content of Sawyer). At this same ratio, the 32 oz bottle will make 6 gallons of mix. Or, put 6 2/3 oz of Permethrin SFR in a gallon jug, top off with water, and you have a 2% content. I soak my pants in this, and they claim it’s good for a few washes. Also, 3 1/3 oz per gallon of water yields 1% and will take care of a lot of fire ant beds.

 

[Jpsmith1]

That’s probably what most people, who didn’t grow up in the city, have done all thier life. But if you want to spray or soak clothes, I would recommend to consider this:
Products like Sawyer only contain .5% Permethrin and cost anywhere from .50 to a dollar/ounce. Go online and get a 32 oz bottle of Martin’s Permethrin SFR for about $1.25/ounce. SFR basically means it is 36.8% Permethrin. Where I went to school, the mix of 1 oz Permethrin to 24 oz water, would yield a content of 1.47% Permethrin( almost 3 times content of Sawyer). At this same ratio, the 32 oz bottle will make 6 gallons of mix. Or, put 6 2/3 oz of Permethrin SFR in a gallon jug, top off with water, and you have a 2% content. I soak my pants in this, and they claim it’s good for a few washes. Also, 3 1/3 oz per gallon of water yields 1% and will take care of a lot of fire ant beds.

I would have some concerns about the possibility of toxicity at concentrations 3 to 4 times as high as recommended.

You do you, but 0.5% works extremely well and stretches that concentrate even further.

I make my own to 0.5% concentration in a garden sprayer and hose my gear down 2 or 3 times a year.

 

[Turkeytider]

Permetherin works, you can add piccardin lotion on your skin around entry points for them.

I`m adding piccardin on exposed skin to permethrin on clothes this year for turkey season.
The most dangerous thing in the woods is no bigger than the tip of your little finger.

 

[ledflight]

Permethrin and tick gaiters= no tick bites

Tick and Chigger Gaiters

Tick Gaiters. Keep ticks and chiggers away with Tick and Chigger Gaiters. Great for outdoor activities and adventures. Shop now at Gemplers!

gemplers.com

You can made your own version, too. Use the top of an old sock turned inside out, for example. Something doused in permetherin that they have to crawl through will work.