tick repellent hunting clothes

Has anyone had experience with these. I've seen a commercials for two brands. Sounds like a good idea, on the other hand it is a concept that can go bogus in a hurry. I would think whatever makes them tick repellent washes out quickly. I'm sure some areas or the country tick's are a concern, in jersey they are. I've avoided Lyme's disease thus far and would like to keep it that way. I sat down under a tree in the december deer season and seconds later they were falling from the tree on me like sleet,i could hear them bouncing off my hat and my shotgun! Any help i could get to keep these critters off would be nice

Most of them are just treated with permethrin. It washes out eventually, but you can retreat it pretty easily. I buy normal (non-repellant) outdoor clothes and treat them all with the Sawyer spray-type permethrin. It's not a repellant, but it kills bugs pretty quickly upon contact. Used in conjuction with a DEET-based bug spray, you shouldn't have too many problems.

Apparently permethrin is toxic to cats when wet, so wait for it to dry before putting treated clothing on your cat ;)

Deet seems to be the store favorite, probably because of its effectveness against mosquitos. As mentioned above, Permethrin can stay active even after washing and is much more effective against ticks. Look for it on the label under "active ingredients". There are several product names that contain permethrin. Permanone is one that comes to mind. Follow the instructions when you use it, avoid contact when wet.

I've always heard to wear panty hose, but I was never secure enough in my sexuality to try it. :D

I wear tall boots, overlap long socks over my pant ends, and tuck my pants into my boots. Regardless of what you do, you always need to check. Damn ticks love crawling into the groin area :X

I dont know if any of the clothing or repellants work that well. Ticks are terrible this year in the midwest. As a precaution every year when I have a physical I have my doc check off the lyme disease test when drawing blood for everything else. Does not cost anymore and I know the test is not fool proof either but did come back positive once and I treated it quickly with some strong but rough antibiotics.

Reliability/accuracy of the standard ELISA test for lyme disease is poor and CDC requirements for a dx are worse. There is a lot of disagreement and I expect Lyme D. to become a much bigger issue in the next few years.
The IGENEX Western Blot is regarded as a better test but cost is considerably higher and most insurance carriers are following CDC and not willing to pay for testing or treatment outside of that sad parameter.

Yes, I agree. My insurance carrier does cover the Western Blot Test. Even if they did not I would pay for it if I suspected a deer tick bite. But in my opinion, any test is better than none at all. Even a false positive would turn on a light bulb for your physician.

One of my young employees and her husband (both under 30) were finally diagnosed with Lyme after a couple of years of strange and painful issues and illnesses. Unknowingly they had been carrying for years and having a really hard time right now.

We are having a bad year for ticks already in Illinois. I use DEET on clothing and strip and shower and check for ticks after spending any time outdoors. We lost a dog to LD last year in an area that the CDC does not include in their LD distribution zone. Funny thing about a disease like Lyme, if the CDC says its not in this area, the doctors don't test for it. If they don't test for it, they don't identify it. If they aren't identifying and reporting it,mthen the CDC says it can't be here. The veterinarians are ahead of the medical profession when it comes to LD and tick-born diseases.

I walk in a lot of CRP that is lousy with ticks, you can scrape them off your chlothes by the handfull, I will douse myself in DEET, I also wear dog flea and tick collers around my ankles, that seems to make a difference as well.

I understand. I have a small hunting farm in Illinois and the ticks are so bad that I did not even go into the woods looking for morels this year. The deer ticks that carry lime are so small you can hardly seem them until the target circle appears about a day or two later.

I came down with both Anaplasmosis and Lyme Disease at the same time a few years ago. Never had a bullseye mark appear and my test came back negative all three times they tested for it. Not a fun time.

You get some strange looks in the middle of a 90 degree day outside and you're bundled up in a winter jacket, shorts, a heavy blanket, and have a few fans blowing on you :rolleyes:

permethrin for sure!
Also get some sulpher and put it in a sock and use it to dust yourself.

The bullseye rash only appears in about 50% of cases of LD. And a negative ELISA does not rule out LD. So how may cases of LD are missed or misdiagnosed?
Documentary video titled "Under Our Skin" gives a frightening view of the current LD epidemic and the failures of current CDC and mainstream medical positions.
I used to be very casual about tick exposure. Not anymore.

It definitely does pay to go see an MD who is familiar with LD. The first doctor I saw was in a little clinic, and he gave his suspicions as to what it he transfered me over to a doctor who in well educated in the area. That doctor had barely walked into the room before he knew what was wrong and began treatment.

So lucky me, I only had to deal with 9 days of hell (and it really is, take my word on it).

I've stopped turkey hunting because they eat loads of ticks.

After my dog and I have both had two bouts of Lyme apiece, I can safely say that you can't even necessarily avoid it even if you stay out of the woods; but if you spend as much time as we do in the CT woods, you will get it soon if you haven't already.

These days i prefer BDU style pants with draw string ankles and high boots with tight tops. Spray a good dose of DEET on you pant cuffs after everything is tucked in. If you sit down outside, in the stand, etc, tuck in your shirt...and NEVER sit in a pile of wet leaves (where they breed and take cover from the sun on hot days).

My dog wears Advantix. More expensive than Frontline, but that didn't cut it.

You have to watch the DEET it can cause problems, it's accumlative and the body retains what it absorbs,you can poison yourself if you use too much. Children are very succeptible because of small body mass and can have symptoms,swelling of fingers toes, splotching,sever itching rash etc.

I used to use 100% DEET when I could find it, and finally OD'ed while on a summer over night white water kayak trip. Eyes swelled shut, nasal passages too, fingers the size of sausages.Lucky we had a RN in the group with a full kit and gave antihistimine, Benadryl to combat the swelling.

As previously, posted flowers of sulphur dusted around all openings, the permethrin spray on clothing, frequent inspection, and a rubdown of 90% isoproply after showering all help.

Just be carefull of the DEET!

thanks for the info guys. my follow up is this, after i apply the insect repellent, can i use a scent killer, or not.

Around here it's all public land, and it's pretty well hunted, the woods range from dense to inpenetrable in the cedars in the bottoms, it's very hard to purely play the wind. so it's important to keep your scent down. I'm not an accomplished hunter so i need all the help i can get. I had a pair of does within 20 feet of me last year, in itself that's a minor victory.

I'd like to pick some of those clothes up too. Ticks are HORRIBLE this year in Minnesota. I've already had 8 that I found while out on our land.

thanks for the info guys. my follow up is this, after i apply the insect repellent, can i use a scent killer, or not.
The permethrin will become odorless once it dries. As to whether or not the scent blocker will mask the effectiveness of the permethrin, your guess is as good as mine.

Sounds like you've found an area that provides pretty good potential for hunting. Take reasonable precautions and just go out and enjoy yourself.

They've reintroduced turkeys to our area, and they are thriving. hopefully that will put a dent in the bajillion ticks out there. Folks in more rural areas round here resorted to guinea hens. They are wreched annoying creatures, with little value other than eating ticks and acting like guard dogs.

I've been researching this for our company and have made the following recommendations.

DEET works well for flying insects, but is ineffective for ticks and chiggers.

Permethrin clothing treatments that can be purchased at sporting goods stores are effective and can go through 5-7 washes before having to be reapplied to the clothing to continue to be effective.

Insect Shield has developed a permethrin treatment that is very effective for 75 washes. Some of their commercial customers have told them that the clothing is effective to 100 washes. You may use consumer permethrin treatment after the Insect Shield treatment is no longer effective. Inset Shield provides the treatment for REI, Ex Officio, L.L. Bean and other well known companies as well as their own line of clothing.

I recommended that we provide an allowance for Insect Shield clothing for our field personnel working in heavy tick country because it ultimately turns out to be cheaper than buying spray clothing treatments.

I also recommended that our employees use a common lice shampoo used for children when showering after being out in tick habitat. Used as recommended for treating head lice it will also kill any tick that has gotten into a private dining spot. These lice shampoos contain...permethrin.

hso, interesting and very useful research. Thanks for posting!

hso - very nice tip on the lice shampoo. Looks like a few bottle will be finding their way home with me now!

HSO, thanks for the great info!

Where does one purchase permethrin, sporting goods stores, drugstores, veterinary supplies, ???

Amazon.com carries it just search Sawyer brand permetherin it comes in both aerosol cans and spray bottles.

thanks

Where does one purchase permethrin, sporting goods stores, drugstores, veterinary supplies, ???
Out here most all major sporting goods stores carry at least one permethrin based insecticide. Department stores most likely won't carry it although once I found the last can standing at Target.

So I could find it at Dicks Sporting Goods or Buckeye Outdoors? Since Dicks is adjacent to Petland(Mart) in the Polaris area I can check their pet supplies as well.

I wear light colored hiking shorts, that are cut just above the knees, a light colored shirt, and usually white crew socks, though I also wear them in black. Depending on how deep into the hardwood I'm to hike determines what type of headcover I wear, varying from a ball cap, to a wide brim, draped with a fine mosquito net.

I blast at least 25% DEET on my hiking boots, ankles, legs, trunk, neck, and arms and may even go with the 100% stuff if I'm going to be really into the bush, or if I'm going to be out there for longer then a few hours of exposure.

I personally, much prefer to wear hiking shorts, for several reasons, but primarily because it makes tick detection virtually automatic, and thats where 99% of them will be hitching their ride, on your legs, or ankles! Everyone I see do the complete body wrap method ends up bringing them home with them, and home is where they bite you! Typically, the blackleg tick requires about 24 hours to bite you, sometimes longer.

Wearing all that clothing makes it very easy for the ticks to get on board, without you knowing anything about it, to many places for them to just blend right in, especially the little bastards that are only about the size of a pin head. Now historically, in my climate(Northwest Wisconsin/Northeast Minnesota)ticks are mostly a problem in the spring, meaning they are most active between April and July, with activity dropping substantially by August, into September.

If you pay close attention, as I do, you're not going to get bit, but my system is exactly the opposite of what the "so-called" experts are advising. Its never made a lick of sense to me, to give the little parasitic bastards virtual unlimited riding/hiding space by wrapping yourself up as though you're a mummy. Bare legs insure that you are going to see what you feel, and in the ten years I've been down here from Alaska(Alaska has no ticks)I have yet to be bitten by the blackleg tick.

DEET works well for flying insects, but is ineffective for ticks and chiggers.



I agree with some of your conclusions, however this one is just plain wrong! Perhaps the percentage of DEET in the product you tested was minimal, the 25-35% and beyond products of "Deep Woods Off, and Cutter's" are superb at fending off the little fiends. I venture into the hardwood almost every day, often wearing nothing more then hiking shorts, hiking boots, a tee shirt and a ball cap, I've never not been completely satisfied with the results from DEET, even walking/wading through knee and waist high grasses around wetland, and bogs, I am completely satisfied with the protection afforded me by DEET.

So I could find it at Dicks Sporting Goods or Buckeye Outdoors?
Hey neighbor! I would expect Dicks to have it. If not, I got mine at Gander Mtn. in Hilliard, product name Ultrathon. The one I found at Target was called Permanone.

Feanor, I suppose you could go into the woods butt naked and they would still find some little crevice undetected. :uhoh: (not to mention dealing with the cursed briar :eek:). The highest concentration of ticks are found on deer trails, bodies of water, or any area frequented by birds or mammals. They often linger on the tips of tall grass blades waiting for a moving target to brush by, but will also fall from the limbs and leaves of tall trees. Like bed bugs, mosquitos and other parasitic insects, ticks often track CO2 (carbon dioxide) to locate their host. Humans and animals alike inhale oxygen and exhale high concentrations of CO2 with each breath. Warmed by body temperature your breath usually rises. Ticks dropping from the trees, or in the case of bed bugs from the ceiling, has led many people to believe mistakenly that they fly. -- Amazing how the Good Lord came up with that one!

Hey neighbor! I would expect Dicks to have it. If not, I got mine at Gander Mtn. in Hilliard, product name Ultrathon. The one I found at Target was called Permanone.

Feanor, I suppose you could go into the woods butt naked and they would still find some little crevice undetected. :uhoh: (not to mention dealing with the cursed briar :eek:). The highest concentration of ticks are found on deer trails, bodies of water, or any area frequented by birds or mammals. They often linger on the tips of tall grass blades waiting for a moving target to brush by, but will also fall from the limbs and leaves of tall trees. Like bed bugs, mosquitos and other parasitic insects, ticks often track CO2 (carbon dioxide) to locate their host. Humans and animals alike inhale oxygen and exhale high concentrations of CO2 with each breath. Warmed by body temperature your breath usually rises. Ticks dropping from the trees, or in the case of bed bugs from the ceiling, has led many people to believe mistakenly that they fly. -- Amazing how the Good Lord came up with that one!
The idea is to not bring them back with you, into your home! Ticks don't bite for at least 24 hours, that means virtually everyone who contracts lyme does so from a tick bite delivered to them from the comfort of their home! I'm in the woods every day, in the most tick infested of areas, a proper hat, light colored hiking clothes, DEET, and a disciplined regimen of physical inspection is all thats required. Its not difficult at all, to "NOT" get infected. To be infected, you have to bring them back with you, into your home. Do the math! :)

just saw the sawyer brand stuff at wall mart. 12oz bottle for less than ten bucks

thanks for the info guys. my follow up is this, after i apply the insect repellent, can i use a scent killer, or not.

Around here it's all public land, and it's pretty well hunted, the woods range from dense to inpenetrable in the cedars in the bottoms, it's very hard to purely play the wind. so it's important to keep your scent down. I'm not an accomplished hunter so i need all the help i can get. I had a pair of does within 20 feet of me last year, in itself that's a minor victory.

I checked the CDC map and feel for you guys up there with the LD issues. Down south it's just not that common. Personally I just wear a bug suit over everything else mainly for skeeters but they seem to work for ticks too. As far as the scent control thing goes don't panic over it. Yes it can bust a hunt but for the most part is kind of trivial and the old timers have been killing deer in red plaid flannel shirts that smelled of cigars and sweat for years without fail. So I don't think a little bug spray is gonna keep you from the deer.

funny you should mention the red plaid flannel. Both deer seasons this year that's what i had on. i december it was about 65 degrees. i had a red and black plaid flannel shirt and an orange vest and hat. I had a guy walk by me within 15 yards and not see me. i didn't make a peep just let him walk on.

in january, it was cold. a few of the days in the teens. i had practically everything i owned on, with a red and black plaid coat, orange belt to neck vest and an orange hat on. i had two kids walk up on me within 20 yards before they saw me. i had a guy walk within 20 yards of me look almost directly at me and never see me. on the last day of the season i had a fella walk within 10 yards of me and walk on, only to walk back by 5 minutes later, look directly at me, and not see me. i waited for him to get down the trail a bit to give him a "hey buddy" as he started to walk back. Startled the living daylights out of him. grabbed his chest and almost sat down. I haven't used a tree stand, i was either sitting on the ground or standing every time.


I think next year i am just going to get full camo, maybe they will see me. and not make a peep.

Let me tell you something, its not that big of a deal if you just get them off before they can bite, for Gods sake, the CDC people have half of these folks afraid to even touch them without rubber gloves on!

The people who are most vulnerable, are the old, infirm, and very young, in other words those that are least able to give themselves a good examination after exposure to ticks!

They won't kill ya by walking on you, they can't fly. And if you get them before they bite you they can't infect you. But deer ticks are several stages past nuisance here. The studies you see that mention "rural NJ" a good portion of them were taken in the area i live, hunt and hike. Knowing that several studies have proven that 50% of adult ticks in our area and better than 25% of nyph deer tickss carry the disease is reason for alarm. The adult deer ticks are small but you can see them fairly easily if your looking for them. about the size of a #2 pencil. the nyph sized ones are very small. maybe a third of that size. Saw a picture in a jersey paper that had roughly a hundred on a dime.

One of them is very hard to find.

I lived in Delaware for a long while and spent tons of time in outdoors. I always found ticks the worst in tall grass, if you are going to be moving through a meadow I would highly recommend wearing high rubber boots and tucking your pants inside them doughboy style. Ticks cant grab onto rubber boots as easily as they can grab onto your pants. Also take a minute after moving through unmowed grass to see if there are any ticks crawling up your pants or legs. Ticks will run towards your crotch as fast as they can, and it is much easier to catch them moving. Finally, get the Lyme disease vaccine.

The Ticks are also extremly bad here in Eastern N.C. this year. Luckily my wife is a pro at remove them from the animals (including me).

Dont discount them just because you live in the South East I just went through the nasty antibiotic regement my self 6 months ago. Came back from the woods after a weeks stay. A few days later I found a little bitty tick in the middle of a bullseye on the back of my thigh about the size of a dime.
For many years it has been my practice to shampoo head to toe with the dogs flea and tick shampoo whenI return from the woods. The tick I pulled was dead but aparently to late. Be careful out there folks LYME is no joke for sure.