Need advice on mosquitos

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springmom

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This afternoon's hunt, unlike the morning, was an exercise in misery, because Sam Houston National Forest is simply alive with mosquitoes. This morning they were all dormant or wherever mosquitos go when it's 40 degrees, but by early afternoon? :what: DH went to retrieve his tree stand and I went down "my" path, where I was hunting this morning before going to help DH track.

At any rate, I made it maybe 75 feet down the trail and was suddenly engulfed in a cloud of mosquitos, and I was swatting, flapping, and rubbing away biting bugs for the next 45 minutes. Finally I gave up. With my chronic illness, the last thing I need is anything that triggers my immune response (like a zillion mosquito bites, for instance), or West Nile virus :uhoh: Not to mention that all those gyrations weren't exactly going to aid me in sneaking up on a deer, LOL.

They even bit me through my camo slacks!!! These things were determined!!!

So: what do you all use for mosquito repellant in the woods? Can't smell like Off, and if these things can get through camo, regular netting on my head and gloves on my hands will help but won't solve the problem. ARE there any hunter-friendly (scentless) mosquito repelllants? Or am I just going to have to hope that Bambi likes the smell of DEET :rolleyes:

Looking forward to your ideas!!!

Springmom the scratching :barf:
 
its probably not the best thing but if im going to be in a buggy area i always make sure that i stand really close to the fire and get lots of smoke onmy clothes. Bugs dont seem to bother me too much when i stink like woodsmoke.
I figure smoke is a better scent then deet.
 
Gee, Up here were not having any problems......:D

The best stuff has 99.9% Deet...

Or go hunting with a bunch of friends and hope they do not have the 99.99% Deet. Then the bugs will leave you alone.....
 
Garlic indeed works, but it also keeps the opposite sex from allowing you near after the hunt! :uhoh:

I like the product marketed by the name Sawyer's Maxi-Deet. It doesn't have much of an odor at all. Most all other brands use perfumes and other smelly chemicals.

ETA: I know you probably meant eating the Garlic to make yourself smell foul to the mosquitos or to make your blood taste foul to them. Personally, I cant stand the taste of raw garlic enough to get any pest repellent benefits from it.
 
A co-worker used to swallow dozens of garlic pills for health benefits. He smelled just like an old Italian restaurant I used to love as a kid. Everytime we were in the same room for any amount of time, my stomach started growling.:D
 
That's odd... I didn't notice any mosquitos up here in Massachusetts yesterday. And I don't expect any today, what with last night's 29 degree temperature!
 
Garlic does work great and you don't have to reek of it. The trick is to get a garlic tablet that is properly extracted and prepared. Not all garlic products are equal and this can get a little complicated.
The other thing is the mention of a chronic health problem? All parasitic organisms favor a weakened host over a healthy one. Anybody with poorly controlled blood sugar levels is great mosguito bait. Any chronic illness makes you more vulnerable. My wife and I are very health conscious and don't eat processed food or junk food. I also will not use DEET or any other toxic chemical on my skin. I haven't used OFF or anything in years, not even applied to my clothing. I fish with a guy that is a Type II diabetic and his end of the boat swarms with mosquitos and I rarely get a bite.
 
You ain't seen nothin'. You should try hunting Aransas Nat'l Wildlife Refuge in bow season. My place ain't too far from that refuge as the crow flies, same habitat, and B52s for mosquitos, hungry little devils. I'm just sorta used to 'em, usually forget the deep woods off. I have a head net to keep 'em away from my face and ears, the main thing that bugs me, no pun intended. I also have camo net gloves to keep 'em off my hands. They'll bite through jeans, but I usually have waders on if it's wet and the skeeters are the worst when it's wet of course.

It's beginning to dry up down there, finally, but we're supposed to get rain tomorrow...:banghead:
 
Georgia bowseason in Sept is just as brutal. First time I bowhunted in Georgia I thought I'd tough it out and not use any bug spray. 2 hours into the hunt I threw in the towel. I swear I was 2 quarts low on blood when I got back to the truck.

I used several methods to curtail the darn vampires. First, I used a spray called Permanone, (sp) from Wal Mart. Haven't seen it in a while though so I don't know if they still carry it. Its in the camping section. You hang your hunting clothes out on a line and spray them down until they are lightly damp. Allow to dry and for God's sake, dont spray a head net if you use one. The Permanone (sp) does not leave behind any detectible odor so its pretty safe to use for close in hunting. We also used a spray called Everglades bug spray with 90% deet. This stuff worked great but will take off paint from a bow handle if you get it on your glove/hand and then grab your bow. The skeeters hated it.

Using this method kept them at bay. I also had a bugtamer suit that worked great but the buggers will still get you in the arm/leg bends where they could reach your skin.

Nothing like having a cloud of bugs around you buzzing all morning long.
 
The "bugtamer" suits, gloves and headnets work well. I use these for when it's really hot. You can soak these suits in water before wearing to keep even cooler.

When the weather is cooler, I wear a heavy canvas shirt with doubled shoulders, a pair of milspec trousers, with doubled seat and knees, and a boonie hat with a mesh face mask. Anywhere the material is pressed tight to your skin, it needs to be doubled, or the bugs will bite through it. I buy a set of loose jersey gloves for my hands, or wear the bugtamer mittens. I use scent free deet around my eyes in small amounts where the face mask doesn't cover. I've also had luck with the bugtamer facemask, but I like the better visibility of the traditional facemask.

The second option is to choose your parents better, next time. My ex-wife was part Cherokee and bugs never bothered her. :D

Outdoor World was selling some "Scent Shield" odorless repellent, but I haven't tried any yet. I just look for odorless and deet. The type I'm using this year was made by Cutters.

Nothing can ruin a hunt as quickly as being eaten alive. Having been eaten alive more than once, I sympathise. We've got bridges around here that if you drive across them at night, you need to stop and clean your windshield on the otherside, for safeties sake. People say if all the mosquitoes on Hatteras Island landed at the same time, it would sink the island. I don't know about that. :D

Good Luck
 
I complain about getting too cold when hunting in the Ohio winter. I'm sure I'll take the cold compared to the warmth and mosquitoes. During the summer to ward away those pests and ticks I use a lotion called REPEL LEMON EUCALYPTUS. The scent is pleasant (kinda lemony) and it's not sticky or greasy. But, it does have a scent. However, in your case, what do you have to lose. Give it a try and work downwind. Good luck.
 
I'm just the opposite. I complain about 100 degree weather in the early bowseason (Sept) here. But, I'll take the heat over the blood suckers anyday.:)
 
You could try spraying your hunting clothing with Permethrin. The military issues it for deploying troops, but I'm sure you can get it commerically as well. The portable Theracell units seem to work pretty well if you are sitting in one spot.
 
Thanks, all!

I had to laugh about the garlic....whenever DH eats too much of the stuff I have threatened to ban him to the couch. He, um, processes it VERY effectively. TOO effectively!!! :neener:

Herbal scents, lemony scents, and yes, garlic, ought to be stuff that a deer isn't going to recognize as "human scent" and shouldn't be a problem. Where I'm hunting, I'm VERY close in. Walking that path yesterday, I could hear the deer I'm after off to my left. Bet you a loaf of garlic bread he wasn't more than 25 yards away at most. I could hear him working those antlers against a tree....but swatting and flapping and worrying about the inflammation that too many bites triggers (yes, the chronic illness is a factor, because I can have an overall inflammatory reaction and be sick as a dog and back on prednisone :fire: :banghead: ), well, it was time to just get out of Dodge and try again another day.

That's ok, as the saying goes, I know where he lives :neener:

Y'all are the bomb. Thanks for all the responses. I appreciate it.

Springmom
 
I always figured that deer react to any smell that is different. For a deer, different = bad. I always work the wind, so I don't worry about what I smell like, or what OFF might mean to a deer. I figure any deer that's downwind of me is gonna practice being somewhere else, anyhow...

Art
 
Art you summed it up pretty good!

FYI mosquitoes are attracted to you by CO2 I am told from your breath. So you could try quitting breathing, that aside Deet is the answer or come hunt up here in the fall. No moquitoes but lots of rain...

Take Care

Bob
 
Robert's right, Mosquitoes sense CO2 and find their meals that way.

I hunt in East Texas in the "bottom" of our lease. Low area, criss-crossed with creeks, lots of mosquitoes. On cold mornings they arn't that bad, but evening hunts are unbearable. However, I find that when you give them nothing to bite at (I wear a camo mask and shooting gloves) it makes it much more tolerable. However, then you have to deal with them buzzing around outside your mask right next to your ear. It gets annoying after a while.

I don't like using sprays. However, I did find that my aftershave lotion (Long story short, party was canceled right as I got ready, so I grabbed my gun and went to my treestand) kept them off rather nicely.
 
I dunno, I am kinda like Art.

I smoke, drink coffee, and the farm/ ranch trucks have a scent deer and game are used to. :D

During Dove season, I did not use any OFF or anything for Skeeters, we did use it for ticks and such, especially for the kids.

Now folks are going to laugh, my First trip to Canada, I was the only one using Garlic. Guide said the Skeeters were attracted to DEET and the color of blue.
I kid you not, folks slathered on DEET dope and looked like they had Chicken Pox the first day. That DEET was not used the rest of that 9 day outing by them. We checked in with Ranger Stations every third day, and the first Ranger (grinning) "Youze guyz want some garlic?" . They sure did, as I was afraid I was going to run out sharing mine along with the guide sharing his.

I am wearing blue jean cutt offs, and my light jacket was blue. I really did not have a problem like the others did with skeeters. The guide was using Garlic too, and some other herb.

My Next trip, I wore Kahki cutt offs, light jacket, - NO blue, used garlic, and even the black flies were not as bad. I was 16 on this 2nd trip, and say what you want, but the cheap cigars I fired up while portaging, did a lot to help too.

The Ladies from Outward Bound we met on my first trip, shared the tip about the cheap cigars while portaging. I mean good lookers too.

Hey I was 15, when a good looking honey guide about 25 years old says cigars work, in a yellow bikini, while fishing for Pike, I pay attention. :D

Same lady, ( they camped near us one night) Michigan gal, that the next morning I watch use woodscraft skills to get so close to an Elk , she could have poked it with a stick. No camo, just khaki shorts, gray T shirt, 'Nam Jungle boots ( we all wore these, being in and out of water) and she whispered "morning" and the Elk took off.

I'm from the South, and here I am in Canada, with Yankee Guides sharing the same tips as back home.

Skeeters are attracted to Smore's. So what? The Smore's were worth it. *grin*
 
Yeah, well, I may carry concealed, I may shoot trap and skeet and targets, and I may hunt...

...but I am NOT going to smoke cigars. :what: :neener: :neener: Ewwwww.

I have to make a run to the grocery store later today. I'll browse through the pharmacy section for garlic tablets. And definitely will get the camo head net and gloves. Don't think I'll go for the $26 stuff, I'd be more likely to get the local Avon lady to get me some Skin-So-Soft, it's supposed to work too, although heaven only knows why.

But no, not gonna light up cigars! :barf: :barf: :barf:

Springmom
 
thermacell is a little device that heats repellent strips, you just set next to you and the skeeters wont come with in 20ft. and no smell to spook game.
 
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