By Tim H. Martin | Buckmasters Tip Editor
I hate ticks probably more than any creature on earth.
As a lifelong outdoorsman, I have tweezed, nail-polished, burned, smothered and popped more of these horrid creatures than I can count. Why in the world God invented ticks in the first place is a mystery to me.
During turkey season last year, I reached down in the middle of the night and felt a tiny deer tick burrowed into the side of my calf. Immediately, I woke up and spent the next 30 minutes trying to remove the thing with a cotton ball-and-soap method. It refused to back out and was so slippery that my tweezers couldn’t take hold.
Eventually, the head popped off and I flushed the remnants down the toilet. I tried to go back to sleep — no dice — and I scratched at the festering embedded head for about a month.
When I saw a video on my Facebook feed featuring a little device called a Tick Twister, I knew I had to share it with Buckmasters’ fans.
The tiny tool looked like a miniature crowbar. The fork simply slid around the tick’s head and the handle was given two or three quick spins. The ticks in the video came out in a couple of seconds, head and all! You’ll find this video link at the bottom of the page.
Knowing my fellow deer hunters and outdoors people would appreciate an easy way to remove ticks, I contacted O’TOM, the makers of Tick Twister.
Here’s what you need to know about the Tick Twister:
• Works on humans, horses, dogs and pets.
• Removal is painless and works in seconds.
• Tick’s head and mouth parts are completely removed.
• Does not compress the tick’s abdomen, minimizing the transfer of infectious agents such as Lyme disease, Babesiosis, etc.
• Works on all sizes of ticks.
Tick Twister retails for about $6 (2-pack), so I will be keeping one in my hunting truck emergency kit and one in my medicine cabinet at home. You can find them in the pet section of most stores.
Website:
www.ticktwister.com
Instructions:
www.ticktwister.com/info.html
Tick Twister Youtube Video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jIoCTWYJsvo
If you have a unique or special tip you’d like to share with Buckmasters fans, please email it to huntingtips@buckmasters.com and, if chosen, we will send you a cap signed by Jackie Bushman, along with a knife!
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