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Tick Control for Deer Hunters
By Mark Melotik
The calendar may have just clicked into summer but if you’ve been living the outdoors lifestyle you know that ticks have been active for several months already. And will be for several more. And it makes no difference whether you live in our country’s southern or northern tier. Even in northern-tier Midwestern states, ticks are active and crawling for seven months or more yearly, and smart hunters everywhere will take precautions to prevent disease-carrying tick bites.
I’ve been lucky enough to avoid contracting the dreaded tick-borne Lyme disease over my hunting career, but not lucky enough to avoid a tick-caused illness. Just a few years ago, I was scouting a public big-woods area in northern Wisconsin with the help of some brushy overgrown two-tracks and a mountain bike, when I returned to the cabin to find a half-dozen ticks embedded in my skin.
After removing the larger, suspected wood ticks (versus the smaller Lyme-disease-carrying deer ticks) I thought I was good to go — and took a much-needed dip in the lake. Unfortunately, the broken skin caused by one of the tick bites helped me contract the bacterial skin infection cellulitis, a truly horrible experience. The resulting fever/pounding headaches/severe joint aches I dealt with soon after had me thinking I was on my death bed. Thankfully, a three-week stint of antibiotics cured me.
On that deer scouting trip just a few years ago, I mistakenly went afield without any form of tick repellent on my clothing, and won’t make that mistake again. I’ve had good luck with the Permethrin-based clothing, tent and gear spray offered by Sawyer, as well as the Equinox Guard Hoodie and Pant from Sitka. The lightweight clothing is permeated with something called Insect Shield — which is designed to repel mosquitoes, ticks, ants, biting flies, chiggers and midges (no-see-ums), and also to last through dozens of washings. I wear it during the spring turkey and early fall deer seasons, and on summer scouting/game camera missions.
Sawyer’s Permethrin spray has also worked as promised, but if you’re looking to save a few dollars there are other similar options. Recently while watching YouTube, I found a video on mixing up your own DIY Permethrin-based spray. In short, you can buy a relatively low-cost 10% solution of Permethrin in bulk and mix one ounce of it with 19 ounces of water. The result should be an effective clothing and gear spray for ticks at a mere fraction of the cost of commercial sprays. And you won’t be afraid to use it liberally, or run out too soon, before your next outdoor adventure.