Tick Control for Turkey Season

After the major weather events across the country this winter, it’s safe to say we’re all looking forward to spring turkey season; sunrises, the great outdoors, and lots of gobbles are probably on your mind. You’re probably not thinking much about a tick-borne illness hitting you smack in the middle of the season. But, for many of us in the midwest and eastern part of the US, tick illness prevention is becoming somewhat of a staple in our hunting kits. If you’ve never gotten a tick-borne illness, chances are you know someone who has. The list of junk these little buggers carry seems to get longer every year… Anaplasmosis, Ehrlichiosis, Lyme Disease, Tularemia, Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever…As a born-and-raised midwesterner who’s had more than a few run-ins with ticks over the years, I’ve compiled a list of methods that seem to cut down on the number of ticks that I have to remove from my clothing and body.

1. Clothing choice: cover your body, tuck your pants into your socks, tuck in your shirt.
   
2. Natural Repellant: the beauty of turkey season is that you don’t have to worry too much about scent, which means you can use products like Cedarcide or Wondercide on your clothing to repel ticks and other bugs.
   
3. Permethrin: this is arguably your best bet for clothing treatment in any season. It cannot be applied directly to your skin. Not only does it repel ticks, but it kills them too. Once this treatment is applied to your clothing, it generally lasts for a while.
   
4. Checks: always check your clothing and body after getting out of the woods and before getting in your vehicle. Recheck again when you get home. Recheck again when showering. This is the best way to find and remove any ticks before they’ve attached for too long.

Good luck this tick season!