Last year, for the first time I ran into a bunch of these ticks. At least once with hundreds, if not thousands, of them all over me (I’d say about elbow level and down). The first time I ran into them I didn’t even realize it was ticks because I was in the middle of an exciting hunt chasing elk. A couple of days later, I had a few dozens of bites, mostly around the waist area, upper torso, and ankles. I asked some questions on the forum and posted some very good info in the thread last year, much appreciation to ticdoc for the info provided. Here is the thread:
http://www.outdoorsmenforum.ca/showthread.php?t=389044
So last year was very rainy (probably one of the rainiest summers I can remember), which was ideal conditions for these little parasites to flourish and wait for their time come September, to find a host and torture some moose. This year, the summer was a complete opposite: extremely dry and
very hot, so I thought I wouldn’t get to see them this fall when hunting.
Fast forward to past Saturday. I finally got to go hunting the bush for the first time and guess what? I collected a bunch of these little ****ers on me again. No real action as far as elk went, but these really just reduced my outing experience by a lot. Oh well, what are you going to do.
So the next day, on Sunday, I went to the valley for round two. Before heading for a hunt, I stopped by Walmart to pick up some bug spray, just in case, since some suggested last year it works and keeps these little things away. In Walmart, I actually saw something called tick repellent that looked like this:
I figured that it must better than bug spray since it is designed to keep the ticks away, so I grabbed a bottle and away I went.
Even less elk action on Sunday, but guess what? You guessed it, the ****ing things are all over me again. Even more this time than the day before. I didn’t spray myself right away (I hate these sprays myself and guessing the smell doesn’t help bush hunting either). But once I caught the first “bunch”, I did and did so liberally.
I guess, at this point one needs to understand what these little (insert f word) do. When their time comes, they climb up the vegetation and just sit there waiting for something, preferably a moose, to pick them up for a ride that lasts all winter long, during which they torture the animal, in some cases killing the host. I am sure most of you saw the half-naked moose in the winter. This is what they look like while waiting for their ride:
Disgusting, right? Not my pic, I borrowed it from a CBC article. I didn’t get to see this kind of thing myself, though I am sure I would if I paid more attention. So they sit there and wait. The grab on to the first thing that passes by and then it looks like this:
Sometimes, they are closer together before they spread out. That’s on my pants when I noticed the first contact. So, they just get attached to whatever passes by, so of course the spray wouldn’t prevent that. But sure should make them drop off, right? Lol. Wrong! Here are my pants about 6-7 hours after I liberally sprayed myself (not sure how well one can see this on a computer screen, but on the phone it zooms in quite “nicely”):
Don’t mind the large brown spots (evolution of my hunting pants often begins as a part of my office outfit and once not suitable for that, they go for house work, hunting, etc). I spilled some paint on myself earlier this year, lol. But notice all those tiny dots. Yep, ticks, everyone of them. And lots of them. Like I said, this is 6-7 hours after spraying myself with that thing and 4-5 hours after coming back home and getting undressed in the garage. By that time, they spread a bit and moved on to the surroundings (in particular, a door I recently painted that I dropped my pants on):
And elsewhere from my shirt and other clothing:
So… the reason for this thread is… what the heck do I do to keep them out? They are really ruining my hunts. Yesterday (Sunday) was nasty! They seemed to be everywhere I went. Definitely more of them than last year and I found them
much higher up the valley than where they were last year. There are some serious hills in the valley that sometimes require you to grab on to a some vegetation to climb up. I found my hands covered with them after doing so a couple of times. The so-called repellent didn’t do squat. I really don’t use that much of “bad” language in life, not in English anyway, but if I wrote this thread using the words that even remotely describe how I feel, I would get banned immediately, no doubt about it.
So far, I can only see/feel a few bites on myself. Last year, they took a couple of days to appear and a couple more days to start itching like crazy (for about a month!). So I didn’t even get hit with the Sunday stuff yet. Hopefully, there aren’t many. Frankly, while their bites are extremely annoying and inconvenient, it’s the ticks all over you what bugs me most. They are really screwing with my head, distracting, and outright ruining what otherwise would be excellent and enjoyable outings. Even if there is no elk action I am looking for. For example, today in the am, I found a bunch of elk in the field, followed them down the valley, called in a bunch of cows and spikes (a bunch were no more than 15-20 yards from me), the bull bugled close by but never came within my sight and then kept moving down. Once we hit the point where I knew there are ticks there, I stopped short and went home. I guess I had enough the two previous days. Beyond frustration.
Funny enough, like I mentioned, I hate bug sprays. Usually the point where I reach for one, many would be reaching for a gun to end the misery, lol. But these ****ers are really getting to me.
So… without further rambling, does anyone know how to keep these nasty little things off? I don’t care if they catch on, but would really like them to drop off shortly after.
Any advice would appreciated!