I done a little scouting this afternoon and I remembered why I don't go in the woods this time of year. I got absolutely covered up in turkey mites. I was wearing shorts since I just wanted to check one spot real quick and luckily could feel them crawling up one leg...hundreds of them. I had sprayed down with OFF with 30% DEET. That was not enough! What have you guys found that will keep those little bastages off of you?
Ok so after I posted that I did a quick search on Turkey Mites. Turkey Mites are the larval stage of Lone Star Ticks and they look a lot like brown dog ticks but as far as i'm concerned all ticks look the same. What makes the lone star tick larvae so evil is what grnhd experienced from what I read. Unlike other ticks that only wait till adulthood to begin seeking out hosts these little monsters travel in huge packs and the only treatment is wearing the highest level DEET you can possibly stand and praying to God really helps. Because from what I read these little F'ers are bad news and ticks are getting ridiculously bad in recent years as it is.
Makes me not wanna go in the woods without being covered head to toe in bug spray Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD
I didn't know they were a larva stage of lone star ticks. We've always called them turkey mites. Thanks W-W. But they are bad news. The bite blisters up and itches till hell wouldn't have it. I remember one time I was riding my 4 wheeler in tall weeds and had my feet up on the fenders.I guess as I hit the weeds they got knocked on to my legs. Got them so bad I had to go to the Dr. He gave me a poison to kill them off. Yesterday my son was with me(he's the reason I'm getting back into bow hunting and we're having fun)and he got them on him to. We went to the water,waded out about crotch deep and washed them off. Well most of them. Bottom line,as bad as I want to get back into bow hunting(our season starts Sept 7th)....I'm thinking I can wait till it cools off.Maybe.
OK,I went to a local shop yesterday afternoon,bow shopping,and the conversation turned to turkey mites. All the guys in there,including custumers,said that a product called coulston's duranon tick repellent was the ticket for the evil little buggers. You don't spray in on your skin, you spray it on your clothes and its supposed to kill them. The can says to spray clothes till moist and let set for at least two hours. It says effective for up to 6 weeks after treatment. We'll see. Thought I'd pass it along. Here is a link for you guys to check it out some more. Coulston's Odorless Duranon Tick Repellent 6 oz Aerosol Can CP22200
They are called seed ticks and are the larva stage of the lone star tick. When the state restocked the wild turkey they unknowingly stocked the state with the lone star tick also. The first time I got in them was about 25 years ago at LBL, now you can't even go in the woods without getting covered in the damn things.
Permethrin as mentioned by others...a good dousing of the gear should last 4-6 weeks... http://m.basspro.com/Sawyer-Permethrin-Insect-Repellent-for-Clothing/product/10223263/52933 -Bill
Or you could try this. I'm ordering this from Amazon and I'll buy a cheap 1 gallon pump sprayer, dilute it and spray everything that I wear during the early season. According to an earlier thread, I'll need to mix 2 ounces of the 36.8% concentrate per gallon to get a .51% spray. I should get 16 gallons of spray making it WAY more cost effective since I can only buy 4 or 5 spray cans of the pre-made stuff for that price.
Considering that most commercial permethrin sprays are only like .5%,that right there should make a lot of spray fairly cheap Team Red Sun Rising
The stuff I posted the link to has permethrin in it,.5% same as someone else posted. But I do appreciate the link to another option. And I learned I can make my own! Thanks guys. Edit...Just ordered the 36% permethrin spray for $20 from Amazon. Thanks littlechief. Gri22ly...the first time I got into them was about 25 years ago on LBL to. Small world. I was fishing Barkley and walked up in the woods to take care of some business. Found my first turkey mites.
An update... This stuff works as promised. I've been in the woods several times since I started this thread and not one turkey mite or tick of any kind. It also does a fairly good job of keeping mosquitoes away. They don't land on your clothes,just try to land on any exposed skin. I have yet to use anything out of the big bottle diluted yet,I've just used the coulstons product. Anyway,thought I'd pass it along that this permethrin works just like the guys said it would.
