Deer ticks, guns, dogs and hunting

onpoint

onpoint

Active member
I been hunting Ruff Grouse the past week or so in North central Minnesota. The dogs and I have been getting quit a few deer ticks. Question is, what are you using for a repellent?

I have some pricey wood stocked guns and any kind of bug/tick spray will damage the guns finish. I will not take the risk of any getting on the gun. I have been checking over the dogs after every time out and finding ticks crawling on them. They are are near pin point small, very tough to see many times. I had one stuck right where the leg band of my briefs are around my leg. Sour as hell. I have had lots of stuck deer ticks over the years. This area is very high in Lyme's cases.

I'm just not quit sure to do about these little B&^%$'s. I was told they were brought here by exotic deer from Asia. We have 6 livestock sales barns in central Minnesota which are owned all by the same guy. He held exotic animal actions several times a year, selling exotic deer from Asia along with other animals. I blame him for this mess. Every time out, we get deer ticks on us.

Any ideas on what to use that won't damage the guns or hurt the dog? A friend of ours uses front line on their cat and the Deer ticks are stuck all over the cat's face.
 
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Ticks are the reason I don't hunt Grouse until a couple of weeks of hard frost. It seems that no matter what I try nothing keeps them away. For the dog I use K9 Advantix along with a lyme disease vaccination and I use off deep woods which seems to work only if you continue to reapply consistently throughout the day.
Good Luck
 
Hate 'em and I won't put anything on my dogs that tells you to wash your own hands after using. Tough one. I think if I was in an area with high Lyme incidents I'd pass.

Get a flea comb to help you find the little buggers.
 
Frost doesn't hurt Deer Ticks. I have gotten them with a dusting of snow on the ground. Deep Woods Off will wreck the finish on your gun. I'm not going to stop hunting. I guess I get what I get. I already have chronic wide spread pain problem's. I can't hurt any worse.
 
Pretty familiar with this problem. Deer ticks are native, just been spreading north over the years. Some belief that climate change--specifically springs that start early, or more specifically yet--no snow on the ground much earlier in the year--exacerbates the problem.

I use frontline coupled with annual lyme vaccinations on the dogs, and spray with permanone as the active ingredient on my pants from the cuff to just above the knee. Works pretty well. Some folks use Advantix--and there's a new one out I forget the name of--NOT biospot, do not use that if your dogs ever go in water it washes off.

Regular ticks start disappearing this time of year but deer ticks will go on into deer season.

Ticks still will hitch a ride with frontline or any other topical repellant but they won't be able to latch on and feed long enough to transmit disease--that takes many hours of attachment.
 
I know about those deer ticks. I got into some at my father-in laws farm. It is near Palisade. Sure enough I got Lymes from it. I never went into the woods these were on the bare dirt road.............Bob
 
Deer Ticks

I probably live near where you hunt. It has the highest rate of lyme's in the state. I also work in the woods. I use the Hartz version of frontline. It is much cheaper and I have had the same results. I think if you grouse hunt here, it is only a matter of time before you or your dog gets lymes or one of the other tick diseases. I don't use any spray on myself. None seem to work. I change clothes after hunting and do a thorough tick check and a warm shower.
 
birdman652001 said:
i dont know why you wanna spray your guns for ticks...
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If you have it on your cloths and it even touches your gun. It will soften the finish and it's screwed for life. When your talking a several thousand dollar gun. It can turn it into a $500.00 gun in no time. Not something I'm interested in.
 
Point_&Shoot said:
I probably live near where you hunt. It has the highest rate of lyme's in the state. I also work in the woods. I use the Hartz version of frontline. It is much cheaper and I have had the same results. I think if you grouse hunt here, it is only a matter of time before you or your dog gets lymes or one of the other tick diseases. I don't use any spray on myself. None seem to work. I change clothes after hunting and do a thorough tick check and a warm shower.
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Well, then we are probably neighbors. I live where I hunt
 
I hunted Mille Lacs WMA today and picked about 200 ticks off of my dogs. When I got home, I gave them a bath with tick shampoo. A couple of hours later, I still pulled off another 50 ticks on the dogs. They are both vaccinated, but I do not use Frontline, it is poison for your dogs. We also have a 15 month old toddler and we don't want him getting those chemicals in his system.

Never pulled a single tick off myself. Maybe I stink.
 
onpoint- grew up in N Minn. what we'd do is wear heavy socks and roll them over our pants- spray Off all over those socks and pants- now days Deep Woods Off with 30% deet is good stuff- back in the old days Deet was considered good stuff

we'd spray ourselves down good- mosquitoes could be ferousious- we treasured our shot guns but they weren't the most expensive- we never had our palms sprayed- but about everything else-

Deep Woods Off doesn't ruin the finish on a gun stock- unless maybe if you soak the gun and leave it on- never tried soaking one and leaving it- but I think that is what some articles and folks talk about because it sounds good

we used to spray our dogs also- kept the deer flies off us and the dogs- never had any trouble-

to this day I'll spray my dogs if flies and such are a problem

we'd be sure to carry a spray can with us- our dogs liked to swim and get in the mudd of the back woods lakes- we never had a problem with ticks- that's not to say we never had one crawling on our outer clothing

we had a bigger problem with deer and horseflies- they hurt
 
jeffstally-I don't know how you say Frontline is poison to dogs- I've been using it on pups and adults for over 20 years-

I've yet to hear any facts that it is harmfull to a dog when used as dirrected
 
It may not be much comfort, but I have read research on tick borne diseases after I got Erlichea?( sic), several years ago. so miserable I decided Lyme was not worth the risk. Anyway, according to the experts, seed ticks, the little tiny buggers, do not carry any diseases. It's the second year ticks that have fed on an infected host previously that get you. Mercifully we do not have deer ticks in my area, we have to be content with Lone Star and Brown Dog ticks. More deer around here, is the reason there are more ticks, pure and simple, combined with the fact that nobody burns their woodlots anymore
 
jeffstally said:
I hunted Mille Lacs WMA today and picked about 200 ticks off of my dogs. When I got home, I gave them a bath with tick shampoo. A couple of hours later, I still pulled off another 50 ticks on the dogs. They are both vaccinated, but I do not use Frontline, it is poison for your dogs. We also have a 15 month old toddler and we don't want him getting those chemicals in his system.

Never pulled a single tick off myself. Maybe I stink.
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Jeff, I'm with you on the chemical thing. I had a prized lab that was irreplaceable. He had gotten a case of fleas. The vet gave me some spray flea and tick spray(perspiration vet type). After only applying it for only about 10days. The dog all of a son started swelling up and could hardly get up. We rushed him in and he was in congestive heart failure. He was as healthy as a horse and only 5 years old before using this spray. In another week he couldn't even raise his head off the floor. We had to put him down. When a product warms on the label that it is harmful to humans. that your kids shouldn't get it on them and that you need to wash immediately. Just how good can it be for the dog?

I have came across numerous people over the years, that their dog became very ill after using these types of products. We have a real dilemma here in central Minnesota. These deer ticks are insane. Breeding and spreading like wild fire.

I think the idea of stuffing your pants inside high top socks is a good idea

Read the links

http://www.tdpri.com/forum/archive/index.php/t-18915.html

Warning!!! OFF Spray very damaging to guitar finish!!!!
Emmitt O.
June 14th, 2004, 01:28 AM
Gang:

Had a terrible situation develope this weekend that I wanted to pass along to help others. I wanted to warn you about using "OFF Mosquito Spray" near your guitars. The finish on my ES-335 has been damaged by me putting "OFF" on my right arm and then resting it on the body of my guitar. I had NO idea that this product would react on the finish of my guitar, but it did.

So, please, be very careful about spraying "OFF" near your guitars or on any part of your body that will come in contact with your guitar. The results can be very damaging.

Take care.
Emmitt O.

________________________________
http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf14838732.tip.html

Bug Spray Stain on Wood Table
07/08/2010

My husband had bug spray on his leg when he put it on my coffee table. Now it has a huge stain that I can't get rid of! It almost looks like the bug spray took the finish off. Can anyone help?

By Debbie from Austin, TX

__________________________________

http://www.kentuckyhunting.net/forums/archive/index.php/t-40054.html

Don't get bug spray anywhere near plastic or nylon products of any kind or any painted surfaces whether it spills or is just on your skin.

It will eat most plastics, cause the foam grips of fishing rods to disintegrate in your hands, mar plastic panels in your truck when touched, take the camo paint finish right off of your expensive turkey gun, etc.

The stuff with deet in it is just about as nasty a paint and plastic solvent as you're likely to run across.


add binoculars, sunglasses and bows to that list as well....a good dose of skeeter spray on your hands then placing your hand on your bow will net you a nice shiny aluminum riser in short order......and spray that stuff on the coated lenses of binoculars or rifle scopes and it will etch the class/plastic lenses.....

)____________________________

I can't seem to find if a Thermacell has any effect on protection from ticks
 
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Shadow said:
jeffstally-I don't know how you say Frontline is poison to dogs- I've been using it on pups and adults for over 20 years-

I've yet to hear any facts that it is harmfull to a dog when used as dirrected
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here's a clue:
For FRONTLINE Spray:

1. Wear household latex gloves.
2. Hold bottle in upright position. Ruffle your pet's coat with one hand while applying spray mist to back, sides, stomach, legs, shoulders and neck. For head and eye area, spray FRONTLINE Spray on a gloved hand and rub gently into your pet's hair.


Spray it on your dog but avoid contact??
I also wouldn't use ANY Hartz product. But that's just me.
 
maybe

There are plenty of inexpensive shotguns which will kill a rouse just as dead.
Just one alternative I can think of for your shotgun.
 
Deer ticks and Lyme's have become a huge problem here in WI. I used to use Frontline, but noticed the ticks would be imbedded, but dead. I switched to BioSpot because it seems to repel the ticks before they bite and latch on. But it isn't waterproof and requires repeated applications if your dog gets wet.

Almost 30 years ago I took a job in Florida after graduating from college. My setter moved with me. In a short time we developed an unbelievable problem with fleas. I used so much flea dip on that poor dog and we couldn't get rid of them. When she was old, she developed liver disease and I often wondered if all of those chemicals could have caused the problems.

In June I lost my 6 year old setter to blastomycosis. He was first diagnosed with Lyme's and tick-borne disease [angioplasmosis], so we figured the antibiotic treatments would cure it. In the long, figuring the tick-borne stuff was all we had to worry about delayed testing on the blasto until it was too late.

I loathe deer ticks. To say I hate them is an understatement. They now infect some of my old favorite hunting spots. There are some places so bad I won't hunt there anymore. I suspect repeated chemical treatments on the dog may not be good long term, but I'm not willing to take the chance again of my dog getting sick. In retrospect, I should have been applying the Biospot more frequently, or using Frontline because my dog got the Lyme's despite my using the Biospot.

I am a forester and spent a lot more time in the woods when I was younger. The deet sprays are nasty! Will eat through a rain suit in a short period of time. I often wondered about using that stuff so much. If it can eat plastic and varnish, what is it going to do to you when you are applying it several times a day, 5-6 days a week?

That's a lot to think about.
 
We made about a hour walk late this afternoon. I picked at least 25 deer ticks of the dog and about a Doz. off me. No matter where we go, we get at least a few each time out. I'm not going to hunt where we were today anymore. Far too many. Too bad, it's the most remote and quite place. I love getting as far away from the masses as I can.

I wonder if Skin So Soft would work?
 
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