Hey, TradGangers,
I have a bit of a wild backyard, and I have already found a couple of ticks on me in the last few weeks. I would like not to go chemical every time I go out there to shoot a few arrows. I was wondering if you had any luck with natural repellents or other preventive measures?
Best,
Max
I have heard drinking a shot of vinegar works.
:campfire: :coffee: :archer2:
Powdered sulphur in a sock. Pat your pant legs and socks down. Works for chiggers as well.
Guinea foul love to eat ticks, and they lay good eggs.
I use permethrin impregnated clothing. It takes care of most bugs.
X2 Permethrin. It ain't exactly all natural but after it dries on your clothes it's harmless and you don't need to reapply for up to 6 weeks. And unlike the potions and home made repellents permethrin works every time.
I got destroyed by chiggers and ticks 2 years ago. My buddy recommended Sawyers permethrin. It's the greatest thing since sliced bread! I buy it on Amazon and it works great.
Billy Jack, check out Tractor Supply or even Amazon for the Permethrin concentrate. You mix it with water and can make gallons for what you pay for a small bottle of pre mixed Sawyers brand.
Permethrin is the best there is for killing ticks.
Since we have gotten way off of natural deterrents :jumper: I noticed when I bought some spectracide ant granules last week the package said that it works for ticks as well.
Tuck pants into socks.
I agree Permethrin , "Permanone" spray, sprayed on your cloths and allowed to dry is the best I've found. I keep a spray can handy but also bought the concentrate from Tractor Supply. I think it is made from Chrysanthemums.
If you have access to anyone who sells the essential oils then you can easily find one that claims to repel ticks and chiggers. My wife is a big proponent and I think they have a place. I prefer permethrin but if you want natural then get one of the oils and it can help. I don't remember which one does you can google it. I would assume peppermint but not sure.
20 drops each of eucalyptus and lemongrass oils and 4oz of water in a spray bottle works well but needs to be reapplied every couple of hours.
Ive never found anything natural that really works I spray my yard with Tempo kills all the ticks and mosquitos it leaves a residue so you dont need to reapply unless it rains . Its the same thing they use in dairy barns and restaurants so its very safe .
NATURAL REPELLANTS ......... not chemical, would be essential oils mixed to make your own bug juice. Rose Geranium X radens, lemon grass, peppermint ....... these are the most common, often mixed together and cut with water. They do work in the way that ticks and skeeters don't like the stuff. It is all natural. It doesn't do a lick in the way of killing these critters remember. Most you'll expect is they wont want to be crawling or landing on ya. If you want them dead, nothing comes even close to the permethrin like in Sawyers, a kill on contact insecticide that supposedly is harmless once dried (treating clothes, boots gear, never on direct skin!)
I've tried the natural oil mix. It does work and many swear by it. The Rose Geranium works the best, is the general concensus ....... but it is also the most rugged smelling, nothing short of too much to deal with for me.......and bless her heart, you'll smell like Nana til you get yourself another hot shower with dead down wind, you can take that to the bank!!!!! :laughing:
The only problem I have had with repellants is that they don't kill the ticks. Permethrin does.
That's why they are called repellants...not insecticides.
GCook check this out.
I attended a primitive bow building school Jim Hamm did must be 30 years ago
12 guys in camp
Much excitement
First evening Jim says let's go for a hike to look at some Osage trees and other stuff of interest.
Before we go Jim brings out a giant sock full of sulfur
He says yeah just bang this sock around your ankles and boots it'll keep chiggers away.
He says yeah this works great it's what Indians used to do???
Everybody starts applying this so thick we were all in a fog of sulfur and laughing like kids.
Onto an evening walk about in Texas. Beautiful for sure. Wildlife abundant. And we learned what Osage trees look like and how and what to cut for bows.
The next day ALL 12 guys plus Jim were covered up with chiggers!!!!!
A tuff week camping, scratching, bowmaking, scratching, eating and scratching.
Worst case for many of the guys.
I started using Permethrin soon after LOL
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I met a guy in Georgia while hunting .He said he takes a swig of apple spider vinegear every night and the ticks avoid him .
I hunted in a camp in south Texas for a number of years and the ticks and chigger were bad we would be itching three weeks after we got home . I finally started to spay my clothes every day in permethrin I still got ticks very tiny ones they still itched bad .
Man Corey that sounds like no fun.
We started using it in summer camp with the scouts. Problem is in shorter grass and pretty open area it works great but when I'm in Missouri cutting brush and mending fence in spring and summer I even pat it around my waist and shoulders. If not they'll be all under my waist band and under arms and . . . Well obviously you understand. Those things are horrible.
Buy from a local feed store please, screw amazon.
That a good one Cory:)
I hope you guys know what you're doing, that are using that concentrate. That stuff is recommended for livestock only.
Quote from: Tomas Stieber on April 14, 2022, 04:32:39 PM
I hope you guys know what you're doing, that are using that concentrate. That stuff is recommended for livestock only.
Dilution is recommended for all uses for the Martins 10% permethrin. One can apply the Sawyers straight from the bottle/can.
Rhino Skin as a base layer, then EVERYTHING else impregnated with Permithrin.
Quote from: achigan on April 13, 2022, 05:30:50 AM
I use permethrin impregnated clothing. It takes care of most bugs.
Simple Simon....
Quote from: Tomas Stieber on April 14, 2022, 04:32:39 PM
I hope you guys know what you're doing, that are using that concentrate. That stuff is recommended for livestock only.
You don't directly apply it on your skin. Apply it to your clothes and let it dry before wearing.
Permethrin makes me nervous. Anything that you have to spray and let dry for hours and is still capable of keeping ticks and mosquitos away for weeks can't be great for you. There are times of the year that I use it, but I always wear a base layer of some kind between the treated clothes and my skin. It may be an artificial precaution, but that's just me.
... Repel eucalyptus spray works really well, and is as close to "natural" as they make...
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Yeah I've had no luck with that except for short term with gnats.
Thank you, everyone, for all good advice. 🙂👍 I'll experiment with the natural products you mentioned.
Quote from: Wudstix on April 12, 2022, 10:10:59 PM
I have heard drinking a shot of vinegar works.
:campfire: :coffee: :archer2:
Wudstick, I tried, so far it seems to only repel my girlfriend 😂
Also, I regularly use permethrin on my hunting clothes. I was reading of a natural alternative, recently discovered, extracted from Alaska yellow cedar trees and grapefruit skin. It is not commercially available yet, but should be coming soon. The ingredient is called Nootkatone.
I am looking forward to it being available, seems promising 🤞
There is a company called Insect Shield that you can ship your clothes too, and they will do it professionally, and guarantee them for 20 washings. They offer a flat rate envelope.
When going into heavy brush, I spray my clothes both inside and out, including my hat with Permethrin. Just make sure they are completely dry before wearing them. I always wear snake boots and tucking in my pants legs also helps keep ticks out. Tucking in your shirt also helps. Regular "tick checks" are also recommended. By the way, on numerous occasions I have found ticks to be active in the dead of winter. Our Georgia winters often are not usually cold enough to suppress them. While I have found numerous natural concoctions that work with mosquitoes and gnats, I have never found one that helps on ticks.
The permethrin concentrate from tractor supply.
Hello everyone this is my first post and I just have to chime in as I have been told by a Marine that panty hose will work to prevent anything, tick or chigger from getting to your skin. they even make full body hose for men, might be a bit warm in summer but its better than chemicals.
Kid, there ain't no way in hell anybody could wear panty hose to our deer camp, but I have heard of using that same procedure. I guess, being the Neanderthal that I am, I'm just not in touch with my feminine side.
If you really want to see just how viable a tick can actually be, search "Tick Lives for 27 Years, 8 Without Food."
Not only did the female tick survive for 27 years, including the 8 without a host, once a host was re-introduced, she was able to lay eggs. Even though the last male tick died off years ago. She was able to store the sperm until conditions were optimal again.
I do not think ticks perish in the winter any more either. With or without a host, in NYS we have had several cold spells over the last few Winters, with day after day of negative numbers, and yet they still survive. I would bet that they can go into a catatonic state or cryptobiosis, like the tardigrade or water bears do.
Yep....it's about time to whip up a fresh batch of diluted permethrin. Get the pants and a few other items out and get 'em sprayed. I even spray my pop up blind now an then. Son and myself have had the full lymes treatment at least once and we've both had the short term treatment at least once as well. And that's with generally being aware and generally trying do checks and be careful. Yea let up a little bit though and they can get yea.....hate them little buggers.....and I ain't got all that much hate in me.....
To me when you say natural I tend to think it won't work. But Permethrin seems natural since it is made from flowers.
HUH?!?!?!? Think the interpretation might be a bit off there......it's based on the chemical make up of a natural plant compound called pyrethrum found in chrysanthemum plants, but it is a man made kill on contact synthetic insecticide. I'd trust it being harmless about as far as I could throw a 50 gallon drum of it. Just sayin .........
Be careful when you're using this stuff. It does work great and I use it myself, but try to be super careful. The use of this stuff has been really ramped up over the past 20 years or so now, as with all the companies that come out and spray your yards for skeeters and ticks. Wouldn't be shocked at all if in another 10 or so, you're seeing all the ambulance chaser commercials telling you that if you've been exposed to these chemicals, you are entitled to compensation of some sort.
Be safe with it ........ use it as directed or even opt to stay on the conservative side with it's use.
Not 100% sure of this from an ecological or scientific stand point, but personally I'm all in with the viewpoint that there is not 1 species of anything North America anyhow, that is vital to the ecosystem in any way, that requires the tick to survive. Please correct me with facts if I am wrong. They are a miserable pointless parasitic organism that is the cause of much misery for so many people and therefore families. The tick ........ one of the ultimate challenges to the idea that everything was created for a purpose. :dunno:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/soldiersmediacenter
Our army started issuing their ACUs impregnated with permethrin some 30 years ago. No Agent Orange type lawsuits out there.
In the article it also tell of direct use for head lice.
Permethrin is effective and is perhaps the only tested and proven to be effective tick repellent available on the general market. There may be others that have earned this honor but I've not heard of them...and I've looked (P.S. DEET is sometimes mentioned but I've not found it effective on ticks...but Permethrin DOES work, at least for me). Hereabouts, ticks are not just a nuisance. They can and DO carry deadly diseases (Lyme Disease, Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever to name a few) that for many can create a lifetime of misery if infected. If your area has ticks and these maladies are present do yourself a favor and don't mess around with old wives tales remedies. Get what works, you'll be thankful later.
And by the way, as someone mentioned earlier the grade of Permethrin contained in farm store (livestock bath) products is NOT the same concentration or grade as 'people Permethrin' (such as Sawyers). Buy the safe stuff, read the directions carefully and apply it as directed. When it comes to diseased ticks and potentially dangerous insecticides, the best agent to apply liberally and as often as possible is common sense.
How well does permethrin work on chiggers we dont have them here but I have gotten them in other states ?
Permethrin is indicated for ticks, chiggers and mosquitoes.
Check out Wondercide
Quote from: blacktailbob on May 17, 2022, 08:25:38 AM
Check out Wondercide
Thank you, I think I'll give that a try 👍👍