Advice on Tick Control

**BRICKBURN** · 03-25-2011, 01:53 PM

After seeing the East Cape Bushbuck posting regarding some of the potential aftermath of Ticks. What practical suggestions can anyone afford for keeping ticks off. Is the best methods elastics or gaiters or???
Thanks in advance.

**James.Grage** · 03-25-2011, 03:22 PM

Things that will work. and there are others that will work...

Flee and tick collars for both ankles.

Triple sure spray...on your pant and shirt cuffs and shoes...

Light color clothing to spot ticks so that you can brush then off.

Shirt tucked into your pants.

Ticks usually come off grasses or bushes and work upward to find a place to have lunch...

having tight banding that they cannot work their way under on pant legs and shirt cuffs helps.

**nsok** · 03-25-2011, 03:23 PM

¡¡¡Ticks!!! A bit of humor. Last August, Eastern cape, second day, more than ten minutes working on a tick in my leg. Was a tick? not, I tought so, it was a mole

At the end of my hunting, any ticks in my body, I used a spray 50% Deet on the skin and 100% Deet on my mouth clothes, trousers and shirts (sorry for my translation from Spanish, I hope you know what I mean)

**Bert the Turtle** · 03-25-2011, 05:45 PM

I've copied a post I made on another forum:

I buy 10% permethrin goat and sheep dip at the farm store, dilute it to 0.8% (about 12 to 1) and soak the clothes in that. It is a lot less expensive and stronger than the spray on stuff. The 0.8% is based on what the military uses. A soak in theory works better than a spray because it penetrates from both sides of the cloth. It is not approved for use on human clothing, so I'm not advocating it, just telling you what I do and telling you it works very well. DO NOT FORGET to blouse your pants into your boots!!!

My enjoyment of the great outdoors has gone up immeasurably since I started wearing my "tick-proofs".

The military has been working on this a long time, with lots of money, and as far as I can tell, they really got it right. If you google up some of the tests they did, you'll see some impressive results. I would not want to be in the control group on any of those tests.

Permethrin works fine by itself for ticks. If there are mosquitos plaguing you, you should add DEET. If you do the full monte permethrin treated clothes and time release DEET, you will be in good shape. I rarely use the DEET, because my biggest problem is ticks and chiggers, but it is part of the full package. Using the time release DEET is important unless you want to reapply the stuff every two hours.

**shakari** · 03-25-2011, 11:50 PM

You can buy a product here called Bayticol that you spray on your clothes and is good for about 6 washes.... and it works brilliantly.

You might also consider swapping your shower gel for dog tick and flea shampoo. soap yourself absolutely all over, step out of the water for a few minutes and then rinse off...... that also works brilliantly. - It should be noted that some of them are toxic to humans so check before you buy.

Oh and if you start licking your own balls, you're using too much of it.

**marty** · 03-26-2011, 07:45 AM

Steve

After reading your post, I went out and bought the stuff your recommended in bulk!!!! I still cannot reach my nuts!

Mart

**shakari** · 03-26-2011, 07:53 AM

Mate, you're supposed to shower in it, not drink it!

**graybird** · 03-26-2011, 07:59 AM

Permethrin is the best bet for tick control. It will actually kill the tick as DEET just masks the carbon dioxide your body emits making you "become invisible" to the ticks and mosquitos.

You spray the permethrin on your clothing and let it dry. I usually do mine the night before hunting allowing ample time for drying while you're sleeping. You can purchase permethrin at an spoorting good store. I bought my last 2 cans at Walmart.

Use DEET for mosquitos. You can get 100% deet, but remember deet has been known to cause damage to rifle stock finishes. Ususally, deet in the 25-30% range work effectively.