Insect repellant

[Scott T]

We did not have much of a freeze here this year and as a result we are blessed with a bumper crop of insects.  Mosquitos are particularly bad.

I wonder what you guys use for insect repellant for hunting hogs this time of year?  I like a head net and that will take care of most of my worries, but I notice that they are particularly fond of the backs of my hands for some reason :grin:

[FWiedner]

I used to use a commercial DEET formula, but there was one time that I rubbed it on my face and accidentally got some in my mouth.

My lips and part of my face went strangely numb for about 30 minutes, so I stopped using the stuff.

The lesson learned was that DEET is highly effective but also quite poisonous.

Now, like you, I wear a head-net.

For my hands I wear light gloves.  Both the mesh bug-net type and the wool rag seem to work equally well.  I have some of the green wool military glove-inserts with the thumb, fore-finger and middle-fingers cut back to the second knuckle that seem to work OK.

Though sometimes hot and cumbersome, they are still better than the bug-bites.

 :-)

[BasinHunter]

Get a Thermacell. Head nets work, but you still have that agravating buzz in your ears. Deet works somewhat, but you have to worry about the hogs getting wind of its strong oder. With the Thermacell you don't have to worry about any of that.

[.308sniper]

I secon Thermacell.  I went to SC in July to hunt pigs and only got one bite in 3 days.  My  :money:

[kyote]

never heard of thermacell,but will check it out..here is some good stuff also..

http://www.predatorpee.com/old_woodsman.html

[CyberSniper]

Chiggers are what gets me crazy...
I just use Deep Woods Off. Keeps the things off me very well.
As keen as hog noses are, I figure if the wind is not in your
favor, you're ruined...repellent or no repellent.

[loaded4bear]

Thermacell is one of those products that, at first, appears to be nothing more than a gimmick item sold on a 3 a.m. TV  infomercial...but in reality may be the best thing in the area of insect repellant to come along in ages. This thing really works!

Here's some info from the Thermacell website regarding how it works:

 The ThermaCELL Mosquito Repellent utilizes the active ingredient known as allethrin. It belongs to a class of materials called pyrethroids, which are synthetic analogs of pyrethrin, which is a naturally occurring insecticide found in certain types of chrysanthemum known as pyrethrum flowers. Mosquitoes really do not like this material. The allethrin is contained in the blue mats, and when they are heated it causes the allethrin to "volatilize", which is similar to evaporation. The volatilized allethrin forms a zone of protection around the unit  The amount of active ingredient that is released is small - not enough to kill mosquitoes, but enough to repel them.  There is 0.018 oz. of active ingredient on a mat.

Although the ThermaCELL Mosquito Repellent is most effective against mosquitoes, it has also been shown in field testing to be effective against black flies (Prosimulium hirtipes and Simulium venestrum), no-see-ums (Culicoides, also known as biting midges), and phlebotomine sand flies.


 http://www.mosquitorepellent.com/index.htm

[daddywpb]

Thermacell all the way. It works great in the south Florida swamps.

[Land_Owner]

double posted.  see below...

[Land_Owner]

I have said this many times and will continue to iterate the message:  Use Ortho "Basic Solutions" Lawn & Garden Insect Killer, $8.95 @ Home Depot for 32 fluid ounces (1 quart).  Its active ingredient is Permethrin...2.5%.  Four (4) ounce spray cans (Permanone) cost about $6.95 each and contain 0.50% Permethrin.

Mix one part 2.5% Permethrin (Ortho) to four parts water to make the final solution 0.50% Permethrin (white liquid).  Put solution in a $1.00 spritzer bottle and LIBERALLY coat your hunting clothing, face mask, gloves, socks, hat, shoes, etc.  The initial faint petrochemical smell will quickly disappear as the liquid dries.

Permethrin has been extensively tested in agriculture.  Its preeminent quality is it KILLS probing insects (DEET only drives them away).  Let me say that again:  Permethrin KILLS mosquitos, chiggers, no-see-ums, yellow flies, horse flies, ticks, gnats, wasps, house flies, and just about anything that bites, stings, or tries to penetrate your protection.  I am not saying it kills them instantly and on contact, they have to probe you one time.  Permethrin sends their nervous system into LSD-like hyperactivity and they literally burn out their nervous systems.  Ants seen feasting on Permethrin killed mosquitos have died not long thereafter too.

Permethrin is effective after multiple washings of your treated clothing as written up in "Smithsonian" Magazine.  In accordance with Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS) see link below, Permethrin is not toxic to people, although the MSDS and manufacturer's recommendations indicate use on clothing only - NOT SKIN.
http://chppm-www.apgea.army.mil/ento/Contingency/MSDS/Permethrin%20Spray.pdf

My personal experience is no-see-ums and mosquitos are especially difficult to sit still through when you are under their relentless attack.  Ticks are no fun either when showering at home and finding them in the least appropriate places.  Killing the insects that would ordinarily drive us out of the woods is a good thing.  If you are going to use "insect repellent" anyway, why not kill the suckers at the same time.  

When treated clothing is introduced into an insect laden environment, there is initial normal insect activity.  You may get mosquito or no-see-um bitten, but fewer times.  Not all insects make initial contact with skin.  However, you will not get bitten the following day or for several days thereafter.  As long as the clothing worn is treated or remains effectively treated you should be able to hunt with relative indifference to biting insects.

Realize that as you "create a void" in the insect world through use of Permethrin laced clothing, that "void" will collapse when the Permethrin is eliminated from the insect environment.  You may get bitten again the next time out.  No guarrantees.  Just know that if they bite you they are destined to die.

I have used my dog to wear a Permethrin laced tee-shirt around the house when mosquitos get thicker over the rainy summer months. One evening outside with the dog is all it takes for about two week's peace.  The female mosquito is the biter and killing her creates the "void" alluded to above - until the next batch hatches.

Good luck.  Good hunting.  May Permethrin be with you.

Land Owner
"If it was easy, anybody could do it."[/b]

[Feldhege]

Do the thermocell things work when walking around? Or only when on a stand?

[Wynn]

Thermocells work great in stationary locations and when there is little or no breeze. I use them in a stand, especially during bow season.

However; I tested out Land_Owner's Permethrin scenario last season and it made a believer out of me. I hunt in some of the wettest, deepest swamps in Florida with temps exceeding 90 degrees in bow and muzzleloading season. I have also tried it in salt water mangrove swamps of SW Florida while fishing. The stuff works just like he says. I am going to try spraying down our entire camp area this comeing weekend to see if it will drive off the biting yellow flies that tend to make people and animals crazy all summer long.

[Land_Owner]

I don't know what it is or how much a "Thermocell" costs, but for under $10.00 you can make over two and one-half gallons of 0.50% Permethrin "bug killer" with LONG LASTING residual bug killing effects.  Agriculture has long used Permethrin for cattle dip against ticks, nematode eradication in crop fields, and a host of other pestulence killing uses.

CyberSniper said it best,

As keen as hog noses are, I figure if the wind is not in your favor, you're ruined...repellent or no repellent.

 Why not use a insect KILLER that is safe, economical, long lasting, has an extended shelf life, and produces no residual smell after drying?

Check out some of the "Permethrin" uses on the web.  You will be as surprised as I was.

Land Owner
If it was easy, anybody could do it."[/b]

[Scott T]

Land Owner,

I understand what you are doing, I just wonder if you have the treated clothing next to your skin and you sweat (like I do), aren't you exposed to this stuff?  What does it do to our nervous system?

Thanks for your interesting posts.  I am going to investigate this.

[Wynn]

They sell the same stuff in a 6 oz aerosol can in better sporting goods stores but at $6 to $8 a can, Land_Owner is trying to show you a cheaper way of doing it. In deer tick infested areas, no one in their right mind goes without it. Permethrin is pretty benign stuff to humans and animals. Testing I have read about indicates that insects have a entirely different type of nervous system than our own.(Cannot remember the sources offhand) On the outside of your clothing I doubt you have much to worry about. I use directly on my dogs and cattle and use it liberally on my work and outdoor clothing in the .05 solution recomended by the manufacturer. Where I work and play, if your not sweating, your not working hard enough! :lol:

[Wynn]

By the way; I've never felt any ill affects from Permethrin but DEET stinks, burns my skin, numbs mucous membrane, tastes terrible, melts plastic, vinyl and rubber into a gooey mess and gives me a raging migraine headache.

[Land_Owner]

Here is some "easy reading" Web research on Permethrin (there are over 500,000 others):

http://www.travmed.com/trip_prep/insect_permethrin.htm
by:  Mark S. Fradin, M.D. is Adjucnt Clinical Associate Professor of Dermatology, University of North Carolina/Chapel Hill and the author of Mosquitoes and Mosquito Repellents: A Clinician's Guide.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Permethrin  Wikipedia defined Permethrin.

http://www.state.sd.us/doh/WESTNILE/permethrin.htm South Dakota Department of Health; Permethrin Fast Facts

Most links indicate Permethrin is quickly broken down into inert ingredients by contact with human skin; is quickly absorbed by soil constituents; is long lasting; is non-toxic to humans; and kills insects by contact but not necessarily instantly.

Land Owner
If it was easy, anybody could do it."[/b]