doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com A public service announcement...

A bit late in the year to really help anyone but...this stuff was recommended to me by a local Jackpine Savage last year so I went looking for it early last spring. I'd have to say that it works remarkably well.

Combine this with treating your hunting cloths with Permethrin first (and allowing it to dry) and then use this product on your exposed skin. I would have had an almost bite-free year this year (if only I had followed my own advice). On one of my last days afield up north, it had frosted very heavily overnight and I put on lined jeans that I had not pre-treated. There were no obvious insects to be found anywhere and I passed on this stuff too, only to find myself in the middle of a deep tangle looking for a bird that had "towered" on me (I never did find it). What I did find the next morning was an embedded tick on my chest.

A prophylactic dose of doxycycline immediately thereafter and it all seems to be good for now. How foolish of me, eh?

The folks who work in the woods that I'm hunting in "up nort" swear by it. I had to order it online as I've never encountered it anywhere else.

Thanks Lloyd. I've been using Picardin instead of DEET for the last few years and find it works well. Does that brand really have zero scent? The brand I use has a distinctive scent when first applied.

I also learned something about Permethrin early this summer. I found a dog tick crawling in my dogs ear, and plucked it out. I decided to test my 0.5% mix of Martin's Permethrin on it, so ran inside and grabbed my pre-mixed spray bottle. I sprayed a shot onto the hood of my tractor and dropped the tick into the middle of the moistened area, expecting a quick end. The little bastard kept crawling out of it, several times.

I had tried this sort of experiment once before on a freshly pre-treated pair of work pants, and the tick began acting funny before it moved a foot. Then it began moving in small circles for a short time and then curled up and died. I was impressed to say the least. But this particular dog tick seemed almost immune to my Permethrin. I dunked a small twig into the solution and put a drop directly on the tick. He kept moving normally for a couple minutes before finally slowing down. Five minutes or so later, he was clearly affected, but his legs were still moving, and it took several more minutes before he died.

I was quite concerned that this tick was able to live so long with direct exposure to my Permethrin solution, which had been carefully mixed at 1 part Martin's 10% Permethrin and 19 parts water. The tick was literally bathed in it, and I had expected it to die within seconds. I suddenly wasn't so confident about my pre-treated clothing and boots protecting me, so I went online to search for a possible reason, such as Permethrin losing potency after a few years, etc.

What I learned was that Permethrin concentrate will settle in the bottle, so it should be shaken well before measuring and mixing with water. I'm sure I didn't shake mine the last time I made up a couple spray bottles of 0.5% mix. Also, it doesn't seem to create any danger for humans to bump up the concentration to .75% for treating clothing, shoes, etc. Diluted Permethrin is routinely sprayed directly onto dogs and livestock without causing any ill effects.