why are there so many ticks - The Firearms Forum

38 special · 04-27-2009, 08:21 PM

Up until the last 5 years ago I never got a tick when hunting. I would go through the brushiest tangles hunting for grouse and rabbits and NEVER saw a tick. Now they are all over.Also the deer are covered with em. Used to be I would rarely find a tick on a deer and I always skinned them out and butchered them. Not that way anymore.What's really strange is the deer population is WAY DOWN. Any ideas why ticks are infesting the Notheast???

Big ugly · 04-27-2009, 08:24 PM

Its happening in the south too, dont feel bad.

38 special · 04-27-2009, 08:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Big ugly

Its happening in the south too, dont feel bad.

Yeah I dont mind knats, deerflys,mosquitos,but those damn ticks I hate.I hunted ducks and geese in Texas and got damn near eaten alive by mosquitos but didnt get bothered much by ticks even in Texas.

Haligan · 04-27-2009, 08:48 PM

Tell Al Gore about it, mabe he can use it in his next presentation to congress.

cycloneman · 04-27-2009, 09:08 PM

I have always found ticks in Louisiana and Tx. If i am walking in the woods or heavy brush I like to use quite a bit of insect repellent along my feet, shoes, boots, waist line, neck line. They seem to get in these places. I also use repellent before i skin a deer. I hate ticks. But chiggers are the worst. Summer time chiggers will drive you batty.

flannelman · 04-27-2009, 09:48 PM

They have always been here in Arkansas too. Chiggers are of the devil!!

cycloneman · 04-27-2009, 09:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by flannelman

They have always been here in Arkansas too. Chiggers are of the devil!!

Roger that, I swear i had dark spots on my legs for 2 hunting seasons. Thought they would never go away. Never again.

Marlin · 04-27-2009, 11:22 PM

It's called DDT and the cessation of the use of it......

Dakota Red 1 · 04-28-2009, 12:33 AM

Stumps me. I thought they increased with the rise in deer populations. The army uses a product that has 5% permethrin. It works great for ticks and works for mosquitos and chiggers too. You treat your outer clothing with it but let it dry before wearing. It was very effective in the two worst tick hells I've been to, Camp Gruber Oklahoma and Ft Chaffee Arkansas. I've seen it at surplus stores, yellow can/green lid. Come to think of it they also have pouches of powder that you mix with water and dip your clothes in.

Marlin is right about the DDT. Platoon Daddy used to fog down the area where we would stop for the night and it works slick. Millions of people have died from malaria and other insect bourne diseases when the enviros pissed it away. I bet Al Gore didn't gripe when his platoon daddy sprayed down his cubicle, bunk and typewriter when he was in Southeast Asia.

Pistolenschutze · 04-28-2009, 04:28 PM

Yup, those Ixodida really "tick" me off too.

Powderhorn · 04-28-2009, 07:04 PM

Haven't seen a tick yet this year in NH. Now that I've said that, I'll probably come home from hunting next week with sevral attched to me.

Last year was pretty bad for ticks around here. I was sighting in my new rifle, and my son was busy with his pistol. He had three on him and I had four. When we got home, I felt another one crawling on my neck. By now I got the heebie-jeebies.

So I took a shower and spent the evening in the house. When it was bedtime, I lay down and just as I fall asleep, I feel something crawl across my face, so half-asleep, I slap it and brush it off my face. The next morning when I woke up I found the biggest brown spider half-squished dead laying on the floor in front of my dresser.

After all this, I went into a rage of insect-killing genicide. It was all-out war. I squirted insecticide into every crack and crevice (of the house, wiseguys) and spread insecticide on the lawn. That took care of it for last year. This year I think I will be avante guarde and do it before they get out of hand.

38 special · 04-28-2009, 09:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dakota Red 1

Stumps me. I thought they increased with the rise in deer populations. The army uses a product that has 5% permethrin. It works great for ticks and works for mosquitos and chiggers too. You treat your outer clothing with it but let it dry before wearing. It was very effective in the two worst tick hells I've been to, Camp Gruber Oklahoma and Ft Chaffee Arkansas. I've seen it at surplus stores, yellow can/green lid. Come to think of it they also have pouches of powder that you mix with water and dip your clothes in.

Marlin is right about the DDT. Platoon Daddy used to fog down the area where we would stop for the night and it works slick. Millions of people have died from malaria and other insect bourne diseases when the enviros pissed it away. I bet Al Gore didn't gripe when his platoon daddy sprayed down his cubicle, bunk and typewriter when he was in Southeast Asia.

Yes I read about these tick tubes they use up in connecticut. you put 7 % permetherin on cotton balls and shove them in cardboard tubes and put them in the woods the mice take the cotton into their nest and any tick that gets on the mouse is killed but they say it doesnt hurt the mouse.They claim ticks go to mice first its their first "host" so if you kill them there that gets rid of alot of them. I made up alot of these tubes and put them around the cabin maybe it will at least keep them down in that area.Ill have to wait and see.

Dakota Red 1 · 04-29-2009, 01:32 AM

Never heard of the tubes. Let us know if they work.

fmacsin1 · 04-29-2009, 06:23 AM

I agree, ticks are blossoming! We used to never have ticks here in Maine, now it seems, they are everywhere! I use a product called "Bio-Spot" on my dogs. It's all natural and is effective against fleas, ticks AND mosquitos and it actually works! I've used it for 3-4 years. It's a lot less expensive than other "flea/tick" products and your animals are protected and can go in the water and a 3 month supply costs no more than $15.-20. What I'm running into with my dogs is that they are ALWAYS scratching! My vet calls it allergies, but I've never had my springers scratch like they are in the last two years or so. Even the "Bio-Spot" helps some, but doesn't stop it. I've changed dog food, and that helps some, but they still scratch a lot until they get some parts of themselves raw. Any ideas?

GMFWoodchuck · 04-29-2009, 06:41 AM

I had lyme's disease. It totally sucks and was probably the worst 2 weeks of my life. However, it was only 2 weeks. All these stories you hear of people being sick or sore forever are pure folly. It's people getting old. I'm sore here and there. But that's from doing physical work for the last decade and a half.

Not to start some new eco-politcal thread, but I'll take my chances with the bugs and put up with them rather than using repellents and pesticides. I know what a tick can do. I've also seen what cancer does. I'm not sure that if Agent Orange and DDT (Vietnam and farming) gave my father his 2 rounds of cancer or not, but one thing for sure it was a lot worse than my bout with Lyme's. I decided few years ago that if I can't pronounce the chemical name I don't want it on me or in my food. I also know that with this recent apparent rise in pests came with all of these hawks and eagles I never saw before 5 years ago. The food chain starts somewhere.....

But in conclusion, the bugs were always there except for the few decades in which we dumped pesticides without impunity. They are coming back to an area from which they where eradicated. Not pushing into a new area. And I've always thought some bugs are kinda neat too. Ever watch a Praying Mantis?

38 special · 04-29-2009, 10:18 AM

I called this supposed tick expert He has a Phd in bug study (entomology?) and specialized in ticks. I first thought ticks were a result of the excessively warm winters we had been having (this year was colder so I'm more optimistic)but he said the cold didnt have much to do with it .He said the deer population was the cause. I told him not in this case. The deer poulation is drastically reduced from what it was , and back when you could see 20 or more deer on the first day, there were No ticks. He got angry because I mentioned this and ask if I was trying to argue with him. I told him I was just looking for the cause of the ticks coming in To make a long story short ,He had had no valid reasons at all. His supposed Phd education was sadly lacking. He was more interested in pretending he was smart than actually thinking about it. I read the other post about DDt maybe there is something to that. I still dont know why ticks are here now.

Powderhorn · 04-29-2009, 05:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 38 special

To make a long story short ,He had had no valid reasons at all. His supposed Phd education was sadly lacking. He was more interested in pretending he was smart than actually thinking about it. I read the other post about DDt maybe there is something to that. I still dont know why ticks are here now.

That guy sounds like a buffoon.

Any of us could probably gather enough info off the web to make a semi-educated guess. In the end, who knows? Bugs do what bugs want. All I know is, I hate bugs.

Right now, I hate blackflies even more than ticks.

Tom Militano · 04-30-2009, 11:32 AM

It's obomba's fault.

38 special · 05-01-2009, 08:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tom Militano

It's obomba's fault.

Good One.

Terry_P · 05-03-2009, 05:45 PM

I have seen the fewest in So NH in several years. Maybe it's because we have fewer PHD's around.

FJF0311 · 05-09-2009, 08:41 PM

For the last ten years, they have bee getting progressively worse here in Maryland. I thought it was just a "Bloom" but it hasn't broke yet.
My wife has found six or seven so far this year. It really creeps her out. Funny thing is, I haven't found one yet!
My wife has a theory,
"Deer ticks, don't eat s**T!"

bluesea112 · 05-21-2009, 05:47 AM

We are having a terrible time with ticks in Texas. My vet told me that they are killing cattle just 20 miles down the road from me.
He suggested soaking my hunting clothes in a permethrin solution and then letting them hang dry.
Solution he suggested is as follows:
1. Buy Tengard or Permethrin Pro or any other brand of permethrin that lists 30% to 33% Permethrin concentrate.
2. Mix a solution using 1 oz. of 33% Permethrin concentrate to 1 gallon of water. (2oz. Permethrin with 2 gallons of water, etc)
3. Soak clothes until clothes are completely saturated.
4. Wring out by hand and hang dry on clothes line (do not dry in dryer)

He also suggested giving my dogs a final rinse with a Permethrin solution after I have shampood and rinsed them with plain water. Final rinse should be 1/4 oz. Permethrin in 1 gallon of water. He said to work the final rinse into their fur with my hand. After final rinse with Permethrin solution just towel dry the dog and do not use a hair dryer.

fyimo · 07-29-2009, 08:30 AM

When I moved to Arkansas 7 years ago I couldn't believe how bad the ticks are and it made me pretty much quit hunting. I'm just now thinging of starting again. My sons and I usually do an Elk hunt in Colorado every year as we lived there for 21 years so that's been my annual hunt. I think I'm now ready to fight the ticks and hunt in Arkansas.

04-27-2009, 08:21 PM	#1
38 special Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2009 Posts: 548	why are there so many ticks Up until the last 5 years ago I never got a tick when hunting. I would go through the brushiest tangles hunting for grouse and rabbits and NEVER saw a tick. Now they are all over.Also the deer are covered with em. Used to be I would rarely find a tick on a deer and I always skinned them out and butchered them. Not that way anymore.What's really strange is the deer population is WAY DOWN. Any ideas why ticks are infesting the Notheast??? -->

04-27-2009, 08:24 PM	#2
Big ugly Advanced Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Knoxville Tennessee Contributor Posts: 2,603	Re: why are there so many ticks Its happening in the south too, dont feel bad. __________________ "You say the Devil made do it with a smile. Raisin' hell and howlin at the moon. Well I'm gonna put your @$$ back in line. I'm gonna scare the Devil out of you." BlackBerry Smoke Song http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R513dA4peMg Nothing is "proof" against a truly talented fool. Swanshot

04-27-2009, 08:48 PM	#4
Haligan Advanced Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: FEMA Region II Posts: 1,900	Re: why are there so many ticks Tell Al Gore about it, mabe he can use it in his next presentation to congress. __________________ "He who knows nothing is closer to the truth than he whose mind is filled with falshoods and errors." - Thomas Jefferson

04-27-2009, 09:08 PM	#5
cycloneman Advanced Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Louisiana Posts: 7,407	Re: why are there so many ticks I have always found ticks in Louisiana and Tx. If i am walking in the woods or heavy brush I like to use quite a bit of insect repellent along my feet, shoes, boots, waist line, neck line. They seem to get in these places. I also use repellent before i skin a deer. I hate ticks. But chiggers are the worst. Summer time chiggers will drive you batty. __________________ Who are you going to serve today?

04-27-2009, 09:48 PM	#6
flannelman Advanced Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Rural Arkansas. But isn't all of Arkansas rural? Posts: 1,176	Re: why are there so many ticks They have always been here in Arkansas too. Chiggers are of the devil!! __________________ What we do in life echoes in eternity! **** Liberals, they make about as much sense as a screen door on a submarine. If you want to be a looser the best way to get there is to hang around with other loosers.

04-27-2009, 11:22 PM	#8
Marlin TFF Admin Staff Chief Counselor Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: At SouthernMoss' side forever! Contributor Posts: 13,853	Re: why are there so many ticks It's called DDT and the cessation of the use of it...... __________________ *The flag represents a living country and is itself considered a living thing.* *The only criminal class native to the United States is Congress.*

04-28-2009, 12:33 AM	#9
Dakota Red 1 Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Kansas Posts: 504	Re: why are there so many ticks Stumps me. I thought they increased with the rise in deer populations. The army uses a product that has 5% permethrin. It works great for ticks and works for mosquitos and chiggers too. You treat your outer clothing with it but let it dry before wearing. It was very effective in the two worst tick hells I've been to, Camp Gruber Oklahoma and Ft Chaffee Arkansas. I've seen it at surplus stores, yellow can/green lid. Come to think of it they also have pouches of powder that you mix with water and dip your clothes in. Marlin is right about the DDT. Platoon Daddy used to fog down the area where we would stop for the night and it works slick. Millions of people have died from malaria and other insect bourne diseases when the enviros pissed it away. I bet Al Gore didn't gripe when his platoon daddy sprayed down his cubicle, bunk and typewriter when he was in Southeast Asia. __________________ Warte nur, balde ruhest du auch.

04-28-2009, 04:28 PM	#10
Pistolenschutze Advanced Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Colorado Posts: 13,094	Re: why are there so many ticks Yup, those Ixodida really "tick" me off too. __________________ --Pistolenschutze (Pistol Shooter)

04-28-2009, 07:04 PM	#11
Powderhorn V.I.P. Member Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: NH Posts: 165	Re: why are there so many ticks Haven't seen a tick yet this year in NH. Now that I've said that, I'll probably come home from hunting next week with sevral attched to me. Last year was pretty bad for ticks around here. I was sighting in my new rifle, and my son was busy with his pistol. He had three on him and I had four. When we got home, I felt another one crawling on my neck. By now I got the heebie-jeebies. So I took a shower and spent the evening in the house. When it was bedtime, I lay down and just as I fall asleep, I feel something crawl across my face, so half-asleep, I slap it and brush it off my face. The next morning when I woke up I found the biggest brown spider half-squished dead laying on the floor in front of my dresser. After all this, I went into a rage of insect-killing genicide. It was all-out war. I squirted insecticide into every crack and crevice (of the house, wiseguys) and spread insecticide on the lawn. That took care of it for last year. This year I think I will be avante guarde and do it before they get out of hand. Last edited by Powderhorn; 04-28-2009 at 07:05 PM..

04-29-2009, 01:32 AM	#13
Dakota Red 1 Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Kansas Posts: 504	Re: why are there so many ticks Never heard of the tubes. Let us know if they work. __________________ Warte nur, balde ruhest du auch.

04-29-2009, 06:23 AM	#14
fmacsin1 V.I.P. Member Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Moosehead Lake, Maine Posts: 433	Re: why are there so many ticks I agree, ticks are blossoming! We used to never have ticks here in Maine, now it seems, they are everywhere! I use a product called "Bio-Spot" on my dogs. It's all natural and is effective against fleas, ticks AND mosquitos and it actually works! I've used it for 3-4 years. It's a lot less expensive than other "flea/tick" products and your animals are protected and can go in the water and a 3 month supply costs no more than $15.-20. What I'm running into with my dogs is that they are ALWAYS scratching! My vet calls it allergies, but I've never had my springers scratch like they are in the last two years or so. Even the "Bio-Spot" helps some, but doesn't stop it. I've changed dog food, and that helps some, but they still scratch a lot until they get some parts of themselves raw. Any ideas?

04-29-2009, 06:41 AM	#15
GMFWoodchuck Advanced Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Binghamton, NY Posts: 1,369	Re: why are there so many ticks I had lyme's disease. It totally sucks and was probably the worst 2 weeks of my life. However, it was only 2 weeks. All these stories you hear of people being sick or sore forever are pure folly. It's people getting old. I'm sore here and there. But that's from doing physical work for the last decade and a half. Not to start some new eco-politcal thread, but I'll take my chances with the bugs and put up with them rather than using repellents and pesticides. I know what a tick can do. I've also seen what cancer does. I'm not sure that if Agent Orange and DDT (Vietnam and farming) gave my father his 2 rounds of cancer or not, but one thing for sure it was a lot worse than my bout with Lyme's. I decided few years ago that if I can't pronounce the chemical name I don't want it on me or in my food. I also know that with this recent apparent rise in pests came with all of these hawks and eagles I never saw before 5 years ago. The food chain starts somewhere..... But in conclusion, the bugs were always there except for the few decades in which we dumped pesticides without impunity. They are coming back to an area from which they where eradicated. Not pushing into a new area. And I've always thought some bugs are kinda neat too. Ever watch a Praying Mantis? Last edited by GMFWoodchuck; 04-29-2009 at 06:43 AM..

04-29-2009, 10:18 AM	#16
38 special Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2009 Posts: 548	Re: why are there so many ticks I called this supposed tick expert He has a Phd in bug study (entomology?) and specialized in ticks. I first thought ticks were a result of the excessively warm winters we had been having (this year was colder so I'm more optimistic)but he said the cold didnt have much to do with it .He said the deer population was the cause. I told him not in this case. The deer poulation is drastically reduced from what it was , and back when you could see 20 or more deer on the first day, there were No ticks. He got angry because I mentioned this and ask if I was trying to argue with him. I told him I was just looking for the cause of the ticks coming in To make a long story short ,He had had no valid reasons at all. His supposed Phd education was sadly lacking. He was more interested in pretending he was smart than actually thinking about it. I read the other post about DDt maybe there is something to that. I still dont know why ticks are here now.

04-30-2009, 11:32 AM	#18
Tom Militano Advanced Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Jacksonville, AL Posts: 1,255	Re: why are there so many ticks It's obomba's fault.

05-03-2009, 05:45 PM	#20
Terry_P Advanced Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: NH Posts: 2,513	Re: why are there so many ticks I have seen the fewest in So NH in several years. Maybe it's because we have fewer PHD's around. __________________ NRA and NAHC Life "Both oligarch and tyrant mistrust the people, and therefore deprive them of their arms." -Aristotle

05-09-2009, 08:41 PM	#21
FJF0311 Registered User Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Mt. Airy, MD Posts: 269	Re: why are there so many ticks For the last ten years, they have bee getting progressively worse here in Maryland. I thought it was just a "Bloom" but it hasn't broke yet. My wife has found six or seven so far this year. It really creeps her out. Funny thing is, I haven't found one yet! My wife has a theory, "Deer ticks, don't eat s**T!"

05-21-2009, 05:47 AM	#22
bluesea112 Advanced Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: West, TX Contributor Posts: 1,257	We are having a terrible time with ticks in Texas. My vet told me that they are killing cattle just 20 miles down the road from me. He suggested soaking my hunting clothes in a permethrin solution and then letting them hang dry. Solution he suggested is as follows: 1. Buy Tengard or Permethrin Pro or any other brand of permethrin that lists 30% to 33% Permethrin concentrate. 2. Mix a solution using 1 oz. of 33% Permethrin concentrate to 1 gallon of water. (2oz. Permethrin with 2 gallons of water, etc) 3. Soak clothes until clothes are completely saturated. 4. Wring out by hand and hang dry on clothes line (do not dry in dryer) He also suggested giving my dogs a final rinse with a Permethrin solution after I have shampood and rinsed them with plain water. Final rinse should be 1/4 oz. Permethrin in 1 gallon of water. He said to work the final rinse into their fur with my hand. After final rinse with Permethrin solution just towel dry the dog and do not use a hair dryer. Last edited by bluesea112; 05-21-2009 at 05:54 AM..

07-29-2009, 08:30 AM	#23
fyimo V.I.P. Member Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Arkansas Posts: 187	Re: why are there so many ticks When I moved to Arkansas 7 years ago I couldn't believe how bad the ticks are and it made me pretty much quit hunting. I'm just now thinging of starting again. My sons and I usually do an Elk hunt in Colorado every year as we lived there for 21 years so that's been my annual hunt. I think I'm now ready to fight the ticks and hunt in Arkansas.