Scouting for elk here in Colorado is a warm affair and I wear shorts and T-shirt so have lot of exposed flesh. I am from Maine and won't say the biters out here are always the worst in the world but they can get VERY aggressive in some areas and I do know what bad is for comparison. It can get bad!
I don't like DEET products so suffered along using other stuff until I tried Homs Bite Blocker.
Wow!
I had to re-apply every 2-3hrs under hard exertion in really heavy infested areas
but thats not a problem. I can stand still for as long as I want. No bites bare arms and legs.
Very effective. Worth a look and I found mine at Walmart of all places. This is what goes on the kids now.
There is some odor though so maybe its out for hunting.
Joshua
For hunting there is nothing better than a thermocell! amazing and it doesnt spook the critters
Don't you need to be stationary for them to work? I don't hunt that way myself.
J-
I've been using a product called "Badger Anti-Bug Balm" after I got 100% DEET in my eye and developed a sensitivity to it (My eyes sting if I put it anywhere near my head).
It seems to work as good as the DEET did and smells a lot better.
Mr. jhg,
We also use Badger with great success. It does seem to require a little more frequent application than the 100% Deet but nothing to be concerned about.
It really works well!!
Best Wishes
Charlie, seems like you and I think alike ( that is scary for charlie ) I use Badger anti-bug shake and spray, haven't gotten bit since I started to use it about one year ago. It's all natural and organic and good for kids ! Ticks and chiggers hate it, and that is what's important.
QuoteOriginally posted by WindWalker-AK:
Mr. jhg,...
Best Wishes
Wow, after over 650 posts using my name Joshua, I still get called jhg.
I will try out the product mentioned. Thanks, it sounds like great stuff too.
The good news is there are few mosquitos left in Colorado by the time elk season is going!
I just ordered some Badgers, and am gonna pick up some of the Homes Bite Blocker next time I'm in WallyWorld. My target is in a small section of woods and I get swarmed by Knats, Mosquitos, and sometimes Horse Flies. Ticks are not thick, but I've found a few. Always looking for good Bug Juice. I've got Thermacell for hunting, but hate to use it for a practice session. Thanks for the Heads-Up!
Please let us know how both of them work, and which one you think is the best.
my wallyworld does not carry it
Heading to camp this weekend and will try out the homes bite blocker. Skeeters are thick out in the woods and the ticks are bad too.
Hey StumpKiller.... where do we get Badger at ???
I've had real good luck with a "Bug Tamer" hooded jacket and pants. Nice headnet attached. Used it on hot days with no shirt underneath and tons of bugs. Dope or gloves for hands is all you need.
You do NOT have to be stationary for the thermacell to work.
First, if you are walking, mosquitoes typically don't get on you too badly. If you are slipping along/periodically standing, they make a holster for the thermacell.
Attach it to your back or on your belt, loosely so the air can get into the unit at the back to keep it burning, and every time you stop you're covered.
Also, since mosquitoes and other biting insects are attracted through your carbon dioxide trail, which is following along behind you when moving, the act of having the thermacell on and also leaving a trail of dope behind you in your scent/air stream will have the desired effect and you dont' have to put anything on your skin.
I haven't used spray or dope in 10 years- won't either. I have just enough brain cells to get to my grave..can't afford to lose any more.
Thanks for that information Ray. Good to know.
Joshua
Okay, what is the poop on Homes?
Originally posted by Ray Hammond:
You do NOT have to be stationary for the thermacell to work.
First, if you are walking, mosquitoes typically don't get on you too badly. If you are slipping along/periodically standing, they make a holster for the thermacell.
Attach it to your back or on your belt, loosely so the air can get into the unit at the back to keep it burning, and every time you stop you're covered.
Ray, you obviously have had very good luck with this. I know there is a holster for the TC yet the instructions are to leave it flat. That has not been an issue for you? The unit works well being carried? I have the unit but never bought the holster....am re-thinking because I would prefer to carry the TC with me....
Thermacell is great. I wont normally endorse a product, but it makes it possible to hunt when otherwise you would not be able to.
Used a Thermocell hanging in the holster off my daypack while still hunting in Georgia two years ago. Worked great.
Around here, have been using the repellents from Repel and Cutter that contain picardin, rather than Deet. They work well here in the valley---have not had the chance yet to give them the real workout, with the high country spring blood suckers. Still too much snow to get up there.
Where can you buy the Badger product?
Bump TTT for me and Jon.... where can you get the Badger product fellas ???
Look on-line, I found it for $7.20 per 2 oz. tin if you buy 12 or more. Then there was $7.35 of you got 4-5 tins. It appears to retail at $10.00 a 2 oz tin at most sites.
Homs is cheaper and you get more for your money. I would like to get both and compare. I also have the Thermocel I need to try.
I'm thinking about getting several if I could re-sell them. If anyone is going to Cloverdale let me know I could try and have some for the shoot.
I have had good success with the Thermocell. Bugs are real nasty in SC.
I have just enough brain cells to get to my grave..can't afford to lose any more.
Ray,
That is some funny stuff there!!!
I haven't gotten the Homes yet, but the Badger came. Good stuff! I like that it's made of natural oils, including Cedar Oil. Works great.
I got it on the auction site.
Its Homs, not Homes. Sorry for the mis spell in my original post.
Anyone else able to report on this product. I am curious if others have had the same great result I did.
Joshua
There is a scentless product called Ultrathon that works well. It's pricey, but occasionally you can find the military version in a surplus store, even here in Montana, for considerably less. It is really effective. I've used a lot of DEET and try to avoid it now.
Thermacell just redesigned the holster so it's a lot easier to put the unit in it and a clip was added to make it easier to attached to belts, packs, etc. Makes a great way to carry your refills as well!
If you can control ticks with a Thermacell then your ticks are wimps!
My Thermacell works great for any flying bug but the ticks laugh at it.
Ultrathon is a time-release deet lotion that does a good job on our ticks.
Thermacell won't work on ticks.
You need to use permethrin sprayed and allowed to dry on your pants legs waistband, and shirt cuffs and collar area.
That's the only way to eliminate ticks.
Osage, yes...I've had really good results with thermacell...they say lay flat... but as long as you loosely attach it so air can get to the back of the unit, you're golden.
I hang it from a pack, possibles bag strap, or my belt behind me. The stream of repellent trails behind you if you are moving- that's exactly where your carbon dioxide trail is, which is what the mosquitoes are following to locate you so they can get a meal.
As soon as you become stationary, the protection surrounds you. If there's a breeze, you don't need to worry too much as skeeters anyway because they'll go down in the grass/bushes to escape the breeze to begin with.
We have the duck-raper subspecies of mosquito in SC and I don't wear any repellent- just use the thermacell and cover up sensibly- long sleeves and no exposed neck area as I use a kercheif or other neck covering and a hat.
I spray all my clothes heavily with Permanone and let it air dry a day or two outside.
Smells like line dried, obviously.
I do head nets, face masks, gloves, hats, etc.
I've warded off skeeters in varied areas of PA and in MD including Blackwater Refuge on the E. shore.
Only repellant I had and I could see the skeeters "hovering" about 18" away but never come in and stay!
I didn't think Permanone would repell skeeters, but it has for me and that E. Shore swamp country is loaded.
FWIW... now I also use the thermacell like Ray said. Only bites I got at his place were on the porch after dark in shorts! And no, didn't have the "cell" on till too late!
This is the best I have used. No deet, and lasts. No Toxic chemicals.
Pete
http://insectdefendpatch.com/
(http://insectdefendpatch.com/images/logo.jpg)
QuoteOriginally posted by NoCams:
Hey StumpKiller.... where do we get Badger at ???
Local Agway (farm supply store). There are also a couple small shops near where we keep our boat that carry it.
PS - endorced by the Cornell ornithology and biology field teams. The man who told me about it is a veterinary pathologist who studies diseased or dead animals in rain forests in South America. He would know about bad bugs!
Here's a website link to their store locator.
http://www.badgerbalm.com/t-buy_badger.aspx
Pete,
I was trying to remember the name of that product last night. Thanks for the reminder- may need to give it a try this year!
I can't find either of them around here. I will have to order it on line. I did pick up something call "Swamp Gator" today and put some on when a deer fly was making a real pest of himself. Nothing bothered me the rest of my practice.
I passed out a case of them last year at a shoot when I was doing a review on the Patch and had a lot of great feedback.
They are all I use now.
Pete
Have any of you heard of the Shoo Tag?? It is a credit card sized tag you clip on or carry in a pocket....no chemicals....their web site has some cobblety gook stuff that really sounds weird--stuff like the magnetic strip is programmed with frequencies and resonances that when combined with the wearers electro magnetic field becomes a powerful repellent force, etc. etc. yadda, yadda.....I would simply dismiss it up front except there are a couple of guys here in my home state who have posted about it on a state forum who swear by it. Anybody heard of it, or better yet, anybody tried it? I may get one on line just to check it out--not too expensive.....Dave
Guys ! Where do I get my hands on this Badger bug stuff. I've never heard of it before, but it sounds great.
THANX StumpKiller !!!
Wayde,
Scroll up to Stumpliller's post and the store locator link is posted.
What Ray said...both times.
Also, the thermacell keeps away black flies, no-seeums, and those pesky deer flies.
Come down and hunt with me a couple days in early bow season. By the end of the first day I would be able to sell you a thermacell for 50 bucks...maybe a hundred on day 2.lol.RC
Thermacells are great but they dont keep the chiggers away. You definately have to treat your clothes if you plan on stalking in SC.So with thermacell you will spend quite a bit of money on insect control and the cost of refills for thermacell add up quick if you hunt alot.
CHIGGERS! Just to speak of them makes me itch!
The Thermacell holder has a couple of straps with a plastic clip that looks like it should wrap around your leg or arm or some such way. As Thermacells are said to work best when horizontal,I just clip the straps through a belt loop and let it hang (mostly horizontally) and it works great. Yup, it can get expensive, but personally, I think it's worth it. You just forget there are mosquitos around when you have one. And I second what Ray says about walking around. If you walk fast you probably don't need one anyhow. If you walk slowly/stalk/stop often they work just fine.
I am a died in the wool thermacell user, although I have been hunting down in GA and am eat up with seed ticks right now. But that's what I get for being too lazy to change into my treated pants. Chris
QuoteOriginally posted by NOMAD88:
Thermacells are great but they dont keep the chiggers away. You definately have to treat your clothes if you plan on stalking in SC.So with thermacell you will spend quite a bit of money on insect control and the cost of refills for thermacell add up quick if you hunt alot.
Yes....you still have to treat for chiggers...but the treatment for chiggers wont repel skeeters....
And is does cost....but it sure makes for a MUCH more pleasurable hunt on some occasions.
So what you're saying is that case of military surplus 100% DEET I bought back in the 80s and still have is what is making me eccentric?
We don't see many skeeter or chiggers out near the great American desert. If you hunt a river bottom, the skeeters seem to come all the way from California to nibble