Pre-Season Prep: Ticks and Permethrin Treated Clothing

Even if it's been a quiet day without seeing a deer, the most diehard hunters will stay in the field from early light until the sun starts going down. The thrill of being in the field and the possibility of still taking down a buck at the end of the day are more than enough to motivate deer hunters to stay out for as long as they can.

Still, dealing with even just one tick on your skin can ruin your day and cause you to raise the white flag, abandon your pre-season prep or climb out of your tree saddle, and head home for a shower and clothing change – but there is a solution.

Don't sacrifice what could be your best harvest in years just because a tiny tick takes over. If you haven't yet heard of permethrin, we're here to tell you about it, why you need it, and how this insect repellent is "the" thing hunters need to stay tick-free and out in the field longer this season.

Why Hunters Hate Ticks

Hunters hate ticks for the same reasons anyone hates them: they carry diseases and can make you very sick very quickly.

However, hunters might hate them more than the average human going about their day because hunters routinely put themselves in the tick's habitat, and ticks can ruin a day (and many days thereafter) faster than many other things that can go wrong in the field.

The Health Hazards of Ticks

It's not just Lyme Disease, although that is one of the biggest and scariest issues that can happen as a result of a tick bite. Tick-borne diseases also include Rocky Mountain spotted fever, babesiosis, tularemia, and lots of other scary-sounding diseases that we won't try to pronounce (but are all very, very bad).

In short, a tick bite can lead to a lifetime of health issues that can be difficult to recover from – or worse – keep you from hunting due to ongoing debilitating health problems.

If you're a regular hunter and spend time in the field preparing for hunting season, scouting, sitting in your blind or stand during the early season, and maintaining cutting lanes and food plots during the hottest parts of the year when ticks thrive, you are out where the ticks are more often than most other people. So, you (as a hunter) have a higher risk of running into ticks and dealing with the effects of potential tick bites than your average person who only worries about ticks for their pets.

Unfortunately, your standard flea and tick preventer for your pup won't work for you – and we don't recommend trying it on yourself.

You Can't Get Rid of Ticks in the Wild (But You Don't Need To)

Unfortunately (again), hunters are forced to deal with ticks every season. It's a common issue during the prep for and during the early part of deer season, but you may also have to fight them during turkey season or other times of the year when you're out scouting or hunting other game.

Unlike hiring a pest control company to get rid of pests in and around your home, there's no viable solution to "pest-control" the great outdoors.

So, the better solution is to "pest control" yourself with treatments and clothing that keep ticks off of you while you scout and watch for the buck to cross into your sights.

Permethrin Clothing: A Hunter's Best Defense Against Ticks

What's the best way to fight ticks? Wear a protective layer that keeps them off of you!

This is where permethrin repellant and permethrin-treated clothing become must-have essentials as part of your hunting gear. Once you discover how well it works, you won't want to leave for a hunt without it.

Permethrin Kills and Repels Ticks on Contact

It's a synthetic chemical widely used as an insect repellent and insecticide. It works so well on ticks because it mimics the properties of the natural compounds found in chrysanthemum flowers. The compound paralyzes ticks and other biting insects, causing them to freeze up and fall off of your clothing.

If you're in an area also plagued with other biting insects (like mosquitoes), permethrin works against them, too. So, it's an excellent tool for keeping biting insects from nibbling on your ear just as you're about to let your arrow fly toward a buck.

When applied to clothing and gear, it provides long-lasting protection, repelling and killing ticks on contact. And when we say "on contact," you can literally see the ticks fall off of your clothes as soon as they touch you. It's that good.

Is it Safe?

Of course, warding off dangerous tick bites with a harmful chemical on your clothes isn't ideal. You're trading one bad thing for your health for another bad thing for your health.

But we would never recommend something harmful! We're here to help hunters hunt better and more successfully.

So, the good news is that permethrin is one of the safest ways to ward off ticks and other biting insects when sprayed on clothing. Most experts and hunters don't recommend spraying it directly on your skin, and that's not the most effective or recommended way to use it. However, applying it to your clothing or buying permethrin-teated clothing is more effective (and safer) than spraying bug spray on your skin to ward off tick bites.

It's also odorless, so you don't have to worry about it stinking up your blind and scaring away any deer.

Use It Safely

As with any insect repellant, it can harm you if used incorrectly.

So, if you're worried about buying the repellant and spraying it on your clothes, opt for clothing that's already treated with permethrin. It's built into the fabric, so you never have to worry about spraying the wrong amount or any effects from using it incorrectly. Plus, you won't have to worry about fumes or the scent of the repellant alerting deer during your hunt.

However, if you'd rather buy the repellant and treat clothing, packs, ground blinds, and other gear with it yourself, take everything outside where there's plenty of space and air and spray your stuff out in the open. As with any sprayed insecticide, applying the treatment outdoors is safest.

Just make sure you avoid the commercial-grade stuff. It's not intended for recreational uses like warding off ticks while hunting.

With proper application, a treatment can last through several washings. You shouldn't have to spray them before every hunting adventure, but we do recommend retreating your clothing after a few washings to make sure it still keeps those ticks away.

Use HuntWise and Avoid Ticks This Season

While HuntWise can't tell you where you'll run into more ticks vs. where fewer ticks exist, it can help you find the best places to hunt for deer this season. It's the best hunting app to e-scout and plan your approach before hunting season.

It's also an ideal tool for finding the best places to scout in person to see the places you've marked in the app in person. From potential bedding and feeding areas to possible entry points for your approach and pinch points for animals, you have highly detailed insights in the palm of your hand to make your time in the field more efficient and successful.

With the new LiDAR (Hillshade) map layer in the app, you can gain even more details about the topography of an area without vegetation cover. Then, with WindCast and HuntCast, you can plan your entry based on wind direction and hourly weather forecasts.

When you're ready to get out and scout in person (or it's opening day and you're ready to hunt), suit up with your permethrin treated clothing, avoid the ticks, and let HuntWise guide you to the best day you've had in the field!

We're excited to see what you bring home this season! Start by downloading HuntWise and exploring it – free – for your first week.