Getting Winded by Permethrin

[longislandbowhunter]

I recently started using homemade diluted Martins industrial permethrin earlier this spring on all of my hiking and fishing clothing. This stuff is like magic.

I soak my clothes in the diluted mixture and it kills or wards the ticks off on contact. I have never found a product this effective before discovering

permethrin. I hike, fish, and hunt in highly tick infested areas. In the past, I have been covered head to toe in dozens of ticks. It can be a very scary

experience. Basically right now I am using 10% Martins and diluting it 0.5% like Sawyers. I soak my clothes in the mixture, and hang them to dry outside

of direct sunlight. I try to re- apply my clothing once a month or so. I treat my socks, underwear, pants, shirts, backpacks, and even my hat.

 

I have not used this insecticide for hunting yet, and I would like to treat all of my hunting clothes. Does anyone have any experience. Does Permethrin

itself have any odor? Have you ever been winded by the Permethrin? Does Martins have any more scent than the Sawyers? Is there a cover scent that

goes well and covers the odor if there is one?

 

Has anyone experimented with higher concentrations? Say 1.0%? Are there any health hazards to be careful of? The CDC and the FDA are claiming

little to no health hazards other than mild rash, keep away from face, mouth, eyes, etc.

Edited September 25, 2018 by longislandbowhunter

[jmark]

I did that with some industrial permethrin a couple of years ago.  It did have a smell when dried.  I later read that the substances used to carry the permethrin are different in the industrial/insecticide varieties as compared to, say, Sawyers.  I think I read that there can be some skin irritation issues with the former.  But mainly, that it doesn't hold well onto fabrics (or something).  Anyway, I ended up switching to Sawyers.  No odor that I can detect.  

I'm not 100% sure about the above, I just did some googling back then and that's what I recall.  

[NFA-ADK]

Permethrin is a natural substance found in nature, has that scent ever caused a deer to know I was present?  All the deer I ask say no, lol.  Honestly I would not worry as much about getting winded using this as I would be worried about ticks getting on me if I did not use this. 

Simply put I will not enter highly infested tick area's without this protection! 

[grampy]

Downwind deer, will smell you regardless of what you may, or may not have on your clothes. Nothing we can put on, to completely mask our "human" scent. If a deer is going to smell you anyways from downwind, probably better to not have ticks chowing on you, while the deer runs off.

[wfmiller]

I had some woods I hunted a couple of years ago and you couldn't go 20 yards without getting ticks on you. I went to the Dollar General and bought some kind of spray they had for 2 for $5 that had  Permethrin in it. I would just spray it on me and then use a cover spray over that and no problem. The stuff wasn't real strong smelling anyways.

[RangerClay]

After reading about what happened to Kip Campbell of Red Arrow TV I will definitely be wearing more Permethrin.

[outdoorstom]

Not trying to downplay the danger of ticks and recommend you take protective measures, but I've been in the woods a lot this year and haven't had 1 tick on me or my dogs.  I don't know why, but numbers are definitely down.

[dbHunterNY]

every area has it's fluctuations in tick populations. some of the best habitat holds lots of deer but the little critters as well that get ticks out of the nymph stage. you can't avoid them, but you can take measures to deal with them. don't cut corners like people usually have a tendency to do and you'll be okay.

[Five Seasons]

I use sawyers on my clothes during turkey as I'm always on the ground, in a field, tall grass etc. My gillie suit is dual purpose so there is for sure some residual odor but I'm not overly worried. To grampy's point, I think it's nearly impossible to be odor free, but I'll disagree a little in that we still shouldn't try our best. I think I've rested on the fact that reducing odor as much as possible may not eliminate it, but may diminish enough so that the deer may think you were here once, but the scent is faint and now you're gone.

I do find it odd that you've soaked your gear in the stuff though. I just spray sawyers and let dry per instructions. Never on interior layers, always exterior. 

[bugsNbows]

Oftentimes, the solvents or inert ingredients in the pesticide mixtures smell worse than the actual active ingredients. Most are derivatives from petroleum based substances. Try experimenting with different brands.

[Steve D]

5 hours ago, outdoorstom said:

but I've been in the woods a lot this year and haven't had 1 tick on me or my dogs.  I don't know why, but numbers are definitely down.

It is simply because Cuomo always takes a bunch with him on his trips to Puerto Rico.

[Nomad]

7 hours ago, outdoorstom said:

Not trying to downplay the danger of ticks and recommend you take protective measures, but I've been in the woods a lot this year and haven't had 1 tick on me or my dogs.  I don't know why, but numbers are definitely down.

It’s very regional,where I live it’s worse then ever . My one friend won’t hunt behind his house in Webster anymore because of them , oh and he was just diagnosed with Lyme .

[longislandbowhunter]

On 9/26/2018 at 8:45 AM, Belo said:

I use sawyers on my clothes during turkey as I'm always on the ground, in a field, tall grass etc. My gillie suit is dual purpose so there is for sure some residual odor but I'm not overly worried. To grampy's point, I think it's nearly impossible to be odor free, but I'll disagree a little in that we still shouldn't try our best. I think I've rested on the fact that reducing odor as much as possible may not eliminate it, but may diminish enough so that the deer may think you were here once, but the scent is faint and now you're gone.

I do find it odd that you've soaked your gear in the stuff though. I just spray sawyers and let dry per instructions. Never on interior layers, always exterior. 

 

Spraying and drying is not nearly as effective as soaking and drying. Your clothing should also be prepped well in advance. Spraying your clothing the morning of is not enough prep.

 

On 9/26/2018 at 8:51 AM, bugsNbows said:

Oftentimes, the solvents or inert ingredients in the pesticide mixtures smell worse than the actual active ingredients. Most are derivatives from petroleum based substances. Try experimenting with different brands.

 

Martins does not contain petroleum distillates. My curiosity is whether or not the permethrin itself

has a distinct odor that a deer can pick up on. Most brands are claiming it is odorless, but I was

hoping to get some first hand experience.

 

 

Also, something I should have pointed out earlier. The price for Sawyers is absolutely ridiculous.

The idea is that one treatment should last up to 6 weeks. I have been re treating once a month to be safe

with the amount of time I have been spending hiking, scouting, fishing, etc. I also have more than one outfit

come hunting season depending on the weather, and plenty of changes of socks, hats, undershirts, etc.

Here's some rough math for you:

 

Sawyers 12 oz. Bottle $10

Homemade Concoction 12oz. Bottle $0.24

This will treat roughly one outfit, maybe less if done properly.

One shirt or jacket (3oz.)

One pants or shorts (3oz.)

One boots and insoles (3oz.)

One Socks (1oz.)

One Hat/ Bandana (1oz.)

One Fanny Pack or Misc. (1oz.)

 

 

[Core]

I use sawyers. it seems expensive for what it is, but ultimately a $15 bottle from amazon covers me at least a season even with heavy saturation on my clothes. Though, i read now that even a heavy frost and freezing temps may not kill ticks, but surely slow them down (previously mainly worried only in october). 

Weird thing is the only tick I've found (and I admit I don't look that aggressively) was earlier this year during a walk on a trail in penfield. I've never had one on me from hunting.

[Five Seasons]

2 hours ago, longislandbowhunter said:

 

Spraying and drying is not nearly as effective as soaking and drying. Your clothing should also be prepped well in advance. Spraying your clothing the morning of is not enough prep.

 

 

i don't spray the morning of. I spray and let dry per the instructions and have never had a tick on me since doing so. Just following the instructions on the bottle. 

[Hock3y24]

Never had an issue with sawyers

[loworange88]

Morning!  I just purchased some Sawyers tick spray(yellow can), and I was wondering since I"ve never used it before....Would I just treat my outer layers of clothing, or does anyone treat ALL clothes that you wear out while hunting?  Just curious.

Thanks.

[cdbing]

I treat outer and under layers.

Sent from my SM-G925V using Tapatalk

[RangerClay]

On ‎9‎/‎27‎/‎2018 at 2:11 PM, Core said:

. it seems expensive for what it is, but ultimately a $15 bottle from amazon covers me at least a season even with heavy saturation on my clothes.

Not getting Lyme disease.....priceless..

[Core]

BTW I put sawyer on dry clothes on Sunday and it was damp out but they were under covered porch. By yesterday afternoon I still smelled it!!

[Five Seasons]

On 10/1/2018 at 8:01 AM, loworange88 said:

Morning!  I just purchased some Sawyers tick spray(yellow can), and I was wondering since I"ve never used it before....Would I just treat my outer layers of clothing, or does anyone treat ALL clothes that you wear out while hunting?  Just curious.

Thanks.

i just do outer and socks. I don't think doing other layers would hurt, but i don't know how much it helps. We should all remember that this is kinda nasty stuff and not for direct skin exposure. So that's something to consider. I also might avoid carbon products like scent-lok. I have nothing to back that up, just my intuition. 

[MPHunter]

I can't say whether a deer has ever winded me because of the Sawyer's. I can say however that it was not uncommon to be picking ticks off my clothes while on stand and typical to find a dozen or more on my hunting clothes (inside and out) at the end of a day. Started using the Sawyers two years ago and no ticks. The stuff works and the risk of Lyme is not worth not using it. I treat my outer layers and my first inner layers and after drying, I can't detect any permethrin odor.

Edited October 2, 2018 by MPHunter

[BKhunter]

Someone was saying there is an alternative that you can buy at tractor supple and make your own. Ay idea what I can ask for at tractor and what is the ratio to add to water?

[nodeerhere]

17 minutes ago, BKhunter said:

Someone was saying there is an alternative that you can buy at tractor supple and make your own. Ay idea what I can ask for at tractor and what is the ratio to add to water?

Do some research on this before u try it. I did some years back. no dont quote me here. But I want to say the stuff from tractor supply was oil based. The sawyer stuff is water based. Something like that. Anyhow. I tried mixing my own. I do not like the smell! Very strong! Get winded for sure! So I stick with the sawyer now. Like people have Said. It's worth every penny. And they say it lasts 7 washes. I personally apply a few times threw out year. Good luck! Stay safe!

[longislandbowhunter]

Been hunting 6 times since opening day. Here has been my observations.

Washed all of my hunting clothes, backpack, driving clothes, etc. in scent free. Hang to dry.

Soaked all of my socks, and sprayed all other clothes, rubber boots, hats, etc. in 0.5% permethrin.

I also treated my driving clothes and the interior of my truck with a light spray

of permethrin to be safe. Hung to dry, then put everything in rubbermaid bins.

 

I always change my clothes when I go into and out of the woods, and try to keep everything in a

bin in my truck regardless. I also tuck my socks into my pants, wear rubber boots, tuck my shirt in,

wear a neck gaiter, and a hat. So keep this in mind. Over the course of 6 days, in a few different locations,

pine, oak, low brush, tall grass fields, etc. I have been absolutely covered in adult ticks and larval/ seed ticks swarms

at some point every single day hunting. At one point it looked like I had sequence on my pants there were so many,

possibly hundreds. Another day i walked right into a nest and my face was covered in larval/ seed ticks. 

 

Long story short, this stuff WORKS! I have observed, on many occasions, ticks looking like they were drunk, and falling

off my clothes. One minute I will be covered, the next minute they have all fallen off my clothes. I have founds countless

dead ticks in my pants pockets and in the folds of my clothing.

 

Every morning or evening when I come home from hunting. I immediately shower and check for ticks. In 6

different trips I have found ZERO TICKS on my body. I have never experienced this before while hiking or hunting using deet,

picardin, etc.

 

The mosquitoes did not seem to care. Maybe it helped a little; I could not be sure on that one. They are just too fast

I noticed a number of dead ants on my boots one morning when I used fresh apples as a cover scent. Ants aren't much

of a problem in my area. I also still managed to get poison ivy when I kicked off my boots to stalk a doe in my socks and

I managed to have a nice 8 pointer duck my arrow at 20 yards broadside with his head in the leaves. So I can't say the

permethrin cures or prevents stupidity.

 

Heres the fun part. Smell and getting winded. I like to hunt from the ground a lot, spot and stalk, still hunting. I stalked

a handful of deer through tall grass fields. So scent control is important here. I was a winded once that I know of. Can I say it

was attributed to the permethrin? Maybe. It is entirely possible the deer smelled the permethrin. I wasn't wearing my pack, all

I had was the clothes on my back and my bow; which I am pretty confident were as close to scent free as you are going to get.

The real question is do I give a shit? Absolutely not. This stuff is so fucking good at what is does, and if I get winded every once

in awhile, but steer clear of lymes disease, I am all about it.

 

TLDR: I still don't know if this stuff has an odor and will get you winded, but I don't want lymes disease, and this stuff is practically

magic so I won't go into the woods without it ever again.

Edited October 9, 2018 by longislandbowhunter