Thread: Bug repellent

How do deer and elk react to bug repellent? I'm going elk archery hunting for a week on the westside and the drainages I find the elk at in the summer are full of mosquitoes. When I get bit I welt up real bad even though I don't scratch the bites. My wife will be standing right next to me and I'll get 10 bites for every 1 she gets. They seem to love me and I seem to react to bites more than most people. Anybody try the earth scented DEET stuff, anything else work well? Thanks

Eat garlic and oinion but it may keep the wife away too. Heard that listerine works too but ? Go to Bi Mart and check by the game calls area they have the scent free stuff in that area usually.

Just an opinion, but if your working the wind right, it wont matter. If you have the wind at your back, your not hunting anyway, your chasing.

If you really want to be 'odor free', then consider long sleeves, pants and a head net.

I think all the odor free products to be marketing hype though, any animal with decent nose is going to smell you anyway. The wind is your friend, use it.

Amen brother Moose! If you cant approach the Elk, etc. with the wind correct, it's far better to wait for another chance, or come at it from a different direction than to blow it. I don't know about anyone else, but I cant outrun an Elk.

I know it's important to work the wind but both places I chase elk have wind that just goes every which way every 10-15 minutes. If you always kept the wind in your face you would just be going in circles and never get more than 50ft from your rig. The only time it's steady is on some of the hillsides when the thermals are changing from the sun rising or setting. I think this year I'll try the earth scented DEET and next year try and save up for bug proof clothes. They have bit me right through my lightweight tops and bottoms so just covering my skin won't work. Several times I've gotten plenty close for shots ignoring the wind but also who knows how many I spooked for the same reason? If I don't see a darn thing I'll know they hate the smell of the bug spray.

One thing that always worked for me, to keep the bugs off (mosquitos, chiggers, ticks etc) was eating 3-4 of the soft, close-cover-before-striking match heads everyday I was in the field. Sounds nasty, but I came out of most field ops with very few bites, and no chiggers. Might work for you....... I put them in MRE's, and you couldn't even tell the difference

I Googled eating match heads and it said that can make your nipples and hair fall off and can cause genetic defects in your children like 11 fingers or being born with no lips. Haha, just funnin' you. I think I'll stick with spraying chemicals on my body instead of eating them though, just to be "safe".