# An odd day of scouting.....



## RiverRob (Jul 24, 2007)

I went back to where I bow hunted last year to see if I could find some sign and do general scouting, I ended up passing by a bedding area and continued on, at one point I felt something on my leg, found it was a tick and gave a quick look over, I found more and dispatched the little pests, I headed to the road and stripped down to my skibbys and searched throughly. I found ticks, inside my sweatshirt, t shirt, pants, socks, bow sling, and once I went bare [email protected]$ed road side inside my drawers. Im guessing a minimum of 15 ticks. I've never had more than two ticks on me at once so this is new. One thing that had me thinking was the fact that there were a lot of dead deer in the woods, didn't look like they were predator kills and didnt look like they were scavenged on. Im guessing if they were, the carcass would be spread out more. Did see quite a few turkeys. Im reluctant about going back to find a good blind and stand site. I was thinking about calling fish and game and let them know, anyone else has had a situation like this. Thought I should let you know where I was at.....out by Towner ND.


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## whitehorse (Jan 28, 2008)

that is odd... the most i've ever had was one... and i'm always in the woods and workin outside..... i hate those things


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## dblkluk (Oct 3, 2002)

Pretty common for this time of the year. I'm so used to having them on me while outside in the spring at our place I don't even bat an eye when I feel the familar "tickle". Just pluck it off and keep moving.
On the bright side, they seem thin out right around the middle of July... :wink:


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## Turner (Oct 7, 2005)

Last spring I was out picking wild asparagus and when I came out of the bush my legs were covered with well over 30 ticks. I think this time of year they must bunch up (just a thought). There is this stuff you can buy at wally world that starts with a "P", I can not think of the name of it right now. You can wash your clothes down with it, let them dry and they are good for a month or two on repelling ticks. It's funny, when you find one on yourself it seems like you start feeling them all over. Ticks and squeeters, we can get rid of them both.


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## Plainsman (Jul 30, 2003)

I remember walking a mile into a waterfowl production area in South Dakota this time of year. We had to make at least five or six stops. In a four hour period I think we picked off over 200 each.

I have worked outdoors a lot. I buy elastic headbands and put them in a ziplock bag. Spray them down good with deep woods Off and them put them around your leg just above the knee. Put your socks over the outside of your pants so they don't get under, and they don't cross the saturated off zone. When you are done put the headbands back in the ziplock.

Don't stick to trails. Once a female tick has engorged she drops off the animal and lays her eggs. There are way more ticks along the trails than if you just head off through the grass and brush.


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## TheProffesional (Feb 11, 2007)

yea id say thats normal this time of the year ive been out shed hunting or just scouting before and have found at least that many on me a couple times


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## RiverRob (Jul 24, 2007)

Im not used to dealing with lots of ticks, i can handle swarms of mosquitos and black flies but i hate the idea of lime disease. i must have brushed into some clusters of hatches. i bet with warmer winters they will survive easier. i will go out next time with more protection, cant wait till the tick season passes, any thoughts on the dead deer? two i saw were on either side of the road, waste of meat.


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## Plainsman (Jul 30, 2003)

Don't worry to much about Lyme's disease we don't have the deer tick ( _Ixodes scapularis _). Our common tick is the American dog tick ( _Dermacentor variables _) which most people call wood ticks. We do have an occasional Rocky Mountain wood tick ( _Dermacentor andersoni _) and have had rare verified cases of Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever.


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## dblkluk (Oct 3, 2002)

Plainsman nailed it.



> two i saw were on either side of the road, waste of meat.


Could be road kill..We live off a highway and every spring I find multiple deer kills some a few hundred yards from the highway.


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## RiverRob (Jul 24, 2007)

dblkluk said:


> Plainsman nailed it.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


could have been road kill, it was a short dirt road though. Several of the dead deer were in the woods, never seen so many dead deer in such a small area. Owell, good news about lack of lime disease.


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## Hamm (Dec 10, 2007)

Plainsman said:


> Don't worry to much about Lyme's disease we don't have the deer tick ( _Ixodes scapularis _). Our common tick is the American dog tick ( _Dermacentor variables _) which most people call wood ticks. We do have an occasional Rocky Mountain wood tick ( _Dermacentor andersoni _) and have had rare verified cases of Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever.


I've heard they need to be attached for awhile too. Anyone know if there's any truth to that? I don't remember how long it was exactly, but I believe it wasn't until they started turning that light color.


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