Mosquitos and Bugs in the woods...How do you deal with them?

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johnnylabguy

johnnylabguy

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I've never cut firewood in the woods in the summer. Too hot, too much brush, but mostly too many dang Bugs! This is the first year I've got access to my woods with a truck so if the urge hits me to fire up a saw (and I'm sure it will!) I'd like to know some tips for battlin' the bugs.

I don't mind the weeds and sweat but I cannot stand the skeeters,gnats, horseflies and the like. Any suggestions on what works to keep them at bay is appreciated. I live in central Ohio so keep that in mind as it varies from region to region for some of the tiny critters. Thanks for any tips!
 
take off your
skirt-teen-fashion-3035289-350-350.jpg


and spray some
off-deep-woods-aerosol-spray-insect-repellent.jpg

on your pants and arms/shirt

and go cut somewood

personally the only thing that worries me is the damn poison ivy
 
LOL! I already know about deep woods off! Thats my favorite tool right now. I'm hoping there's a cheaper or as effective alternative.

And I swapped out the skirt a long time ago... that deep woods off burns on the "boys" down there!:msp_smile:
 
Anyone who ventures into the woods this time of the year is way tougher than I am. The deer flies are probably the worst culprit you will encounter. They buzz around your head constantly. At least a mosquito will eventually land, bite and move on. I'd have to think as long as the saw is running the bugs will most likely leave you alone. Perhaps a bit more 2 cycle oil in your gas will make enough smoke to keep them at bay.
 
well, I use

..a pair of 12 bore autoloaders with some #8 shot. One in each hand..

..actually, it's weird, but I live in the south and the bugs just ain't that bad for me. The further north I have been, the worse they get. My theory is the real short summers in the north just makes them mean and hungry and highly aggressive

well, OK, joshing about blasting skeeters, but I most certainly used to go out and go "locust skeet shooting" before. Best snap shooting practice there is...

well, OK 2..avoid scents, don't apply any artificial scents. Use plain jane soap, the most neutral you can find. Don't wear "loud" colors. Put up with the heat and wear long sleeves and long pants. Thin tight cotton gloves. A hat and a mosquito net if you need to protect face and neck then.

There ya go. No matter how beastly hot it gets here, I wear long pants and a long sleeved shirt and gloves of some kind when I am working. Not so much for regular bug, but for the odd hit a hornet/wasp nest or yellow jacket nest (and eventually killer bees will get here).

GF goes normal light clothes, shorts, etc working outside in the summer and is constantly complaining about bugs. Also has the usual collection of girly scented whatever lotions and potions on, plus wears more colorful clothes. I think that just attracts bugs.

I just put up with being hotter and not smelling like a chemical factory. Very few probs with biting insects that way. Got to be decades since I used any bug repellent. Just stopped using it and now they don't seem to "bug" me.

I have also read some people attract insects more than others, something to do with your breath exhalation smell to them..
 
Lotsa Deet. Chaps are hotter than hell, but are better than getting shredded by greenbrier and brambles, as well as providing a skeeter barrier. Long sleeve T-shirts coated with Deet to keep the skeeters more respectfull and the poison ivy contact minimal.
Reapply the DEET often, while cussing skeeters non stop..it helps.
And drink LOTS of water, before ya get thirsty.
Lastly, hang the chaps in the barn to dry when done, and do NOT toss 'em behind the truck seat. The word "Stench" comes to mind.

I avoid cutting in the summer best I can.
I'd rather deal with the cold and snow any day.

Good luck and have fun!!


Stay safe!
Dingeryote
 
Call me crazy, but I do the majority of my cutting in the summer. The days are longer, there is no snow to trudge through, and it's just nicer to be outside. Get a big igloo water jug, and a couple of cans of Deep Woods Off. Usually I can find a shady spot to work in, if not I get out there early in the day to avoid the hottest sun. My new KM130 is invaluble in knocking down the bruch in the area I'm working..:cool2:
 
what works for me in these hot humid minnesota summer days with bugs .... the great smell of garlic, people seem to stay away and not bother you when your trying to get some work done as well as the pesky little critters!! lol other wise when the wife is out and about with me she uses the avon "skin so soft" ??? smells better then me and dont have as many bites either? go figure? guess you gotta smell good not to get bit! lol
 
It has long been my opinion that the idea that Skin-So-Soft repels mosquitos is a ploy by some old lady to sell more Avon. I've lived in the swamps of South Carolina, the mountains of Virginia, and the cold flat place called Minnesota. One thing is for sure, you use Skin-So-Soft and you're going to be greasy, bug bit, and smell like a girl..:tongue2:

The best stuff I've used was during my time in the Marines. The old GI bug juice. Went on like sun tan lotion, and in a few short moments you could feel the burn. I am fairly certain it darkened your already tanned hide another shade every time you put it on. A bear wouldn't bite you if you had the stuff on. Only thing close to it is the Deep Woods Off. It has a mild warm glow to it, similiar to IceyHot.
 
I tend to be a mosquito magnet! The only thing I have found that works reliably in my area is Deep Woods Off(DWO)(or the comparable Cutters product). Deer and horse flies are not as bad of a problem here as they are farther north, but the mosquito problems can be just as bad as anywhere, especially this spring... The old GI bug dope is 100% deet and you can still buy products that are close to that, but you do risk the problem of getting some chemical burns if you cover it up too much. I've not seen it as a spray though. DWO is about 25% deet.

BTY: The Cutters Advanced, which uses Picaridin instead of deet, does not work real well for me in the woods. For a backyard BBQ, it's fine, and does not smell quite as bad as the deet products(even the unscented ones). For me, it does not help at all with deerflies, horseflies or ticks. Deet is the only thing that works for them...and lots of it!:dizzy:

Here's a good product that I have used for deerflies in N. Michigan. It works well, as long as you use a hat that is not the same color as the patch. http://deerflypatches.com/index.htm

Besides, you get this nice feeling of revenge when you look at the patch and see all those dead deerflies!
 
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DEB SBS-40 hand cream

We get this hand cream at work, I thought all the guys were full of it when they told me to use it to keep the bugs away, but it works better than anything I've ever used.

Around here the gnats have been terrible the past few years, but with this stuff on they won't touch you. I just rub it on my arms and all around my face, and even when you get to sweating it holds up for a couple hours.

I don't know what's in the stuff, but it always works for me

DEB SBS
 
I don't like using DEET sprays and rubs. Makes me feel half sick after my skin has absorbed the chemicals.

A thermocell unit will definately help with the mosquitos.
 
I 2nd what Zogger says!! Good stuff, all I can add is that the bugs follow you by your Co2 trail. Sometimes a vehicle at idle acts as one hell of a decoy. We always leave the truck running when we launch the boat way up north in Canada. You can see the "cloud" of skeeters near the exaust pipe as you are walking back up to the truck. The skeeters see CO1 as the same as CO2 that is whay all those skeeter traps burn propane, to create CO1, carbon monoxide.

Also instead of chaps (i know not as safe) I ALWAYS wear the Carhart double front loggers when I'm in the woods.

My opinion is coming from walking 10s of thousands of miles along transmission power lines in a dozen east coast and northern states.

Winter does solve most trouble! Summer is my worst season, ice fishing rules!!!!!

When I'm back home splitting, I keep one of these blowing on me, keep the bugs off and helps to keep cool....(another tip, skeeters don't do wind well at all)

3_87465.jpg
 
Deer fly patches are cat ass for deer flies, for no-see ums/blackflies (regioanl disputes as to what is what) a head net as they usually only like your eyes/nose and ears works best. For everything else two options, live in the bush working hard long hours, little to no bathing, and they will leave you alone................

Or Deet and lots of it, in the army we had 100% deet stuff called jungle juice, nero etc......it would melt plastic and remove paint within 5 min, worked like a charm...........but its bad for the body, real bad, but hey it works.
 
Well, I finally had a day off and a chance to make it out to the woods this afternoon. Wife got home from work and took over running after my little jeebers(school's out!).
I needed to clear the trails with my newly acquired(last fall) poulan brush cutter(Sorry MNGuns, I cheaped out on the $100 ebay closeout! Actually does really well once warmed up). It was a muggy 87 degrees but inside the woods fully covered in clothing and deep woods off it wasn't bad at all... as long as I kept moving! I didn't notice the bugs until I fiinally shut the brushcutter off an hour and a half in. Then they were all over me! I ended up putting my glasses back on and ear muffs for the 10 minute walk out! I actually realized the bugs buzzing in my ears tick me off the most. Work tunes took care of that!

Who knew that skeeters and no see-ums were such PPE advocates?:cool2:
 
I can't use OFF or Cutter's. I recently read about this for mosquito repellent and gave it a test run this morning - it seemed to work well: Banana Boat Sport sunscreen http://www.amazon.com/Banana-Boat-Performance-Sunblock-4-Ounce/dp/B002Y26RUO

Deer flies are a whole nuther issue - I've never had to use this method for deer flies but there appears to be plenty of believers: Deer fly traps made out of blue buckets and sticky goo - http://nfrec.ifas.ufl.edu/MizellRF/deerfly_trap.htm

Testimonials for the above: http://nfrec.ifas.ufl.edu/MizellRF/deer-fly-testimonial.htm

Shari
 
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I use a full body tyvek suit and a set of chaps when I cut in the summer. As long as you don't wear any clothes under the suit you stay nice and cool while working. A little duct tape at the boots and gloves, a couple of tick collars at the ankles and I'm good to go! If the pollen count is too high I wear my Israeli gas mask to keep from sneezing.
 

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