Looking good

[charlie elk]

where you been hidin, charlie, in the turkey woods?

How did you guess that? A lot new tech gets by me, my GPS is a 1996 Garmin so more time to get out the woods is sometimes necessary.

GameHide came out with ElimiTick treated camo a couple years ago.

GameHide clothing is treated with Pyrethrins an extract from chrysanthemum flowers which according to the FDA may cause wheezing, coughing, shortness of breath,difficulty breathing and chest pain. Pyrethrins are more effective for mosquito control and is the active ingredient used for Thermacells and most mosquito foggers. ThermaCells are really just miniature foggers.

Permethrin is an odorless man made chemical, the FDA has found in rare cases it has caused some minor skin irritations usually only if clothing is worn too soon after application. Permethrin is the most effective tick, chigger, spider and beetle repellent/killer.

Permethrin is deadly to cats, so if you have a cat you care about keep this stuff away from them. My neighbor's trail cam got a series of cougar (as in mountain loin) pictures last week. We are not at all happy about a cougar in the area it is going to make walking through the corn an adventure. Perhaps permethrin will kill it or at least repel it?

[Chief Many Longbeards]

great info there, charlie. thanks for clearing that up.
a guy, meaning me, should know by now not to believe all the marketing you hear.

[charlie elk]

a guy, meaning me, should know by now not to believe all the marketing you hear.

Please don't be embarrassed, I used your comment as a segue to share my research. I researched Gamehide in depth only after you mentioned them.

[putt]

Glad to hear the good news hope you have some great fall hunts.

The only thing I have found to reliably repel ticks is permethrin treated clothing. After having 7 flareups of Lyme Disease I finally learned prevention is the best tactic and that deet does not repel WI or MN ticks at all.

Put me down as a strong fan of permethrin-impregnated clothing.

After sending my wife to the doctor one year & then the emergency room the next year with painful infections from tick bites where I brought home the ticks to her from my turkey hunting, I looked for something better than deet.

I first tried the permethrin-spray-soaking of my garb per advice from another hunter. That worked, but there had to be something better.

Then found the "Insect Shield" folks who license the permethrin-bonded clothing system. ElimiTick is a hunting chlothing line from Gamehide that uses the "Insect Shield" system. I have camo pants & shirt from them. Can get them online from Gamehide, or my local Wisconsin Fleet Farm now carries ElimiTick.

But other clothing companies now also carry "Insect Shield" clothing, including LLBean (where I've bought), REI, Orvis. Here's a weblink that lists companies that carry "Insect Shield" chlothing:
http://www.insectshield.com/Shop/Wheretobuy.aspx

The impregnation is supposed to last for 70 washings. If you wash your hunting clothes as seldom as I do, that's a long time. They cost a bit more, but cans of permethrin spray ain't cheap.

I've use the clothing now for two years, & am mighty happy with the results. I hate ticks worse than snakes.

[putt]

Please don't be embarrassed, I used your comment as a segue to share my research.

"Segue"? You write real purdy, Charlie. I had to look that one up.

[charlie elk]

But other clothing companies now also carry "Insect Shield" clothing, including LLBean (where I've bought), REI, Orvis. Here's a weblink that lists companies that carry "Insect Shield" chlothing:
http://www.insectshield.com/Shop/Wheretobuy.aspx

Thank you Putt. Interesting link, I stand corrected on the permethrin treated clothing. I will begin shopping for some of those clothes.
What is the difference between elimi tick and insect shield? Permethrin vs Pyrethrins?

[putt]

What is the difference between elimi tick and insect shield? Permethrin vs Pyrethrins?

I believe that Insect Shield is the licensed product that is used by many clothing brands, including GameHide's ElimiTick brand. There are clickable tabs in that web link I provided that further explain the Insect Shield company.

Permethrin vs Pyrethrin is a tougher question, one that I had to Google to answer.

Pyrethrins are organic compounds made from the chrysanthemum flowers (so many tuff-to-spell words in this answer) ... basically natural insecticides.

Permethrin is is a synthetic man-made insecticide made to mimic the above, but also made to be more effective & more stable in sunlight.

Here's the link explaining this
http://www.livingwithbugs.com/permethrin_pyrethrum.html

After having 7 flareups of Lyme Disease I finally learned prevention is the best tactic and that deet does not repel WI or MN ticks at all.

Charlie, sorry to hear that Lyme Disease keeps getting you. That's something that scares me greatly, & is the reason for my tick hatred. My dog was diagnosed with it a month+ ago, in spite of her Frontline treatments.

Would you mind telling us a bit about your Lyme experience? How you were diagnosed, what your treatment has been, whether the 7 flareups were reoccurances of a single case, or possibly new bites, anything else from your experience that you'd want us to be aware of?

I'd like to hear from a hunter that's been thru it, especially one like you who throws himself into analyzing whatever he comes across.

Hope that it's going well for you now.

<Edit> After submitting this reply I realized how far off-topic it's getting. My apologies to the topic originator, & Charlie, if you choose to tell us your Lyme experience it's certainly worth a fresh topic start.

[ylpnfol]

it's all good, this all started when i touted deet for going in the woods this time of year, i have been using permethrin on my spring turkey hunting clothing for years, it's the only way to go [as stated ], but i've been known to go roaming w/ shorts on this time of year and deet works well to keep tix and skeets away when sprayed on bare skin.....good info here.....i would also like to hear about the lyme disease cases/ symptoms etc, too....

[charlie elk]

What is the difference between elimi tick and insect shield? Permethrin vs Pyrethrins?

I did not word that well, try again -
Elimitick appears to be a permethrin treatment. Is insect shield pyrethrin treatment?

Regarding my lymes disease; the symptoms were blurring vision, overall joint pain and tiredness, it was like my body was heavier without gaining any weight. mrs elk says I get irritable too, but don't most women think that of their husbands? After experiencing these symptoms for a couple of weeks I go to my doctor. Each time 30 days of antibiotic treatment took care it. But with lymes there is guarantee it is actually cured or anyway to test, so each of my episodes could be the original infection coming out of remission.
With lymes it is very important to get treatment early, then it is no worse than other infection we catch from time to time. If however, it is left untreated in its early stage all those initial symptoms go away, you think you're fine and then it comes back worse. Eventually if you ignore all the flare ups lymes becomes chronic meaning it infects organs for which there is no cure.
Once in the organs hospital time for blood washing and inter vinous drug therapy is the only hope to put it into remission. Most patients at this point will continue to come out of remission and have to repeat the treatments until it eventually leads to death.
A friend was infected at the same time I was with my first episode, he ignored his symptoms which included the classic bulls-eye rash. A year later he was hospitalized for 3 months and continues in and out of the hospital and deals with a damaged liver, kidneys and his 50 year old body is that of a 70 year old due to arthritic deformities. It has been 20 years of misery for him.
If you even think you have any lyme symptoms go to a doctor who is a chronic disease specialist or at the very least a GP who has experience treating lymes. Many doctors remain in denial or ignorant about lymes and misdiagnose it.

[putt]

Regarding my lymes disease; the symptoms were ....

Thanks for the lyme education, Charlie. Nasty, nasty disease. Sounds like you're fighting it the way it needs to be fought. Hope that you've found a doc that knows lyme.

I believe I remember that there was once, but no longer, a lyme vaccine for humans. Don't know if that was taken off the market for inneffectiveness, legal costs, or lack of profits. Hope that they figure another vaccine out soon.

Your story prods me to talk to my doc about what lyme tests there are out there.

Good luck to you, Charlie.

Elimitick appears to be a permethrin treatment. Is insect shield pyrethrin treatment?

To my understanding, ElimiTick & Insect Shield are basically the same treatment, permethrin. Insect Shield is the licensed product. ElimiTick is one of many clothing brands that use the Insect Shield process.

But I'm just a user, not an Insect Shield expert. I recommend you take a look at their website, it has quite a bit of information.
http://www.insectshield.com

I do remember exchanging a few emails with the Insect Shield company when I first found their website, & their responses were good enough to convince me to buy their product.