Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting Ticks on deer

This year the deer taken where I hunt had ticks in the front "arm pits" and between the rear legs. We haven't had ticks on the deer this late before. Anyone else finding ticks on their deer?

We always have ticks on deer here in the Catskills all season. They are particularly bad this year.

Deer here in western VA I have shot have been loaded with ticks. I pulled several ticks off myself during early muzzleloader.

All 3 of the deer I shot so far this season in southern Maryland had ticks on them

We always do down here.

Not this late in the year, but deer I shoot in September are usually crawlin' with 'em.

Not back east, but the Muleys I've killed and seen killed in late November here, in temps well below zero, still have a bunch of ticks. I've never not seen it. Most on the head.

Cold temps will do nothing to lessen their numbers once they're on an animal. They're nice and warm enjoying a blood meal. Moose in Maine die from enemia every winter because of all the ticks feeding on them.

The buck I shot in Kansas on Wednesday had many ticks on it, so much I pointed them out to dad when we were skinning it. I've seen ticks on deer, just not as many or as big as these were. The doe my boy shot in early September was also riddled in ticks.

My buck this fall only had one tick on him... Unfortunately it was right on the end of his pecker.

First year I've seen deer keds in my area though.

Which get called ticks a lot. 'Round these parts anyway.

Yep.

-Ken

Ticks have been scarce around here for a couple of years. I always permethrin up for archery season, but haven’t re-upped my spray since the first application. Saw zero on my buck killed 11-09.

Ticks on our deer are a pretty common thing here in KY. I think every deer we took at camp this year, 7 total, had them.

On us? Our place used to be crawling with ticks. I could walk around the house in the summer and come in the house with 10 of them on me. If memory serves, for all my hiking around, hunting, camping and so forth, I think I picked one off of me this year.

Saw several ticks on deer taken at hunt camp this year. SW Va.

Ticks are no joke. One tick put me in intensive care for a week. My heart rate was 25. Lyme Carditis. Stage 3 heart block, temporary pacemaker and a month of daily Doxycycline administered into a picc line that lead from my arm directly to my heart.

I got up to use the bathroom and passed out on the floor. My wife heard it and called 911. Doc said if I stayed in bed, I wouldn't have woken up.

All better now but That Sucked!

Damn.. there's a cautionary tale if there ever was one.
Glad you recovered!

When my son and I were skinning my deer in early November he had one crawling up his arm from the deer. We know it was from the deer because he didn't go hunting or in the woods that day. I always check from head to toe for ticks when I come in from the woods but even then you can miss those little bastards.

I know a nurse here that got Alphagal , I think it's called from a tick deer hunting. She can't eat or touch mammal meat of any kind without having a severe allergic reaction. No known cure for it. She has to eat fish and birds for meat. She loved venison.

I shot a buck on November 14th in Mn that was covered in ticks.

Wow, just googled that. Had never heard of Alpha-gal syndrome before. Now I hate ticks even more.

Ticks are some scary stuff! Not scary enough to keep me out of the woods, but some scary stuff! I use a lint roller to go over myself when I get out of the woods, really picks off the crawling little biotches on the clothes.

It's been worth it to me to have my outdoor clothes treated by Insect Shield:

https://www.insectshield.com/

Watched a live tick completely stop moving after being on my treated pants leg for 20 minutes.

I have no relationship with the company apart from being a customer. This stuff really works!

Thank you, me too!

I remember reading about a guy out West that got Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever from a tick bite. The infection spread so rapidly, they had to amputate both arms and both legs within a week of his bite.

Crazy [bleep]!

The ticks did seem especially plentiful this year probably due to the warmer than normal weather. I contracted Lyme from a deer tick 2 years ago. Heavy doses of doxycycline have it under control now but it has caused damage to my joints. I now use premetherin on all my hunting clothes to prevent further issues.

It's the black legged deer tick that causes the problems here in W. Pa. Takse the fun out of everything . My Brittany was Lyme positive but didn't show symptoms. He had a lyme vaccine later and other anti-tick stuff. Takes the fun out of Pheasant hunting.

I know people who don't even hunt that got Lyme. I am seriously paranoid about ticks and use a lot of Sawyer's spray (permitherin). It seems to keep the little basturds off me. I shot a doe in Oct and a Buck last week. I was astonished to find no ticks because my area is probably one of the worst...FWIW, I have found the cold weather doesn't phase ticks. Hot weather, the sun out in the open, seems to send them to ground like mini-vampires.

I spray permethrin on my hunting clothes and also spray my dog with a topical before each hunt. We have ticks all year long in Connecticut and I have seen them on deer in December. Long snowy winters actually protect the little fuggers so cold and limited snow will help keep numbers in check. I don’t seem to attract them on myself maybe its all the garlic I eat. But I have been tested and so far no Lyme.

I have had Lyme for 2 years now trust me it is no joke. I get a shiver now every time I see a tick on one of our deer. I spray all my hunting clothing with premetherin now. I am a hunter and couldn't imagine my life without hunting. I urge everyone to use premetherine and check yourself after every hunt. Lyme is not something you ever want to deal with. I could have taken a nice safari to Africa with what I have spent in medical costs. Good hunting.

They can be bad around here at times. One of the few virtues of fire ants is they reduce the tick populations, so do possums. Javelina can be especially bad and they have some type of big flea that will leap off the javelina onto you when you start to dress them, their bite hurts unlike other fleas.

When I get an infested one I spray it with 90% Isopropyl Alcohol, most of the fleas and a number of ticks will jump off as the animal cools. I got a pair of tick gators and they really help with the seed ticks and chiggers. The fabric tangles up their feet and holds them long enough for the permethrine to do it's thing.

I shot one deer that was so heavily infested we didn't even try to process it, I don't know how that deer managed, looked ok when I shot it.

Didn’t notice any ticks this year on our deer (2) in East Texas. We were in drought conditions this fall and our high infestation of imported fire ants keeps the ticks in check. One of the only benefits I’m aware of from the nasty bastards.

We see them this late here to.

Generally we have alot of tics on deer in Northern VA. Not as many this year less than normal for sure its been wet. Been soaking clothes in Sawyers for a couple of years now works great as instructed would'nt hunt without anymore. I'd be surprised if the deer around here had a disease and I didn't.

Good luck and shoot straight y'all

Never seen them on deer here in N D but they kill moose here. Edk

Ditto, always ticks on the deer where I hunt, but it seldom gets below freezing for very long. Heats up during the day.

Deer here frequently have a few ticks. I just make sure they don't get on me when skinning.

All my hunting clothes get the permethrin treatment. No ticks since I started using it. None.

Few if any ticks on the deer I’ve killed the past few seasons.

I would wonder what was wrong with a deer that did NOT have ticks....here.


Jerry

Noticing a lot of you guys use the permethrin. I am not familiar with this treatment.

Is this a scent-free chemical? Must you treat the clothes before each outing or is it used only once at the beginning of the season?
Can you apply to skin also?

-Ken

Look at the ticks on this bad boy, shot last week

Spray once, treatment lasts about six weeks or six washings. NOT for skin, or underwear. I use the Sawyers brand available all over, but others mix their own with concentrate from ag suppliers. It actually kills any ticks that don’t take the repellent hint. I do all my external clothing, including socks and shoes/boots. Also spray my pack and turkey vest. Let it dry before wearing. I don’t smell anything, but who knows what Bambi can. If he’s downwind, he can smell my breath anyway.

Great stuff

That's probably no more than the average transient has around here on them, same with the BLM and Antifa losers.

The deer in Ca always had so many I felt like I was doing them a favor by putting them out of their misery.
Just another public service I was always happy to provide.

Ticks are much less of a problem since we started prescribed burns a decade ago. Ticks spend much of their lives in and under the leaf litter. A spring "hot" fire will seriously dent the population not to mention the good it does for wildlife.

Haven't had a tick on me in years since I started spraying permethrin on my clothes. I buy the concentrated "cattle spray" at the COOP and dilute it down to desired percentage. DO NOT spray on skin or inhale.