One of the main differences between city life and country life is the abundance of time I now spend outside. In the winter, we’re outside cross country skiing and ice skating, building snowmen, and restocking our woodpile (free heat courtesy of hard work).
This year, we are all eager for sunshine and green grass after such a long winter. We have several fun projects to get started on – setting up a chicken coop and raising chickens, establishing a big garden (though not so big as to completely overwhelm us!), training our new puppy (a Chesapeake Bay Retriever), and setting up an outside archery range for some practice shooting (our plans for an inside basement range were thwarted by time and space).
Ticks: Definitely Not a Hunter’s Friend
Unfortunately, Vermont is a tick haven. While Michigan most likely has them, ticks were not prevalent in the area where we lived so I didn’t have to think about them whenever we were outside. Vermont, on the other hand, has four varieties:
- American Dog tick
- Deer Tick
- Lone Star Tick
- Woodchuck Tick
With the presence of ticks comes the increased likelihood of tick-related diseases like Lyme disease, babesiosis, ehrlichiosis, and Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever. The Lone Star tick has been linked to a red meat allergy, which I’m sure many hunters would prefer not to get. Centers for Disease control had more than 22,500 confirmed and 7,500 probable cases of Lyme disease in 2010 and it’s officially the most commonly reported tick-borne disease in the United States. All of this information creates a sense of uneasiness in me as I plan to sit for hours in a ground blind or tree stand or walk through the woods or fields surrounding our property during hunting season and throughout the spring and summer leading up to it as I figure out where I plan to hunt on our property.
Solution? Gamehide’s New ElimiTick Clothing Line
ElimiTick clothing by Gamehide is the first ever EPA-registered insect repellent clothing that is geared towards repelling ticks as well as mosquitoes, ants, flies, chiggers, and midges (no-see-ums). The Insect Shield repellent products have received the EPA’s most favorable rating and are deemed safe for use by children of all ages.
ElimiTick clothing utilizes Insect Shield Repellent Technology to bond a man-made version of a natural repellent to fabric fibers. The active ingredient is so tightly bonded that repellency effectiveness is retained throughout the expected life of the garment. Because Insect Shield bonds the repellent to the fabric fibers, the consumer is supposed to get much more complete coverage and, therefore, more effective repellency. And, because the repellent is built into the fibers, it is supposed to last through 70 washings, the expected life of the garment.
I’m told the repellent in an ElimiTick garment is bonded to the fabric fibers and is odorless and invisible. I’ll let you know how well it works – I’m definitely happy to have some sort of protection between me and those ambitious ticks.
— Kristen Schmitt’s introduction to archery blog appears weekly here at deeranddeerhunting.com.
Shop Special of the Week:
Ben’s 100 MAX Tick & Insect Repellent contains the maximum amount of DEET for use in areas of high bug density with intense biting activity. For use when other insect repellents just won’t cut it, Ben’s® 100 MAX provides up to 10 hours of protection from ticks and insects that may carry West Nile Virus (WNV), Lyme diease, Malaria, Eastern Equine Encephalitis (EEE), and other infectious diseases.