How Do Hunters Deal With Fleas and Ticks?

February 11, 2016

Question: I’m not a hunter but am wondering if there is a concern for hunters having to deal with fleas and/or ticks jumping off a cooling carcass when field dressing the animal? (Kelly B., Los Angeles)

Answer: Many animals have fleas and ticks and hunters are encouraged to protect themselves from bites by using appropriate sprays or products to reduce the chance of bites and diseases like Lyme disease.

Montana has to have at least one joke for this. ....

Just take a shower when you get home?? Works for me, and I'm particularly furry

Or bring OTB with you. Any ticks will jump on him,not you. He is a tick  Magnet!!!!!!

I haven't seen fleas on on big game, just on small game.  They tend to be associated with animals that nest in the same areas repeatedly.

Now, ticks - I have seen these on deer, elk, javelina.  They jump ship pretty quick because they know the animal is dead and there won't be any more food. 

The plus side is that these ticks have been feeding and are usually quite large, so they are easy to see.  None of these tiny baby ticks, or flat hungry ones.  Since they've fed, its time to mate and/or lay eggs.  I don't think most of them are interested in finding a new host at this time, and just want to get away.

You probably have more danger from the ticks that aren't on the animal

Since you are in the field anyway, you would have taken normal precautions against fleas and bugs anyways - such as tucking in pant legs, or taping them (as Hojoman said), and doing through tick checks at the end of the day.  It helps to have a good friend (or a good mirror) for the tick check.

Montana has to have at least one joke for this. ....

Where I come from, Ticks, are an STD. 

I don't pay attention to ticks to behonest. If I find one on me, I pick it off. If it is dug in, I squirt some off on it, backs right out. There will be hundreds of ticks on a deer you shoot in cali, same with pigs. Be smart about how you handle dead critters. You are more at risk of infection from an open wound than you are from a tick.
Cleanliness is next to godliness......

I've been hunting the pigs this winter and have yet to see a tick, till last weekend when the weather warmed up. I've been finding them at home afterwards all this week. Does the weather influence their numbers and activity?
I'm going to try the OFF idea, though most times I find them soon enough to pull them off. I've learned not to ignore that tiny sore feeling. It's usually a tick!

Last season, I had my first encounter with a tick.  We were hanging out at camp after a day of hunting when the tick bit me in the neck.  I couldn't pull it off my neck using my fingers and when I checked in the mirror, it was in an area that I couldn't see.  Luckily, ChuckE was there to remove it because it would've sucked if it happened in the field, all by myself.  I'm hoping Bay Laurel will keep them off me this season because I'm not a fan of wearing bug spray. 

We kill them.

Last season, I had my first encounter with a tick.  We were hanging out at camp after a day of hunting when the tick bit me in the neck.  I couldn't pull it off my neck using my fingers and when I checked in the mirror, it was in an area that I couldn't see.  Luckily, ChuckE was there to remove it because it would've sucked if it happened in the field, all by myself.  I'm hoping Bay Laurel will keep them off me this season because I'm not a fan of wearing bug spray. 

I'm not a fan of the chemical sprays either.

I saw more ticks here last year than I did in the last 5 years combined.  I think it was the mild winter last year with no real hard freeze that made them so abundant.

Frequent tick checks and keeping the dogs cleaned up kept them in check, but damn there were a lot of them last year.