Next month I'm hunting in an area I've hunted a few times before, but never this early. It's been brutal for tsetses every time I've been, but I've only hunted in August (mid to late), September and October. I was wondering if the cooler temps in July would dampen their enthusiasm at all.

Fulvio, I'd welcome your comments on this.

Not an issue for me one way or the other, but my wife decided to go this time and she's never been to fly country.

Well, until you mentioned your wife is going, I was going to make a smartass comment and say they’re way worse in cooler weather.

Instead I’ll wish you great success and hope your wife thoroughly enjoys it.

Don’t know where you are headed but we just returned from Moz, earliest we’ve hunted in Coutada 11. Tsetse flies were not bad at all, only found them in shady, damp areas.

thanks for the comments.

DLS: Your initial reaction is justified. Like I said, I could care less, been there done that. But I was thinking that lower temps might slow them down a bit. My wife's first trip was in 2017 and I chose Masailand in July so there would be no mozzies, and of course no tsetses. I designed that trip to be as comfortable as possible for her. She had a ball, but I was surprised that she wanted to go on this one frankly, and I've explained the fly issue, but don't want her to get turned off by that. She skipped my trip in 2021 due to COVID and she's also afraid of small planes, so this will be a stretch for her.

Karl: Thanks for the input. Lukwati South seems to have an increase in seeps since I first hunted there in 2013. Good for the game, but there's a lot of swampy ground. And a lot of flies.

We'll see.

Tse tse flies have no rules.

In the same area, one can go days without seeing a single one.

Then suddenly, you are covered.

My suggestion is to wear long sleaves, and use DEET with sun screen.

That is what I do, and it works better than anything sold.

Minimum is 30% DEET.

I use around 50%.

quote:

But I was thinking that lower temps might slow them down a bit

Funny you say that because I was going to comment on how the cold mornings of Lukwati kept the tsetse flies subdued until late morning when temps. got warmer and closer to sundown, again as temps. drop.

However, what those little bastards lose out on for breakfast and high tea is made up for as a furiously insatiable brunch.

Thanks Fulvio. Too funny.

But thank God for them. If it wasn't for tsetses the whole country would be covered with cows, sheep and goats and overgrazed like Masailand.

Has anyone tried a ThermaCELL?

The closest known effective repellent is the smoke from smouldering Elephant dung and it would be interesting to have it analyzed and possibly discover which of the digested element/s is/are responsible for keeping these pests at bay.

quote:

Originally posted by lpankratz:
Has anyone tried a ThermaCELL?

An Austrian client brought one along and it works only within the confines of the cab, not 100% but reasonably well.
The pain is that you tend to run out of chips pretty quick unless you have a bagful and a portable 12 volt charger to boot.

Hahahaha!

I bet a rusty can with elephant dung burning in the cap would be even better!

And you don't need a charger for it.

We always have a paint can smoldering in the back of the gari and I agree that it works.

Just heard of a big lion!

quote:

Originally posted by Saeed:
Tse tse flies have no rules.

In the same area, one can go days without seeing a single one.

Then suddenly, you are covered.

My suggestion is to wear long sleaves, and use DEET with sun screen.

That is what I do, and it works better than anything sold.

Minimum is 30% DEET.

I use around 50%.

Your concoction works great but it melts plastic and peels paint!

And I thought it used pure 100% DEET. (And Zebra piss, but I won’t tell anyone about that).

If your hand or arm with deet on it touches the plastic trim on a Toyota it will shrivel it to nothing. Your PH will not be amused!

https://www.instagram.com/p/Cv...hid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

This should be the lion..

If it gets bad enough in the car there's always DOOM!

Works every time!

Yep, it does. I recall my first PH in 2002, gathering ele dung and lighting it. It worked then and it has worked subsequently.

quote:

An Austrian client brought one along and it works only within the confines of the cab, not 100% but reasonably well.

Thermacells are standard equipment fare in Alaska when sitting all night for inland grizzly.

quote:

Originally posted by Use Enough Gun:

quote:

An Austrian client brought one along and it works only within the confines of the cab, not 100% but reasonably well.

Thermacells are standard equipment fare in Alaska when sitting all night for inland grizzly.

And all across the north where the bugs get bad. You have to be in one place in a blind for instance for it to work effectively. When moving they of course don’t replace repellent on your skin.

A wide-brimmed hat with a head net works. Burning elephant dung and Saeed's formula will keep the flies at bay.

I was hunting in CAR in 2012. Mike Fell was my PH. We saw something from the truck, jumped out and followed. One of us had left an open Fanta on the car.

When we returned to the car, it was covered by thousands of sweat bee's. We had to start a fire upwind with copious amounts of smoke to get the bee's to leave.

I hunting in Tanzania actually the area next Lukwati and found Avon Skin So soft to be effective. Not perfect but was bite a lot less than the people around me

Safari 2,

Yes, that is my lion.

I opted to not use any repellent this year. You get used to the flies. I hate Avon Skin So Soft. Can't stand the smell.

denim long pants taped at the bottom. long sleeve shirts of kaki material, light glooves, skin so soft or deet and hunt the high country or empty spots, even the buffalo know that. Oh yeah and carry a hair brush to scratch the little bastards bites..there is no bullet proof substance to ward off all the bites, they will find a spot on you..About all you can do is cowboy up and scratch!

Fulvio,

They seem to want a nighttime snack as well and chew the hell out of you just at sunset.

Two more smoke options for dissuading tsetses include a mosquito coil, or a fine Cuban cigar, which provides a less nauseating and a far more pleasant aroma than the mosquito coil (cheap cigars, cigarettes and pipes have little or no effect). Both of these smoke options can be burned in the cab where tsetses will beat themselves up against the front windscreen trying to get away from the smoke. Burning elephant dung is only suitable for the open rear area of the vehicle.

tendalla,

Not necessarily. I've sat in the cab holding a smoldering clump of elephant dung on more than one occasion.

What’s the latest on tsetse flies and trypanosomiasis transmission? Is that an actual concern or is it so rare it’s not worth worrying about?

My impression is it's dependent on the area. I've never worried about it. When it's my time, it's my time. I've been bit by so many tsetses if I haven't died by now, it seems unlikely.