Say what?? You heard me, our range is a buffet for deer & horse flys on these hot dog days- which we've had for a chg in Wisconsin this yr. Lots of heat and humidity which seems to bring'm out. Say'n noth'n of the skeeters...

I figure about a 1/4 can of Off. Just to deter the first wave... I don't shoot much summer- now ya know why.

What's your remedies for staying pest free? Stay in the vehicle?

While over seas I learned that bugs really don't like me, if there is somebody else to chew on. With this knowledge I soon learned that bugs really like females better then males. And the bugs prefer males to chewing me.
So I take a not so favorite girl friend to the range on the hot swampy Virginia summer days. I'm happy, the bugs are happy, all is right with the world.
The shooting is good, also.
Jim

aladin, finally i get to answer one of your questions!

i use to work as a deckhand on the towboats, in the heat, with all of the flys, skeeters, and no see -ums. try AVON skin so soft. i used it from pittsburgh down to below nawlin's. works great.

just don't shoot all yer rounds, some folks said i smelled perty, never let go of my cheater pipe after that. it works try it!

halfbreed

Bugs love me. Luckily, our range is fairly skeeter-free. For fishing, camping, etc., I fill an oil lamp with citronella oil. It provides light and bug repellant as long as I stay close to it.
If I'm out hunting I wear long sleeves and just put up with the bugs. I avoid spray-on repellants whenever possible.

Skin so soft works as does laundry softener towels
If you hang them of the back of your hat.
I allso belive a large ugly sweaty woman will work kind of like a Golden Coral buffet for the bugs. Just make sure she wears a thong and a halter top that way you have the whole range to your self.

Some report was published just recently which concluded the only ingredient that worked was Deet. SSS made only 20 minutes of protection from their analysis- which matches my own.

Interestingly, for yrs they've tried to tie Deet to some mysterious disease or the root cause of something. Nothing. Nodda. Stuff might be safer than most chems.

Those laundry softeners are a good idea Billy- I'll give them a try. I hate that stuff- for the bugs lets see..

Firing a maxed out 45-70 with cast bullets works for a few seconds. They can't bite while your body is moving backwards at the speed of sound.
I heard that there is research in California on a Tomato plant based repellent that is supposed to be more effective that Deet.

I'm rarely bothered by mosquitos and my wife swears that it's because I take Garlique, a tablet used to lower cholesterol. Go figure..... Jim

Liked the one about the fat lady in the halter top and the little bitty thong. Better get off this thing before she wakes up.

I have a lot of experience with insects as I guess all of us here on this site do. I have tried Skin So Soft. It helps a lot but in my experience, DEET is the best. If you read the labels on insect repellents, keep in mind that DEET (you do not even want to try to remember what DEET stands for) is the important think. A lot of insect repellants have surprisingly little.

Best one I have found is a spray bottle of OFF. The small (3"-4" high) pump sprayer. It is 100% DEET. Do not use this on little children.....It is too strong.....if you do anyway, cover them with clothes (not DEET) and just use it on exposed skin ares and around cuffs and sleeves etc.

The worst thing about it is that it softens the lacquer finish on firearm stocks.....learned that a couple hundred years ago on my then brand new A5 Browning shotgun. Since then I put it on at home and then wash my hands and try not to get it on the rifle.

PigPen

P.S....I tryed Skin So Soft (which is actually designed to be a bath oil for the ladies) on my horse. Sprayed it full strength from the bottle onto the horse......It helped but didn't last as long as I had hoped.

[ 08-08-2002, 17:17: Message edited by: PigPen ]