I live in New England and when I was young, My camping was ALWAYS done after October. For one, the idiots were gone , number two, most bugs were gone and the later into Winter it got, the bears were gone. I had the woods to myself. I was in my element. Me, nature and the coyotes and I like them. Coyotes adapt. It is amazing how quiet the woods are when snow is falling and there is little wind .I could hear my heart beating it was so quiet. I can take a breath and bring myself back to those days. Mike

When you do get chigger bites, Vick's salve kills the itch - almost instantly. Camphor and peppermint also work.

I've been making my own bug repellent for years with Neem, citronella, lemon eucalyptus and peppermint essential oils and have no problems with mosquitos etc Where I live in Australia you can get Ross River Fever from mozzies and it can make you really sick so during the warmer months prevention is vital.

Great stuff. For mosquitoes I would add wearing baggy clothing , it will limit the fabric making contact with the skin so their proboscis can’t poke anywhere it lands.

I use a peppermint/water mix on my smol patio before I go out to read and smoke. Sometimes the bugs stay away and sometimes they are a little aggressive. Reapplication is effective for about 15 minutes to an hour depending on the weather. You gotta shake it really well each time you apply. But peppermint may not be the most effective, I don’t know. I remember my aunt grew a small field of different mint types at her farm and we would harvest it each August or September and spread it around the cow barn and the chicken yard. It definitely kept the rodents out lol.

Well done. Chiggers are a nightmare, but here's something I have discovered over time: they can't hang on to you very well and it takes them some time to crawl up a hair to the follicle. So, before settling down in camp, vigorously brush yourself off from feet to shoulders. If you have the ability to shower before hitting your tent, that's the best. No chigger can defeat a shower. But even a vigorous brushing just outside camp will get rid of most of them if they're on you. I struggled with chiggers in my area for YEARS until I got this advice from older kin. When I shower before bedding down for the night, I NEVER get chigger bites. Anytime I get chigger bites it is after bedding down on a hiking/hunting/camping trip where a shower wasn't possible and without brushing off well before coming into camp. I carry wet wipes now as an additional safeguard so I can get a wipe down of my actual skin from the waist down. Haven't had chiggers in a few years now. I cannot say if the wet wipes have helped, or if it is the brushing off, but I'll keep doing both forever. About 8 years ago, after riding 4 wheelers through a tall hay field on my way to our camping spot, I got 72 chigger bites on my left leg and 26 on my right. WEEKS of misery followed. Now, I don't take chances.

Good info Clay. In case anyone is interested Pyrethrin is a natural insecticide from mum plants. Permethrin works the same but it’s the synthetic form, so if you want a more natural insecticide make sure the active ingredient is Pyrethrin.

Picaridin is a good alternative to DEET. Studies show that Sawyer's Picaridin more effective than 100% DEET against ticks, a little less vs mosquitos. My main love for it is that it doesnt degrade gear. High concentrations of DEET will actually damage/melt nylon and plastics. Nothing sucks more than not remembering that and finding a pair of sunglasses or a watch face pitted by the drops of DEET that landed on them as you sprayed.

Surprised you didn’t mention, especially in Florida, the cursed “no-see-em’s”. The invisible mosquito. The Kamikaze of biting bugs. I spray Deet all over and then be sure to leave it home. When my fishing buddy asks for the bug spray - just say “sorry; forgot it.” That’s my best chance of not getting eaten-up!

Great video! I learned some tips to help me when camping and hunting. I'm surprised you didn't mention Sawyer's Picaridin. It is just as effective as Deet, but not as toxic. It is derived from natural ingredients, just like Permethrin. I use Picaridin for skin and Permethrin for clothing and gear. What I really like about Picaridin is that it's not greasy like Deet, and it won't damage plastic, leather, or wood finishes. That's very important to me as a traditional archer.

In regards to opening the tent at night when nature calls: I know this might seem off-putting for some folks, especially if you're sharing a tent with someone else, but something as simple as a portable urinal can save you the trouble of having to open that door more than you have to.

I am allergic to DEET and have both treated my clothes with permethrin, use thermacells, and used various essential oils. I recently purchased a permethrin lotion from Sawyer that they claim last for 14 hours. I test a spot on my arm and no allergic reaction. Looking forward to testing it soon.

Mosquitos are by far the worst for me.

Great info! I have spent a lifetime in the outdoors in Florida, I'm 60 I have been using original skin so soft for years works great keeping the bugs away and non toxic. Also mosquitos hate the smell of crushed wax myrtle bushes and Brazilian pepper I break off branches and crush leaves by stepping on them and spread them around my camp and the mosquitos leave.

Thank you Clay for sharin your tips n advice. You're awesome, keep doin what you do

Muchas gracias Clay !! Todo se aprende en base a tus experiencias. Felicitaciones !! Una vez, viajando para Venezuela a comunidades indígenas, unos amigos me dijeron que una semana antes, tomara pastillas de levadura de cerveza. Al transpirar, se expele un repelente para mosquitos. Un saludo desde Uruguay !!! Muchas gracias por tus consejos !!!

I am not homeless and looking for a place to be safe. I am a man who knows how to survive. I just want to live life and give back in ways that I can. I am totally self sufficient. I don't need anyone to direct me to survive or to educate me to live. Clay, you are a man of my own heart. It would be my pleasure to be the man who can keep your place ready for your return.

Mix 2 ounce per gallon of water with pemthium to treat your clothes. Just Google on way to treat you clothing with it, take from a old turkey hunter it works

Great information clay!

Awesome info , another great way to keep chiggers and ticks off is the cheep flee and tick dog collars, you can put them around your boot tops so they are not on your skin they normally work for a few months

I wear tall, soft rubber, non-insulated boots during warm weather and tuck my pants down into the boots. This seems to greatly reduce the amount of chiggers that tend to funnel up up pant legs when you just wear hiking boots for example. In the military was close to a marsh by the ocean in Honduras. Every evening, the mosquitos would descend on our camp like a biblical plague. We were setup under a large roofed shelter with no walls in an asphalt parking lot in the middle of no where. We had cots that used corner pegs to elevate a mosquito net above us. The mosquitos were so bad that we had to wear hats, pants, and long sleeves, and keep our socks on when laying on the cot, because if any part of our skin that touched the inside of the mosquito net, the mosquitoes could get you thru the net.

Great tips, few I've never considered

Yeah ticks and spiders are my bugaboos , I go into anophylactic shock , it’s happened 3 times to me so when it gets warm I tend to hammock camp to get away from them

Hi Clay I have used egg cartons. I found that a little smoke around camp works great for keeping the skeeters away.

Thanks

Such a good video! Very informative!

Just a little add-on here (just to stress it and clarify for anyone unfamiliar). Deet is a repellant, but Permethrin is an actual insecticide (not pesticide, full on insecticide). Deet works by making bugs hate the idea of being next to you or ever touching you. You gain safety because no insects want to bother you in the first place. They would rather wait for the next meal that, hopefully, doesn't taste like burning. Permethrin does NOTHING to make any bugs want to avoid you, but it does kill every single one that lands on or walks on anything treated with Permethrin no matter how motivated they are to ruin your day. Permethrin literally shuts down their entire nervous system and stops all electrical signals (so no brain telling the legs to move or to take a breath or anything else). It just shuts down more and more until it just stops being alive. I forget exactly how long it takes to fully kill a tick, but I remember a study they did recently where they found that Permethrin did enough "damage" on immediate contact to stop them from being able to bite and then they just sorta slowly moved around for like a minute...ish before they were dead dead. For me, I think that the best solution is to always be using both. Permethrin is a more long-term prevention and it can go through a few washes and still work (though less and less effective each time, so I refresh it fairly regularly because I live in Lyme Disease central) BUT it does nothing to really stop things like mosquitoes from biting any exposed skin. That is where the Deet comes in to save the day. You could rely on only Deet and probably be ok, but when you are talking about a possibility of getting a nasty disease then it seems prudent to have a "safety net" of Permethrin that kills anything that might get past the Deet. Though probably not a good idea if you like doing that honeybee thing where you put a queen in a box and hold onto it so the swarm comes and lands on you to cover the queen. You will murder all the bees. Permethrin kills ALL insects, not just the bad ones. PS. Mosquitoes have killed more humans throughout history (indirectly through spreading disease) than literally EVERY other source put together. Mosquitoes and ticks can screw off and die forever.

Thank you for these tips. I do RVing but getting back into backpacking. Last couple years learning about bushcraft and survival skills. Thanks

I really like your videos. I got scabies once and the ointment that the doctor gave me to clear them up had permethrin in it. Worked like a charm.

I'm in Texas now, and its rough! Opening weekend for Turkey, I had a tick on me when I got home, although I did my best to avoid high grass and whatnot. Used bug spray I learned about chiggers fast when I was bowhunting and stopped by a bush when a hog was nearby. Got my neck so bad, it looked like I had some disease lol Thermancell works great in hunting blinds, but still useful in a stand, or even setting it down if just still hunting

Excellent topic.

Great video..Thank you.. lived in East Texas piney woods for a few years..for ticks. we cuffed our jeans and powdered our ankles, cuffs, shoes with Sulphur Powder we kept in a sock.

Nice video! Chiggers are not microscopic. You can see them with the naked eye if you look closely. If you've been exposed to chiggers, you have about a one hour window that you can scrub them off with a soapy cloth or skin brush. Scrub the entire area where you've been exposed and you can scrub them entirely off of your skin before they start biting and burrowing in. I have alpha gal and as of necessity have learned how to deal with chiggers and ticks.

Great video! I've burned sage, it works pretty good but once that bundle goes out they come back hard and heavy also I've had good luck with natural sprays purchased in the natural section of our local market you might have to reapply but they do work and if you put it on the inside and outside walls of your tent they stay out.

All good advice in my experience. Never used spray on permethrin myself as it can be used as a wash to use when you launder you outdoor gear. A treatment will usually be good 6 or so washes before needing to be redone. A warning when spraying DEET, especially at higher concentrations. It will spoil leather shine finishes, cloud optical coatings on spectacles, sunglasses, camera lens and even plastics to an extent. Be careful when you spray to to keep that sort of equipment and clothing out of the way. Having said that, I do spray DEET on my (non-shiny) boots and gaiters to stop leeches crawling through the lace holes into my boots or up onto my ankles.

Most of the Permethrin products will last several washings as well. Works well for spraying packs and other gear too, not just clothing. I swear by a Thermacell for any warm weather hunting as well, set it upwind 4 or 5 feet and let the breeze blow the fog over me.

Great channel Clay! A great bushcrafty way to deter bugs... Superheat birch bark on the fire in a metal container without oxygen and collect the oil that comes out. (usually a hole in the bottom that drains into a buried reservoir). It can be kinda blackish and can stain. Dilute it with any other kind of oil you have that's safe to put on your skin. You can put it on skin, clothes, your dog, etc. Also good for applying to woodworking projects, leather treatment, etc.

I love my thermacell, but I believe my new Scentlok suit helped out this last early TX deer season on both scent control And misquitos. Have you tried Scentlok yet, Clay? Using it this year I was suprised with my success in getting close to game. I figure without scent control it gives you more challenge-and that seems to be the greater aim and strategy in your hunts, but in tricky situations it couldn't hurt.

Great video camp fires help and smudge cans with yarrow.

I have the Seek Outside Matty McMatface that I soak in permithian and use as a ground pad. I've found ticks on it that died tryiing to make their way into my tent.

Minnesota has some bad mosquitos and the sad part is in some areas of Minesota due to the over use of the DDT that has been since long ban the DEET no matter the strength will not work. This does not matter where you put the tent or stay, this will not help since they have both the Grass style Mosquito that lives in the tall grass and the woods type.

I worked in western Siberia in summertime, you can’t believe the size and numbers of mosquitoes! We used Avon Skin so Soft, worked better than ant Deet based products. Yes, you smell girly, but it lasted for hours, was not toxic and was very effective

Great tips. I am a bug magnet unfortunately and you gave me some good things to try. Thanks!

Dog Fennel works good as an insect repellent and grows all over the southeast. (im in SC) bear in mind some people have an allergic skin reaction so test it at home in a small area to see if your one of them before rubbing it all over.

Good tips

Great video! Tucking in your shirt helps, a lot, when in tick country.

Thanks!

Good job

Another tip for ticks: try to wear lighter colored clothing, especially pants. Bright clothing makes it easier to see and brush off any ticks that have hopped onto you. Learn Your Land made a video with more great information for avoiding ticks specifically

If ya don't mind the smell Avon's skin so soft works great for sketers, Nats and deer flies...my horses love it in their ears and other tender parts...make a pleasurable ride out of a rodeo !!!

Keep up the videos Brother

Newbies should be advised that DEET will mess up some of the synthetic fabrics - like tents & backpacks. It's a chemical solvent. Permethrin is fine, though. Also worth mentioning that Thermacels can have trouble lighting at high elevations. It's a Piezo igniter in there. I've never gotten a Piezo to light above 7000' on any device. So those are a no-go in the high country. We've had such a major snow year here in the Sierras that the skeeters will likely be "blooming" until September.

Lavender helps with ticks as well I believe

Oh in South Dakota the stuff for biting gnats does not always work, heavy years nope as you tend to get about 25% passing though in heavier swarms and no tick sprays really work but then we have the type of tick that is almost a no on the Lyme or other disease.

when hiking/trailing through bush or tall grass I always carry a long stick before me and lightly smack what's in my way, tends to drop ticks down to the ground and I usually don't get them on me.

Come up to Labrador in the summer. That stuff only adds flavor for them. Lol but in all seriousness the flies here is crazy think and you need barriers as most repellent just don't seem to cut the swarm of flies. Thermacells works pretty good.

I like to put the Thermacell in my tent when I set it up so the bugs stay away from the doors.

instead of thermacell, I use a portable bug zapper. uses AA batteries and has a light. just hang at top of tipi or nest. bugs are a big reason why I like hot tenting in the winter most. I've heard what you eat effects how much of a bug magnet you become. However, I'm on a see food diet; if I see it, I eat it. Cheers!

Living in the north east and bushwhacking to some remote ponds and brooks, but not wanting to put something on my skin that strips paint off of cars (Deet) I found a product called Natrapel it contains a synthetic chemical called Picaridin and in my experience it works just as well as Deet. I also use permethrin on my cloths for an extra layer of protection from tics especially lyme tics which are horrid. and black flies, dear flies, horse flies and sand fleas on the beach. The other ways of getting some relief are not very pleasant but they do provide some relief. Stand in the smoke or near the smoke from a fire. wear a mosquito net and a wide brim hat on your head but be willing to hear them right up next to your ears non stop, for hours on end while trying to catch fish, hunt or do anything in the woods. Oh and when you go to relieve yourself, if possible do it in the middle of a wide open space. There's nothing quite like having your privates swarmed with mosquitoes while you're trying to relieve yourself. 🤣

The herb rosemary will keep away mosquitoes, yellow flies, horse flies for about an hour, plus it smells good. It’s great for rubbing on just before sleeping in the tent. To use take a branch of fresh rosemary, rub the leaves between your hands to release it fragrance. Rub the branch on all exposed skin areas. It’s ok to use many branches.

I used to drink "cistus" every morning, (don't rememeber how you call it in english) helps me a lot because ticks love me. Of course deet also works great.

Yay!!! You trimmed your beard to a clean look brother. I prefer this clean look my man!

Went to a water park in mexico and the bug spray the gave everyone was primarily eucalyptus essential oil. I didnt get bit at all but not sure if the area was treated with chemicals. It was essentialy a jungle. Crazy place called EXPLORE in riveara maya mexico. Bet theres people testing all the bug sprays online tho this day and age.😊

Hey Clay, how about gnats? I live in the foothills of the Oregon Cascades. Gnats can be a serious problem in the right weather conditions. Especially in the spring. Thanks for everything you do. Your videos are outstanding. Take care, Clyde shaver a Trad Hunter from Sandy Oregon America

Great stuff. TY for shearing. What you suggest for me ? I have to wear a mosquito hat/mesh. Any alternative ? I have never tried sprays but are outside 24/7 how much would that cost me a day ? >_

Hi. You know what I’ve noticed in the Sierra in the summer mosquito’s will swarm toward you in what I call a black cloud. Don’t matter how much deet you have on the cloud will get you. For me when I’m fishing being in my waders in the rivers or in a boat on the water is the best place to be. And the wind or a breeze is your friend. Beware of the dark cloud. Run to your truck. Lol

I know what you’re going to say, but it’s OK. One of the best things you can wear to keep bugs and ticks off of you or pantyhose yes, pantyhose some thing I learned as an army ranger.

I live in Sweden and i use lemongras oil and have it in the water in the wash machine, and also mix it in water and spray it on my dog.

One thing you forgot is tucking in your shirt it's sucks but it does help I didn't do that and sure enough a tick get up my shirt luckily got it in time

Back In The Day My grandmother used to rub dryer sheets or fabric softeners whatever you want to call them over our skin. Can't remember the brand I'll have to call her but that stuff worked for a good while

I live in Florida and man at my house I have a small stagnant pond that dries up in the spring early summer till we get the rains and it fills up. A annoying bamboo "forest" that the people that owned before me must have planted and now its everywhere and very hard to cut back. Only really work on it in winter cause Florida, it hot. I tried alot of shit cause the mosquitoes will swarm ya. Backwoods 25+ deet was always my go to up north where it wasn't as hot down here its suffocating and makes me feel like I'm gonna overheat which you dont need additional help in that department down here. The red can off didn't really do it for me i think its permathrin or one of those and i didn't know it works best on clothes but whatever. The only ones I found that really worked in this hell hole is the off botanicals. Its a little annoying cause its a small spray bottle so it doesn't last a long time but it really works and it doesnt nearly have the same effect on the suffocating sensation as the deet sprays do but I did notice a little. It uses the chemical component of lemon eucalyptus without the smell. I tried that clear bottle with the yellow liquid with actual oil. The smell isn't bad, gets annoying over time but it does still do mosquitoes. The thermacells surprised me obviously they are situational. I got the big one that screws onto camp fuel and it does seem to work pretty well if there is no strong breeze. I use em when i go in the hottub when its warmed up past where the mosquitoes are dormant after winter. Like 55+. I ordered permathrin in a bottle to try refilling the pads but it doesn't work as good. The stuff in the pads are something that starts with an a and is similar to the other ones. The permathrin that you get also is in some kind of stanky oil which is very unpleasant. I got the can type cause I spent $30 on the kit for the regular kind. Tested out while I was grilling, forgot to shut it off, very easy to do and tossed it when I saw the price for refills but kept the pads. I used a small adapter that you can get off amazon to use propane canisters instead of the camp fuel cans but I think it might get a little hotter so it never seems like the pads last long but the propane camp style can lasts forever. I used it everytime I went in the hottub once it got warm enough for mosquitoes like every day, ever other day for months and it still has fuel in it. I might try the camp fuel instead to see if the pads last longer though cause thats the only disappointing thing.

Picaridin does the same thing as DEET while being much less toxic and won't damage gear like DEET. It also smells like citrus and doesn't burn

I've found that the colour of your clothiing can make a small difference. On a spring-time fishing trip in Northern Ontario, a friend was wearing primarily blue clothing whereas I was wearing mostly brown. He had far more mosquitos buzzing around him than I had. Next time out, he wore browns and we had about the same number harassing each of us.

Someone did a study & found that the lemon-eucalyptus type "natural" repellant was most effective after DEET. I believe they only tested on mosquitos, though.

Clay, the Marines did a study with yarrow concoction that worked better than deet. It does need to be applied about every 3 to 4 hours, versus every 8. Might be worth the effort.

Master Clay ...Please make a video about all the bow you made and you have. I know you have many bow in your shop..tnx 🙂

I'd like to go back to Homestead for a visit

Even the desert has mosquitoes and of course ticks and fleas

Great video as always with good info, but caught myself scratching while watching...

Also growing up in Florida I never use any perfumed products. I found that soaps and deodorants without added scents helped to attract less mosquitoes.

Chiggers dont borrow under the skin, they grab on and feed, then detach leaving you to suffer from the itch. My mother always wanted to put nail polish to 'smother' them😂.

Great video. Why did you get just 40% Deet spray when you could have 80 or 100%??

The chemical in catnip has been shown to be like 40% more effective than deet at repelling mosquitoes. Haven't tried it yet but may be worth a try in unison with deet

I got my knees hammered by mosquitoes. Doesn't sound out of the ordinary, but I was wearing a bee suit at the time, they got me through that. Little buggers. The sandflies here are nothing to sneeze at either.

Have you tried picaridin? I've had success with it, and it doesn't harm synthetic materials like deet.

Haven't tried this but, maybe using peppermint tea bags as a carry along or for area placement as a longer term diffusion aid?

I remember seeing a Russian channel which I can’t find for the life of me now. He was thinning down birch tar with alcohol and putting that on his skin. Was clearly very effective.

Clay love your videos and your season on Alone. Just a quick question. What do you do while deer hunting early season? What bug spray if any? Do you worry about the smell?

I Britain there's skin moisturiser called Avon skin so soft. It was (strangely) the British Army that discovered that is an effective insect deterent. I lived in a marshy area for many years and found it to be effective but messy to apply. The overspray goes everywhere. Has anyone (here) tried the Nessmuk anti-bug unction?

If you want to treat your gear with permithern, and you should. Just get the agricultural concentrate. You'll get 50x the product for the price and you can drench your stuff. Just spray you stuff where cats, fish and pollenators won't be impacted.

Hey Clay, how about a wolf hunt?

Any tips for the pets?

I had scabies, and im pretty afraid now from permethrin, as it affects so much the skin. I had to treat all my body with it multiple times.

Vitamin B-12 is what I use to go camping.. I take it the day before and I never have problems with insects.

Man I got Rocky Mountain spotted fever in November here in Arkansas. Sickest I have ever been in my life

I think you left out the most important tip ...hygiene. I see so many hunters that get back to camp and sit around in their hunting clothes. Or bring their hunting clothes into their sleeping areas. Best tip I ever give is strip down and take a shower. Any poisonous chemicals like itchweed stuff like that wash that stuff off every time.

Wrap some double sided tape around each of your knees in conjunction with the pants in sock method to help keep ticks that have gotten on your legs already from getting any further.

Unrelated to the video topic I actually posted this question to the pacific yew recurve video. I haven’t worked with yew, most of my experience is on hickory and erc but I was wondering why you trapped the back on that bow with hickory Ive found trapping that back just decreases set for me. So I was wondering if a trapped back on a wood like yew actually improved cast at all or what the reason was for that. If anyone in the comments has experience with yew please tell me your opinion on this. That video was probably my favorite from 2022 beautiful bow made from a wood we don’t see in the north east and I’d love to work with one day thanks so much for the videos clay take care.

That’s a nice looking beard buddy bugs can’t live there

amber romance lotion from victoria secrets and bath and body works vanila two of the best bug sprays