Tick Prevention for Hunters and Hikers

Sitting still in a tree stand for hours, crawling through brush after a deer, or putting in miles on a trail, these all put you in tick territory in ways a quick walk through the yard doesn't. This page is for the specific situations hunters and serious hikers deal with.

Tree Stands and Ground Blinds

You're sitting still for hours, often in exactly the kind of brushy, wooded edge habitat where ticks wait. Treat your hunting clothes with permethrin before the season starts, not the morning of. Pay extra attention to pants, socks, boots, and gaiters, that's where the first contact happens. Factory pre-treated hunting gear is worth the money if you're serious about this, some of it holds up through dozens of washes.

If you're walking in to a stand or blind through tall grass or brush, that walk in is actually a bigger exposure than the sitting itself, since ticks grab on as you brush past vegetation. Stay on a cleared path if you've got one.

Spring Turkey Season

Spring turkey hunters deal with some of the worst timing possible: you're sitting on the ground or against a tree, often in early morning when the grass is still wet, right as deer tick nymphs are becoming active for the year. This is close to the highest-risk combination there is. Treat your gear, use a repellent with DEET or picaridin on exposed skin, and do a real check when you get back to the truck, not just a glance.

Fall Deer and Small Game Season

By fall, you're dealing with adult deer ticks, the ones that fed as nymphs back in the spring. They're bigger and easier to spot than nymphs, which helps, but they're still out there in real numbers right through dragging a deer out of the woods in November. Don't let the cooler weather fool you into skipping the precautions, adult deer ticks stay active well past the point most people stop thinking about them.

Hiking and Backpacking

A few things that matter more on a multi-day trip than a backyard scenario:

• Tuck pants into socks and shirt into pants. On the trail this isn't optional, it's standard practice.
• Stay in the center of the trail. Ticks wait on the tips of grass and brush along the edges, brushing past that vegetation is most of how you pick them up.
• Don't sit or lie directly on the ground in brushy areas without something underneath you. A pack, a tarp, anything that's not bare ground or grass.
• Treat your gear, not just your clothes. Backpacks, tent fabric, anything that touches the ground when you set up camp can pick up a tick. Permethrin spray works on gear the same way it works on clothing.
• Do a full check every night, not just when you get home. On a multi-day trip, a tick that's been on you for two days instead of a few hours is a meaningfully bigger risk.

The End-of-Day Routine That Actually Matters

Whether you're coming off a hunt or off the trail, the same routine applies: strip down and do a real check before you do anything else, not after you've sat around camp for an hour. If you've got a hot dryer available, ten to fifteen minutes on high heat will kill any ticks hiding in your clothes. If you're backpacking and don't have that option, at minimum shake out and inspect your clothes before they go back on the next day.

If You Hunt With a Dog

Bird dogs, tracking dogs, and squirrel dogs spend more time in thick cover than you do, which means more tick exposure. Talk to your vet about a tick prevention product that's appropriate for how your dog actually hunts, not just a generic flea-and-tick collar. Check the dog as carefully as you check yourself when you get back, paying attention to the ears, between the toes, and around the collar line. See the pet prevention page for what actually works for dogs specifically.

What to Watch For After

If you develop a fever, unusual fatigue, headaches, muscle or joint aches, or any kind of rash in the weeks after a hunt or a trip, mention the outdoor exposure to a doctor specifically, even if it doesn't seem connected. A lot of hunters I've talked to have dealt with more than one tick-borne illness over the years just from the amount of time spent in the woods. See the diseases page for the full list of what to watch for, and the removal page for what to do the moment you find one attached.