Keeping away mosquitoes

Once cold weather goes away, new exciting hunting seasons begin, some of them on the same area while some other on distant states, however regardless the game and location, once warm weather is here, all new open hunting seasons have something in common: mosquitoes.

Warm hunting season is always accompanied by bugs, especially mosquitoes which may be found anywhere, anytime, particularly at sunset when most of games are pursued and caught.

And then is when you are hunting and being hunt at the same time; moreover, a mosquito bite on the exact moment might force a missing shot, so instead of being a hunter you become the hunted.

The main problem aside from those annoying bites is that mosquitoes are vectors of several arthropod borne diseases such as dengue fever, zika virus, yellow fever and so on; then being bitten is not a matter of discomfort but also a potential health issue.

That's why becomes mandatory to keep mosquitoes away while we are on the field, otherwise instead of a game caught, we might get back home with a severe, potentially deadly disease.

Here you will find a few tips to help on the task of keeping those blood thirsty insects as far from you as possible.

1. Choose a proper camping site

If you are planning to be out more than a day and expend one or more nights on the woods, take care to the place where you install your tent.

Usually mosquitoes love dark, wet areas with abundant cover, so keeping away from such areas will reduce mosquitoes around you, especially by night when you become a defenseless victim.

Place your tent on a windy area where mosquitoes find difficulties for free flying, in addition stay at least 50 meters away from water bodies and wetlands. Such locations have lower mosquitoes populations.

2. Wear protective clothing

It's amazing but mosquitoes are able to bite you through fabrics fibers. Their flexible, long proboscis may be inserted through cotton fibers to reach your skin and feed from your blood, so proper garment is mandatory to keep them away.

Some hunters choose canvas to protect their skin while some other prefer thick, multi layers cotton clothing. No matter the fabric the aim is to create a barrier thick enough to deny mosquitoes proboscis access to your skin.

Obviously you will have to cover as much skin as possible; it will be probably inconvenient because of heat and sweat but results mandatory since even the tiniest spot of uncovered skin will become a target not only for mosquitoes but many other biting bugs out there.

3. Mesh yourself

An additional protection layer is a loose mesh around your body, over the outer clothing layer. This will prevent mosquitoes reach to your clothes surface limiting their chances to bite.

On the other hand, uncovered areas like face and fingers will be protected.

If you are hunting from a blind, use a mesh to cover it before entering, get inside fast and be sure to kill any mosquito who was able to get inside with you.

4. Use repellents

Perhaps it's the best way to keep mosquitoes away. Repellents are insecticides and chemical compounds able to kill mosquitoes or drive them away because of the smell.

Most of commercially available repellents are 90% effective or more so you will be protected for sure; unfortunately what keeps you safe from mosquitoes will reveal your presence to the game you are chasing. 

No matter if you choose scented or unscented repellents, they are man made chemical compounds which will be identified by animals as unnatural odors, so they will try to stay away from you, at least until they perceive the odor as usual after some time. See how to habituate animals to a man made odor on our next post.

Even if you are not able to cover repellents odor, it's always better to miss a catch than catch a disease.

Finally, probably there's not a perfect way to avoid mosquitoes bites, that's a well known facts for those living on mosquitoes crowded areas; so the best choice will be to combine different methods and limit exposure as much as possible.

Later, if you have symptoms like fever and shivers after mosquitoes bites, find medical advice and don't forget to mention where you were hunting, such information might save your live.