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Horse or Deer flies! any solutions

Started by huskyxp, July 22, 2011, 04:33:47 PM

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huskyxp

where im cutting there is alot of horse or deer flies that like to bite my head or middle of back where i cant reach, just wonderin if anything will stop these hungry buggers?

Madman_Mark

Ive heard of some guys putting chain oil on their hardhats and they stick to it like fly paper. Never tried it, not sure if it works. I just put up with them, got a few bites today.

Jeff

[lmgtfy]Deerfly Patches[/lmgtfy]

Basically, they are very sticky double-faced tape.
Just call me the midget doctor.
Forestry Forum Founder and Chief Cook and Bottle Washer.

Commercial circle sawmill sawyer in a past life for 25yrs.
Ezekiel 22:30

Autocar

I take a old T shirt and just cut it in half long ways and tuck the neck and sleves under my hard hat and let it hang down my back . That solved my problem with them and it makes a great sweat rag to wipe my face off. Maybe its the way it smells by the end of the day that runs them off  :D
Bill

SamB

If you know someone who sales Avon products try some of their bug repellent. I've had good luck with their bug repellent/sun screen. It's available in spray bottles or lotion. Be sure to get the one with "skin so soft" in it. I put it on any exposed area excluding the area around my eyes, even my hair and hat. Works well for me and you don't feel or smell like you've been coated with motor oil. :)

Tom

An old wive's tale?  Perhaps.

I had a friend tell me to wear a hat when fishing to help keep the yellow flies off.  Not a cap, a hat.  You know the thing that you wear on your head that has a wide brim all the way around.   Yeah, I know they aren't the most popular covering, but they keep the sun off of your face, ears and neck as well as help to keep your head cool.  You can even weave a string around the crown, through the brim and tie it to your head by putting a bow beneath your chin.  :)

He told me that the yellow fly is a stupid insect.  I have to agree. It is certainly persistant though.  He said, "they will come to you because of whatever attracts them, whether it's smell or carbon dioxide, or whatever.   They will accumulate above your head because the head of your body is making this attractant go up.  But, they are too stupid to know that the attractant is coming from below the brim, so they swirl around above the hat, seldom thinking to fly out, around and down to see what's there. "

I've tried it and found that they surely do swirl like a tornado above the hat.  Usually there are enough below the hat to cause you aggravation and make you question the hat theory, but at least you don't have to deal with all of them.  You can't see it working unless you are with a partner who is also wearing a hat.

DEET of at least 40% helps too.  :)

SwampDonkey

I hide from them in the fir thickets, they don't come down in them. :D  Other than that, about mid August and there won't be any sign of'm. ;D

Deet seems to be ineffective, but it does keep mosquitoes and black flies away.

I was in one block of land Monday and they were as thick as hornets following on each side of the car. And by mid day they were hot in the woods to. On Tuesday I was in another type of forest, spruce and fir, and there were only 3 or 4 around me all day. I only see one at a time around the house lot when outside picking berries or mowing.

I think the deerfly patches would definitely help a guy out as they seem to like to get on the back of your head or crawl down around your ears off your hat.

I get the buggers inside my safety goggles buzzing around inside. :D :D :D
"No amount of belief makes something a fact." James Randi

1 Thessalonians 5:21

2020 Polaris Ranger 570 to forward firewood, Husqvarna 555 XT Pro, Stihl FS560 clearing saw and continuously thinning my ground, on the side. Grow them trees. (((o)))

Autocar

Tom your old wise tale reminds me, once I had a cutter that told me if you get into a bunch of honey bees you hold your tounge to the roof of your mouth and they wouldn't sting you. We cut this big bur oak and the bees swarmed out of it and he jumps up on the log and walks out to cut it off. It didn't take long and he was in a haze of bees. The next thing I new he ran past me and dove into this creek ,only problem it was only six inches deep and the bees went right in with him. He rolled around till the mud protected him better, I laughed so hard till my side hurt. But sitting in a air condition 360 Timberjack cab [ where I was safe ] makes a fellow pretty brave  :D
Bill

mad murdock

I always mix my saw gas just a tad on the rich side with oil (32:1), no oil fouling on the plug, still runs great, but smokes just a bit, enough to keep the flies and skeeters at bay while the saw is running at least.
Turbosawmill M6 (now M8) Warrior Ultra liteweight, Granberg Alaskan III, lots of saws-gas powered and human powered :D

woodmills1

the lovely wife Kathy says she heard that you put a dozen pennies into a ziplock bag with water and hang it, it confuses the flies compound eyes.  Not tried yet but......
James Mills,Lovely wife,collect old tools,vacuuming fool,36 bdft/hr,oak paper cutter,ebonic yooper rapper nauga seller, Blue Ox? its not fast, 2 cat family, LT70,edger, 375 bd ft/hr, we like Bob,free heat,no oil 12 years,big splitter, baked stuffed lobster, still cuttin the logs dere IAM

jim king

The clear plastic bag full of water is standard equipment in all back yards in the Amazon.  One every 10 feet.  They work here but I have never heard a reason why.

John Mc

This thread just reminded me of a possible solution I have yet to try...

I guy I walked through my woods with in the height of deer fly season a couple of summers ago showed up with a couple of those scented sheets you put in your clothes dryer ("Bounce" or something similar) stuffed into his short pocket. He said they were to keep the deer flies away. He didn't seem to bothered by them.

We're in the height of it right now. I'll have to try it and see if it works.

John Mc
If the only tool you have is a hammer, you tend to see every problem as a nail.   - Abraham Maslow

woodmills1

the story on the water penny bag is their compound eyes I think
James Mills,Lovely wife,collect old tools,vacuuming fool,36 bdft/hr,oak paper cutter,ebonic yooper rapper nauga seller, Blue Ox? its not fast, 2 cat family, LT70,edger, 375 bd ft/hr, we like Bob,free heat,no oil 12 years,big splitter, baked stuffed lobster, still cuttin the logs dere IAM

red oaks lumber

put a drier sheet on the back of your hat so it hangs down your neck. you will smell good and not have any bugs  :)
the experts think i do things wrong
over 18 million b.f. processed and 7341 happy customers i disagree

SwampDonkey

More wise tales about bounce.  ::)

You got deer flies red and actually used them bounce sheets? Be honest. ;)
"No amount of belief makes something a fact." James Randi

1 Thessalonians 5:21

2020 Polaris Ranger 570 to forward firewood, Husqvarna 555 XT Pro, Stihl FS560 clearing saw and continuously thinning my ground, on the side. Grow them trees. (((o)))

red oaks lumber

the experts think i do things wrong
over 18 million b.f. processed and 7341 happy customers i disagree

Magicman

We had a horrible problem with Gnats this year.  I tried vanilla extract and all sorts of insect repellant.  Didn't work.

A friend found out that Banana Boat sunscreen worked.  Wow, it did, and I should be using a sunscreen anyway.
Knothole Sawmill, LLC     '98 Wood-Mizer LT40SuperHydraulic   WM Million BF Club Member   WM Pro Sawyer Network

It's Weird being the Same Age as Old People

Never allow your "need" to make money to exceed your "desire" to provide quality service.....The Magicman

Jeff

My old Friend Lou swears by the bounce sheets. I have not tried them.
Just call me the midget doctor.
Forestry Forum Founder and Chief Cook and Bottle Washer.

Commercial circle sawmill sawyer in a past life for 25yrs.
Ezekiel 22:30

Ken

I've tried just about everything there is to try to keep deer/moose/horse flies away but they are ever persistent.  If there is even one swirling about when you get out of the truck there is a pretty good chance that he is still doing doughnuts around your head (unless you swat it) when you get back and it does not seem to matter how long you are gone.   

Although everything has it's own common name for its particular area our deer (dog/moose) flies are extra bad this season.  Last year was great but this year seems to have produced clouds of the buggers.   

I find that some of the solutions already mentioned do help for mosquitos, black flies or midgets but they don't work well for the larger pests.   Probably the best thing to do is just suck it up and kill as many as possible.  As already mentioned they basically just disappear here sometime around the end of the first week in August.  That is always a happy day 8)
Lots of toys for working in the bush

Tom

The only sure way that I've found to avoid the nuisance is to stay on the house side of the screen door.  It cuts down on the volume.

madmari

Eat a toad for breakfast. Nothing worse will happen all day. Works every time.

Blaze orange hat- they don't like it. My helmet is orange; as soon as I take it off, deer flies feast. Put it on, they disappear.
I know why dogs stick thier head out the car window.

g_man

We always have deer flies but this year is real bad. I have tried everything. Nothing seems to really work for me while i'm working. But If i'm just walking or cruising I take a fly paper roll like for a horse barn and pull the roll out of the cardboard tube a little so it is like a cows horn about 6 or 7 inches long and hook the cardboard tube to my ball cap with tie wraps. Most of the time if they start buzzing around my head sooner or later they land on the horn and get stuck. I call it my unicorn hat. If I wear it while working it get ruined in a hurry from branches and brush.
If I'm waking with the wife and the dog I have the most flies, the dog next, and my wife almost none. Not sure what that means  ???  :)

Ernie

Sorry, I have no suggestions, here in New Zealand we have nothing like those pests ;D  We do have a few sandflies and the odd mosquito if it makes yo feel any better ;D
A very wise man once told me . Grand children are great, we should have had them first

red oaks lumber

g-man,
i just got a visual of elmer fud huntin wabbitts :D
the experts think i do things wrong
over 18 million b.f. processed and 7341 happy customers i disagree

g_man

Quote from: red oaks lumber on July 23, 2011, 09:46:14 PM
g-man,
i just got a visual of elmer fud huntin wabbitts :D

Anyone who has seen my hat would probably say that you are close  :D

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