Best deer fly control I have found

[poconoron]

With the deer flies now out and biting, I would suggest the following deerfly control:

http://www.dirtworks.net/Deerfly-Patches.html

I have been using this for several seasons now, and won't go without it when deerflies are out and about. Requires that you wear a hat of some sort.
Highly recommended!

[redhawk]

Originally Posted by poconoron

With the deer flies now out and biting, I would suggest the following deerfly control:

http://www.dirtworks.net/Deerfly-Patches.html

I have been using this for several seasons now, and won't go without it when deerflies are out and about. Requires that you wear a hat of some sort.
Highly recommended!

I've used double sided tape for the longest time. It's a lot cheaper.

[stripperguy]

Last year was a bad year for deer flies. While paddling with my darling bride, I was eaten alive, even through my shirt, with a swarm around me that looked like the Rings of Saturn! Meanwhile, my sweetie had no bites and no Rings of Saturn!
In desperation, I said "toss me that Hawaiian Tropic Sun Block, darling". (I rarely get any sunburns, and hardly ever use sunscreen of any sort)
I no sooner opened the bottle than the celestial apparitions were gone, and I did not get another bite, and hardly another visit from my former winged friends.
I used the stuff on many occasions after that, and believe me it works wonders.
As a side note, the smell reminds me of the beach and all those wonderful views.

[poconoron]

For me the tape never worked as well - wasn't as easy to use, didn't stay on as well, etc. I find that it's worth the $12.99 for 24 deer fly strips which pretty much last through deer fly season. Each strip can last several days, depending on deerfly carcass volume.

I'm definitely going to give that Hawaiian Tropic Sun Block a try. Thanks, sguy.

[1894]

All 3 sound interesting
Is there a color to the tape that attracts them or a smell , or just when they try to bounce they don't ??
And any particular flavor of Hawiian tropic ??

The last couple years I've become hyper sensitive to deer flies . They seem to like deet as much as eating me . The deet may kill them , but doesn't slow them down ,1 bite on the back of my hand and I won't see my knuckles or wrist for several days

[TCD]

If you are using a repellent, you might try this stuff:

http://www.sawyerproducts.com/SP464n.htm

The added ingredients do seem to repel deerflies and other biting flies. DEET works best with mosquitoes, and to some extent with black flies, but not really at all with larger flies.

[fisher39]

Originally Posted by stripperguy

Last year was a bad year for deer flies. While paddling with my darling bride, I was eaten alive, even through my shirt, with a swarm around me that looked like the Rings of Saturn! Meanwhile, my sweetie had no bites and no Rings of Saturn!
In desperation, I said "toss me that Hawaiian Tropic Sun Block, darling". (I rarely get any sunburns, and hardly ever use sunscreen of any sort)
I no sooner opened the bottle than the celestial apparitions were gone, and I did not get another bite, and hardly another visit from my former winged friends.
I used the stuff on many occasions after that, and believe me it works wonders.
As a side note, the smell reminds me of the beach and all those wonderful views.

I'll have to give it a shot! Although I think getting those little suckers stuck to a glue patch would be more satisfying.

[mikesill]

I put a little of that all purpose do-everything "duct tape" on the top of my hat.

Save yourself from getting cancer and don't use DEET for the deerflies. Deerflies are not attracted to CO2 like blackflies + skeeters. Deet confuses the biting insects by blocking your CO2 that is emitted from your body which is not the MO of a deerfly. Deerflies will attack looking for movement / shadows as your walking. The only repellent that seems to work the best is, well ... squishing them until they make that satisfyingly pop sound.

Dark colors like black, red + the worst of them all blue will bring them in with remarkable accuracy.

[poconoron]

With the deerfly strips, I don't believe it's the smell or the color, but rather the tendency for them to want to land near the top but just a little lower toward the back of the head. The instructions are very specific in putting the strips in that area only. I believe that some kind of study revealed this deerfly habit.

BTW, I just came in from mowing about 2 acres of my property here in the southern ADKs on a riding mower.......... and the harvest on a newly applied strip was 14 deerflies and about 8 blackflies in 1 hour's time. I would notice the deerflies circling me a number of times......then poof - they were gone.
I was also wearing a headnet.

[mikesill]

Here's a few innovations for deerflies...

http://nfrec.ifas.ufl.edu/MizellRF/deerfly_trap.htm

Not sure if it's worthwhile to have a blue sticky lampshade on top of my backpack!

[Dick]

Good concise article on deer and horse flies:

http://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/2000/2115.html

[stripperguy]

Dick,
thanks for the link, but that study still says there is little effective long term safe protection from those deer fly bites.
While my own experiences would necessarily be classified as anecdotal, I'm telling all of you that the Hawaiian Tropic stuff worked wonders.
As soon (and I do mean as soon) as I just opened the container, the circling horde disappeared!!
Of course, I don't know if all of those SPF products would work as well, but when the flies are really bad, I'm very willing to experiment.
I need to dig up that bottle of liquid treasure to find the exact version and buy some more...

[Dick]

Stripperguy, I posted the link for general information on the deerfly and horsefly, not for any particular remedy. But given your testimonial, I may just try some of that Hawaiian Tropic stuff! Yes, please post the exact version if you can find it. Of course, I'd want to know what's in it. Especially given this issue (I don't know the science behind it):

http://www.skinbiology.com/toxicsunscreens.html

Another caution I've read about is to be leery of the "two-in-one" products that are both sunscreen and DEET. The warning is due to the fact that one needs to apply sunscreen more often than DEET, and you might get too much of the repellent (especially children). I've also read that the repellent may lower the effectiveness of the sunscreen. I have no science to back it up, but it might be worth looking into.

Dick

[stripperguy]

Dick,

I'll dig around to find the exact bottle that we used...it was a straight SPF sunblock, no DEET or other insect repellant ingredients or claims.

OK, I just off my lazy butt and found the stuff in one of my daypacks...
Hawaiian Troic Sheer Touch lotion sunscreen spf 50

Acive ingredients are but 3-
Avobenzone 3%
Octocrylene 6%
Oxybenzone 4%

BTW, these ingredients mean nothing to me...I'm strictly a static and dynamic stress kind of guy.

I also gave that latest link a quick read...too late for my sexual development being affected...

[Dick]

Sorry, this is getting a little off-topic, but it appears there may be issues with these chemicals:
http://truthinaging.com/ingredients/avobenzone
http://www.sideeffects.com/avobenzone.html
http://reverseskinaging.com/toxicsunscreens2.html
http://www.sunshop.safeliving.info/

OK, back to deerfly remedies...

Dick

[stripperguy]

Dick,

Again, thanks for those links...It seems to me that the sunscreen manufacturers should isolate the effective ingredient in their compounds and actively market them as deer fly repallants!

[lumberzac]

The suggestions in this thread sound a lot better than the method I've been using. The 12 gauge full of #8 birdshot gets heavy after a while.

[fisher39]

Originally Posted by stripperguy

Dick,

Again, thanks for those links...It seems to me that the sunscreen manufacturers should isolate the effective ingredient in their compounds and actively market them as deer fly repallants!

To heck with the sunscreen manufacturers, let's do it ourselves! Stripperguy's Deer Fly Repellant could be someone's ticket to early retirement, even after donating 10% to the ADKHighpeaks Foundation, of course!

[bluequill]

I walked Coney Mtn today and the deerflies were out in force, waiting in the fringes to swoop out and attack, However, to their dismay, I was using Old Time Woodsman fly dope applied just to my hat. They would make a couple of recon flights around my head and disappear. Same with the skeeters and BF's. Not one bite for the entire hike.

This fly dope has never let me down. The only downside is that it smells like your in a refinery.

[pondhopper]

Was somewhere east a bit of Tioga Pt. on Raquette L. today & there where just a few bugs of all types, go figure.

On a side note: high winds knocked numerous trees down on the Big Moose Rd., between Big Moose & Stillwater, but had enough room to drive around. However, the Stillwater Rd. between there & Number 4 had several large trees resting on the power lines & had just enough clearance to squeak through w/a canoe on the car. One of the larger trees pushing the lines lower was near the McCarty Rd. turn-off & the back of my canoe just brushed the tree as I passed underneath. Hopefully, the road will be passable for all traffic by the weekend (pretty sure it will be).

Edited to add: Oops, meant to post this in the black fly report thread. Oh well.