We went to an outdoor event last weekend on a farm.

I started thinking about ticks and for a time I felt like they were crawling all over me, of course they weren't.

So the weather here has been wet and mild.

Just curious now about the tick life cycle.

Wife found one last week in our bathroom.  I was doing leaves so technically, they are still out there.  The temps
have been all over the place lately.

I wonder how hunters fare this time of year

No...  It's not over here either.  I picked a wood tick off me last weekend.

Guess it depends on where you're at.

The only time the tick season is ever over here is during the summer months, say June through mid September. Fall and spring they are at their worst. But I'll see them in winter, even when there's a good bit of snow on the ground, if the temps get up above freezing.

The vets in my area say you need to treat for ticks all year round and we are further north then you, however ours normally stop once the frost hits but when it warms up they may come back up. I had one on me after a few hours of bird hunting but none from deer  hunting.

I grew up here in central MN and tick season was generally June through August. These were the wood or dog ticks. Couldn't begin to count the number of ticks I pulled off myself.

Then the deer tick moved in about 10-12 years ago. I've found them in April when there is still snow on the ground. Last fall I found one crawling on me after I skinned a deer in November, that was after several hard freezes. I really hate those bastards.

I've seen them in January before, after having lots of snow and well below freezing temps. If we get a period where it warms up above freezing, and it doesn't take real long, I'll start picking them up again in the woods.

Two weekends ago I was walking some property I just bought. Mostly all woods. The friend I was with and I picked up dozens of ticks on our pants, and I found one dug in a couple hours later. These are mostly deer ticks. They're like a plague around here.

Growing up I spent a lot of time in the woods. As a kid I was always out there running around, sometimes literally crawling through the woods and I never even really knew what a tick looked like until I was maybe 16 or so. They just weren't common. Every year or two a dog might pick one up. Seemed like around the year 2000 they really started to pick up, and then around 2005 or so they really exploded. They've been a plague ever since. Being that this is a very high Lyme's disease risk area, it's basically changed my whole lifestyle. I don't go out in the woods as much as I used to, and when I do I try to stay on trails. When I do venture off the trails we're checking each other pretty frequently for ticks crawling up our pants. I used to love grouse hunting in the fall. These days I prefer to wait until we have freezing temps to hunt grouse so I can feel at least reasonably confident I'm not picking up ticks along the way.

I remember when Lyme's disease was something you heard about but didn't know anyone who had it. Now I know lots of people who have had it.

This. If it hasn't been negative out for a week the bastards seem to come out still. And in the case of deer... They seem to be alive as long as there is a host. Hate ticks...

 

A friend of mine found one last weekend in northern Minnesota.

Found a few on our outdoor cats last week in Maryland

Interesting.  As I kid I spent every waking minute outside, woods, streams, fields and I do not remember ticks being a problem

me too as a kid.  I grew up in the middle of NYS.   Slept many a night in the woods and don't recall every being bit by a tick.  (1970s' and the only ticks I saw growing up were the large dog ticks on the dog and rarely at that)

Jump forward to about 2000 and ticks and lyme disease was all over the Hudson Valley.  Now both are all the way up to the Canadian border.

ETA I get about 4-6 tick bites a year now and in 1 in 3 trips around the woods I will see and brush them off my hands/sleeves/legs etc.  All summer through fall until the deep freeze around Christmas time. Then they pick back up in the Spring when it warms up even if we still have snow cover.  Go for a walk in the snow at 40-50 degrees and they'll be on the branches of trees and brush and get on you.

me neither.  never gave them a second thought when I camped in IL and Northern WI which I did quite abit.

something real bad has changed with ticks.  lyme is going to be hell on earth soon, mark my words.

I think it's already getting there. I know a lot of people who have had it. If it's caught early and you hit the antibiotics I think they can nip it in the bud.

usually works, but there are times that you can catch it quick, get antibiotics in heavy doses for long periods, and still suffer the disease everyday.

very misunderstood disease and lots of guessing.  everyone is different with this plague.

wonder why its so common today rather than years ago.  I know some say because of deer populations but who really knows.

In the past the eastern states used to spray pesticides mostly for mosquitos.   I wonder if that practice kept ticks in check in those years.

They're still around here in central MO.
The buck that I shot last Sat. had them crawling all over him as he cooled.

In PA here they have been terrible. Warm week during peak rut screwed up Archery. Ticks all over my throughout the week. Today and the next few weeks it is supposed to be cold and stay cold. But, it is not uncommon to pick them off of me until early December.