Ticks and Flying Insects When at the Club

 That time of the year. Either being annoyed or bitten.

As a minimum I spray my legs when clay target shooting or hiking using a DEET product.  Discourage ticks!

I also use it to keep away black flies and annoying gnats.  In the woods even DEET at times doesn't keep away the black flies and I had to resort to the use of a Mosquito Head Net Mesh when hiking.

Black flies like to take bites out of my legs when getting ready to call for a target. One club in Vermont I seem to always get bitten. 

I've been swarmed by gnats when the wind wasn't blowing. And of course, we have the ever-present mosquito, especially shooting sporting in the woods.  

Besides my legs and arms, I squirt some into my hand and rub my neck and cheeks with it (wash hands) or just spray my hat to protect the head when shooting.

I don't use anything less than 25% DEET and been eaten alive using anything less.  Maybe the lesser percentage wore off, but that's my buying practice.

There are non-DEET products in the marketplace, but I have no experience using them.

* DEET (chemical name, N,N-diethyl-meta-toluamide) is the active ingredient in many repellent products. It is widely used to repel biting pests such as mosquitoes and ticks. Every year, an estimated one-third of the U.S. population use DEET to protect them from mosquito-borne illnesses like West Nile Virus, the Zika virus or malaria and tick-borne illnesses like Lyme disease and Rocky Mountain spotted fever.

* The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has approved DEET for use in people of all ages, including children.

* What are the CDC guidelines for DEET?

Do not allow children under 10 years of age to apply repellent themselves. Do not apply to young children's hands or around eyes and mouth. Do not breathe in, swallow, or get into the eyes (DEET is toxic if swallowed.) Do not put repellent on wounds or broken skin.

* Products containing DEET should be used only once per day on children. 

* Citing human health reasons, Health Canada barred the sale of insect repellents for human use that contained more than 30% DEET in a 2002 re-evaluation "based on a human health risk assessment that considered daily application of DEET over a prolonged period of time".  I didn't come across any US restrictions for adults.