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GEAR TEST: ThermaCell Mosquito Repellent Dave Cristinzio (evilbeliever) Like everyone who likes the outdoors I have been looking for a way to reduce the distractions from those pesky mosquitoes. Although for turkey hunting it is not an issue to wear some type of scented bug spray, I still do not like the feeling or the smell of it, and deer season, especially early season those sprays are out of the question. So upon doing further research on the web I came across the ThermaCell®. I immediately began to do research on the product because I, like many, do not enjoy wasting my money on something that doesn’t work. Although I was not sure if this product was a gimmick or not, I began to find many accounts of other people who gave their support to the product, including hunters, avid outdoorsmen and,even the US Military.
This product unlike many other bug repellants does not use any sprays, but instead it uses a small butane cartridge along with a dispersion pad that, when heated, is supposed to create a 15 x 15 bug free barrier around the location of the Thermacell. Well, I was not totally sold at this point, but I thought I would give it a try; of course turkey season was already over when I noticed them on sale at my local Bass Pro shop. I picked one up along with some refill cartridges so I could thoroughly test this product out,. I had the perfect place for an initial test in mind. My in-laws have a pool that my family frequents about four times per week in the summer, and it is surrounded by woods and a stream — which means we always get bit up beyond belief out there. I decided to give it a try; we used no other bug spray and turned on the ThermaCell. While we were sitting around the table that the ThermaCell was sitting on, I noticed that we did not get bothered by a single mosquito, however the minute Iwalked to the other end of the pool I would instantly attract them. We continued to use the Thermacell all summer while relaxing at the pool and it worked flawlessly, however this was only onetest. The real test would be during early deer season…would smell of the smoldering pad scare away the deer? This was my biggest concern, and hunting was the real reason I purchased the product. Early Deer Season Results:
One of the properties I have the privilege to hunt has a couple streams on it, and with all the rain we had been experiencing there was plenty of water for the mosquitoes to breed. And as expected,this property was infested with mosquitoes this year. On opening weekend, a buddy and I set up for an evening hunt. I knew the little buggers where bad out there because when I checked my game camera a week ago I had been bitten about ten times in five minutes. I warned my friend about the mosquitoes and neither he nor I packed any spray, so he was without any bug repellant (unlucky him). I climbed into my stand about 3:30 in the afternoon, and sure enough within fiveminutes I had a mosquito buzz my ear. So I grabbed the ThermaCell fired it up and placed it underneath me on the back of the stand. Once it heated up and I stared to see the smoke I knew all was going to be good. From that point on, I didn’t get hassled by another mosquito for the rest of the hunt. At the same time however, I could see the little buggers swarming about 20 yards away around the creek. Now the real question was yet to be answered….will having the ThermaCell on ruin my chances of seeing any deer? Sure enough, around 7:00pm that night five deer crossed the creek and walked right under my stand, not one of them even put their noses up in the air as if they smelled something. These deer had no idea I was there until I took a shot at one (and missed but that is a different story). So I would have to believe the deer could care less about any scent the ThermaCell is emitting. It did not end there, sure enough I heard my friends bow go off and he ended up taking a nice doe, and once we where both out ofour stands he was telling how bad the mosquitoes were and that he had almost given up on the hunt. The two of us where only about 50 yards apart I came away with no bites, yet his hands and face were covered with mosquito bites (granted he came away with a deer that night and I did not). Summary:
All and all, the ThermaCell is one of the best products I have purchased and not just for hunting. I was very pleased with it and I know for early deer and turkey season I will not be without it again - for it has allowed me to enjoy the outdoors without being bothered by those pesky blood suckers we all love to hate. Note: All gear reviews presented on ProHuntersJournal.com reflect the opinions of the individual FieldStaff member(s) who authored the articles and do not necessarilly reflect the views of ProHuntersJournal.com.
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