Surprise Tree stand dangers!

[coyote220]

#3926

Just a word of caution to all who hunt from an established blind. I went out this morning to trim some branches back and practice some shots from a stand. First round all was well, started the second round and I had a wasp land on my bow, then another and another…well you know where this is going! I got out of the stand fast and looked back to see that wasps had made a nest in the bundled camoflage left from last season.
So remember your safety harness AND your wasp killer during the early season.

[SteveMcD]

#25458

Good tip. I had a similiar experience about 15 years ago. Went out hunting in early archery season with my son, the area we were hunting was a ridge top with multiple saddles to the top, it was still dark when we finally reached our spots, I was sitting on a dead tree overlooking a saddle depressiona and trail below, as the sun began to come up and warm up, I noticed I was literally covered with hornets just waking up. They had their nest inside the dead tree. I very slowly lifted up my pack, bow and wlked away no worse for the experience. But grateful it went the way it did. Could have been a lot worse.

[Frank H V]

#25920

There is a wasp spray on the market that shoots almost 15′. I’ve used it with very good results.
Frank

[MontanaFord]

#26047

I really like the Spectracide brand that Home Depot carries. Better than raid, and I think it has like a 25 or 30 foot spray range….at least until you get to the end of the can…lol…

Michael.

Steve, I think they liked that something warm stopped by to help them begin an early warm-up session. LOL.

[coyote220]

#26103

Spectra to the rescue! I revisited the stand this morning and soaked it very well. They dropped like…flies??!! I went and visited all of the other stand locations in this section just in case. The fumes and wasps should be gone by the 9/15 urban season opener, if not my screaming will screw up the hunt anyway. 🙂

[William Warren]

#31566

White faced hornets often build nests at eye level. Years ago I hunted a cypess swamp, picking my way in in the dark. On our way back we noticed a large hornet nest along the path we had taken. Luckily neither of us ran into it as we stumbled through the cypress knees in the dark.

Another treestand tip involving critters. Keep a close eye on birds of prey, especially if you are wearing a camo headnet. I’ve had Acipiter sized hawks like the Cooper’s nearly take my net off my head. They spotted my slight head movement and thought it was prey. I raised my arm on one that came so close its wing brushed my sleeve. Yikes. But what a thrill to see these magnificent birds so close.

[coyote220]

#31575

No bird attacks to date. I did have a squirrel get a little to aggressive in it’s “nut” collection efforts last season. I was shocked at the loud barking scream it let out when I twitched my hand after it approached within a foot of me. No addition to it’s nut collection from my location that night!

[Frank H V]

#32146

I had a similar experience to Duncans one time a friend & myself were trying to call Coyotes & had a Owl hit my friends hat as we called. It was near dusk & the Owl evidently took Bob’s hat as prey.
Frank

[Steve Branson]

#32514

Yeah, good tip! I was “walking” a ladder stand up a tree once and stepped into a ground hornets nest. I had jeans on and not sure how many actually made it up my pants, but I had either 23 or 26 stings on my leg. They even followed me about a quarter mile back to the house! After some Benadryl for the swelling, I went out that evening armed with some kerosene and matches and got my revenge!:x

[Frank H V]

#32525

Good old WD40 will do them in too, & if you hold a bic lighter under the speay nozzle it’s a dandy flame thrower. Just be carefull of dry grass etc.
Frank

[William Warren]

#33604

An Eco-friendly way to kill wasps, yellow jackets and spiders is to use boiling water. For wasp and yellow jackets wait until dark and pour the boiling water into/onto the nest. For spiders like the black widow that might have a nest with a trillion little ones, the boiling water will cook them all without disturbing the nest. Of course this only works if you have the time and means to boil a pot of water. And be careful with the boiling water as it could end up burning you.

[Stephen Graf]

#34766

Another Eco-Friendly but slower method is to put some honey on the nest.

The idea being a raccoon will come along and dig it up for the honey. Sort of like chocolate covered ants…

[coyote220]

#38877

Crap!!! The wasps are back! This weekend the stand is getting gased AND stripped bare.

[Don Thomas]

#40003

Tip: You gotta hit the nest at night, when all the wasps are in it. Otherwise, the survivors that were out flying around when you sprayed it the first time will simply re-populate it. Don

[Etter1]

#12598

I’m always amazed that people don’t wear safety harnesses. I was in a stand a few years back that a buddy had set several years previous. Around nine o clock, I shifted my weight and the entire seat ripped out from under me. I immediately toppled over the right side of the stand and the safety harness caught me when I was about perfectly horizontal. It no doubt saved me from serious injury or death.

ps- as for the wasps, wait to check your stands until about three weeks before the season. I’ve had new ones come in and build nests in between the “summer check” and hunting season…..and if you get a big hollow spot in your tree that is being habitated by a colony of european hornets, you need a partner like Tailfeather that can drop em flying like he’s shooting migs.

[David Petersen]

#12672

About a month ago, while walking my dogs an hour or so before dark and cutting through a patch of scrub oak, I noticed this odd sight. Although I had passed very close by, none of the yellowjackets paid any attention to me, and all were very still in their wad of bodies. Only thing I could figure is that they were massing before going into the hole for the night, or there was a queen inside there somewhere. I returned right at dark with a can of wasp spray but they were gone. After that I started watching for them every evening and a week or so later there they were again on the same little twig. This time I had my spray with me and they dropped like pebbles; no survivors. In the past 25 years I’ve accrued nearly a hundred ‘jacket bites and developed an accute, potentially lethal, allergy. So no mercy. If there are any hymenopterists out there … what does this behavior mean?

[wildschwein]

#12759

Dave I have seen yellow jackets do the same thing up here as well. I always figured they were congregating on a food source of some sort. But since your wasps returned to the same twig twice, it seems unlikely that food is the reason.

[David Petersen]

#13041

Justin – You are right. While some adjacent oak leaves had been nibbled by insects, there was no damage whatsoever to the twig they kept returning to. To me, this is the most dangerous animal alive. Yet I don’t hate them but only want them to hang out someplace other than my backyard 😛

[Stephen Graf]

#13590

I don’t know what happened, but I do have some small experience with those buggers. Growing up, we had 400 bee hives. And that not being enough for the old man, we collected wasps, hornets, yellow jackets, etc. and shipped them off to be made into antivenin.

My guess would be that the first time you saw the insects, they had a queen in the middle. If they were ground dwelling yellow jackets, their nest may have been destroyed. And they were looking for a new place.

The second clump may have been due to the remaining pheromones that the queen left. Studies have shown that the chemicals can last and attract groups of insects for months.

The good news is that usually when this happens, the workers get very docile, and don’t sting. If you have ever seen people with bee beards, this is how it was done. You hang a queen from the shirt, and wait for the workers to land and grow the beard. Then when the fun is over, someone removes the queen, and the bees (mostly) leave. But you better go take a shower and wash that shirt several times, or you will end up with bees in your bonnet for weeks 😯

[David Coulter]

#13596

I never had much trouble with bees or wasps, as far as allergic reactions. My wife got stung this summer and it caused her a lot of pain. A friend got into a nest of yellow jackets with a weed whacker this summer and got 29 stings. A trip to the emergency room and a shot of adrenaline was needed to keep him from slipping into a coma. He had no previous allergies to stings, but will now.

This has given me a whole new respect for those critters. The photo Dave posted is of Parasitic Yellow Jackets which is what my wife got into. It’s definitely good to have a close look at where your stand is.

[paleoman]

#13624

Frank H V wrote: Good old WD40 will do them in too, & if you hold a bic lighter under the speay nozzle it’s a dandy flame thrower. Just be carefull of dry grass etc.

Frank

I couldn’t find the wasp killer, then thought I did – but it was a can of oven cleaner. Well, I thought this is nasty, and sure enough it drops them as fast as lightning. Probably not too good for a lot of surfaces but it worked on the wasps.

[lyagooshka]

#14959

paleoman,

I am surprised. I thought I was the only one that used Easy-Off instead of insecticide. 😆 I am not sure about environmental impacts, but I think the oven cleaner drops them faster than anything on the market that is meant to do the job.

Alex

😯

[Wexbow]

#16253

Even works on me Alex – as soon as the wife produces the oven cleaner and asks me to do the honours I drop off – down the pub and out of harms way 😆

[lyagooshka]

#16274

🙂 😀 😆 😀 🙂

LOL. That is funny. I have to try that disappearing trick next time I get the “Honey Do” list thrown at me!!!

[David Petersen]

#16395

Wexbow, the other night we watched a documentary called “The Pubs of Dublin.” Two things would entice me to visit “the British Isles”: to listen to the musical accents, and to visit every pub I could find, preferably in the countryside, not the city, though my distant ancestors (Vikings) once occupied pre-Dublin. I don’t suppose, amidst your seas of Guinness, any of your pubs serve good Mexican light? Say Pacifico or Sol? 😛

[Wexbow]

#18439

Dave, all the rain over here will soon turn you away from that mexican stuff and move you in the direction of fortifying agents such as stout and a nice drop of whiskey 😀 But character still abounds the public houses of this island.

[lyagooshka]

#18484

Besides Dave, if you are going to an Irish Pub, you should at least have a beer! 🙂 😀 😆 😀 🙂

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