On a camping trip to a remote secret fishing hole, we ended up in Mosquito Hell! The mosquitos were huge, hungry, and hard to deal with. We had a bunch of Cutter Bug spray, but it just seemed to make the mosquitos meaner.

I remembered some old school remedies that my old fishing Mentors shared. When he was thick in the bugs, he used Vanilla Extract on the pulse points, the wrist, ears, and neck. Not only did the Vanilla smell good, it also worked better than the crappy Bug Juice we had. The smell was so unique that the mosquitos were confused. At least they left us alone.

There are many unique Bug Juice recipes. Here are a few.

               Vodka    150 proof works best. Add a little Witch Hazel. Rubbing alcohol will work in a pinch. Apparently, the antiseptic nature of the alcohol discourages the mosquitos. Maybe they can’t fly right after toasting on your blood. If it doesn’t work, it will at least calm you down.

               To expand on the Vodka theme, mix the booze with ¼ of boiled water. Now add 1 tsp of Vanilla, 85 drops of Plant Therapy Essential oils, and 1 tbsp. of vegetable Glycerin, fractionated coconut oil or olive oil.  All these ingredients or combinations of them do seem to help discourage the mosquitos.

               Spray Bottle    Try 4 tbsp. of Witch Hazel 3 tbsp. of rubbing alcohol, 35-40 drops of Citronella oil. Now shake it up and spray the mosquitos away.

               Pet and People Bug Juice    Mix the following into a spray bottle. 4 oz. of water, 20 drops of eucalyptus oil, 20 drops of lemon grass essential oil.

               Camp Spray    In a large spray bottle, mix 1 bottle of Blue Mint Mouthwash, 3 bottles of stale beer, and 3 cups of Epsom salts. Spray this mix around the camp perimeter, corral, kennel, or tent for surprising results.

Native people used an assortment of other bug deterrents. Thinned mud spread over exposed skin would help. Manure also was used on people and ponies. They would also smash sage leaves and smear them on their exposed skin. Sage in a campfire also makes for a smoke deterrent.

I think I will stick to the oils, vodka, and citronella.

Montana Grant

For more Montana grant, Bug Him at www.montanagrantfishing.com.