Wasps.......did you know......?

OK...we all know wasps will build nests inside a deer blind, outbuildings, etc...

But did you know:

1. They will also build a sizable nest on a tree branch WAY out in the woods?
2. That 'said nest' can contain upwards of 50 wasps?
3. That even a 'sizable nest' can be overlooked if you are not expecting something like that?
4. That in the cool of the morning...ALL of the wasps will be ON the nest?
5. That if you cut the branch the nest is on....it makes the wasps very angry?
6. That angry wasps WILL seek out the source of the disturbance?
7. That angry wasps can fly faster than you can run though dense brush and greenbriar?
8. That angry wasps are not deterred by flailing hands and arms.
9. That angry wasps will follow you for approximately 25 yds.
10. That 'retreating' 26 yds. is made more difficult when you are harnessed into 6' of brush cutter with big handle bar grips?





So....as you are preparing for the upcoming Deer Season, just keep your eyes peeled for things you might not have been expecting.


Flint (at home nursing my whelps)

.....and you learned all this how?

(This is gonna be a good story)

Been there and done that. sucked for me too.

Where's the dang GoPro when you need it? Did you get hit?

At least they weren't africanized bees. A rancher was killed by bees recently in southwest Texas when he hit the nest in an open cab dozer.

My lease mates have quit laughing at me having a can of wasp spray in my right hand a lot of the times. They're now asking if I brought any more cans and if they could have one.

im sorry but that had to be hilarious to any bystanders.

Excellent write-up of what sounds like a first hand encounter

Wasps don't normally bother me as much as the big bumble bees. They will chase you a lot further than 25 yrds. Glad I have a cabin on the tractor.

Not laughing at you but with you sir. Been there/done that and scream like a 3 year old the entire time.

LOL! I have used a 12 gauge with dove load and moved back just enough to get the pattern of the shot to kill every bee on the nest. It works great, also!

I have an overgrown road leading to one of my deer stands, it runs right along a fence line, so the the only way to widen it is to cut the brush back away from the wooded side. Started on it yesterday, armed with my brush cutter, chainsaw and gas powered pole-saw.

Got up early this morning to take advantage of the cool weather and complete the job.

I've experienced yellow-jackets in ground nests before, bumble-bees in ground nests, hornets in their large enclosed nests. But I haven't run into wasps on tree branches in the woods. Found them on branches around creeks and rivers, just not on my property....so I wasn't looking for them.

I was watching for Copperheads (not wasps) because this area has quite a few snakes.

Anyway, I use my brush cutter to cut small saplings (up to 3"), briers and such. I was right in the middle of a bunch of downed saplings when I cut the one they happened to be in.

I never saw them until they started attacking me. The first stings occurring on my hands and arms, then on my back, sides and head as I tried to retreat.

I was surprised at how far some of them followed me. Usually wasps will give you some relief once you've backed off 10-20 feet. Not these.

If I'd been on flat, clean ground and not attached to 20 lbs and 6' of brush cutter...I could have put some distance between us quicker than I did. The handle bar grip and brush guard seemed to catch on everything they could. Worse than jumper cables in a tool box.

Also, at 62 years of age, 6-5" and 270 lbs. I am something less than 'nimble'. Wasps are nimble.

The 'motivation' for a quick escape was there....but the 'ability' was sadly lacking.

The harness has a quick detach hook that will allow you to remove the brush cutter from it, but it takes both hands to do so...and both of my hands were already busy (to no avail but busy).

I'll go back this evening with a cupful of gasoline and take care of the wasps. The sapling with the nest is on the ground now and they will be back on it by then.

I'll either get 'payback' or another 'lesson', we will see.

Maybe a gillie suit, then they can't see you, or at least get through to you.

Was hauling hay with my little cousin several years ago. He was in barn stacking and I was getting him bales from the trailer. On the last row up top, he was crawling on hands and knees, he hit a red wasp nest with his head. This was dead of summer and he got hit 18 times before he got out of the barn.

Ouch. I've had hornets get me while fishing and trying to get my lure out of some brush on the side of the lake. Trolling motors don't go fast enough to get away from them.

OUCH!

Just 11 for me (best I can tell). Thankfully I am not anaphylactic or it could have been serious.

Certainly not the first time I've run into wasps, but wasn't expecting it at the location I was at.

Good thing is...the stings don't last long.

I have a fairly high threshold for pain and this is hardly anything to cry about. But its not something you'd ask for....for Christmas either.

Dang. I be that was visible from space.

As a kid, my folks dropped me off at a blind. When I climbed up in it, full of yellow jackets and I was allergic to them. Climbed down and was sitting on the bottom railing when I heard a rattlesnake nearby.

Climbed on top of the feeder. And that's where I was when they came back to pick me up several hours later.

Thats a nice brush cutter! Careful they can be bent and destroyed in the mad scramble as well.

Been there and felt the pain of wasps/bees this year.

Man, that sucks...in a really hilarious way. I already had the movie playing in my head before you told the full story.

Wasps are jerks.

Yeah, fast jerks though.

The little ground hornets are the worst around here. Hit them with the dozer and you can't back up fast enough.

I went to reset a timer and opened up a feeder control box about a week ago. Luckily is foggy/cool early that morning when I got to the feeder. I opened the timer box to quite the surpise when a couple of red wasps flew out and the other 12-15 stayed inside. I guess they were just about to build a nest, that was their downfall after I hit them wasp spray. I did realize I could react that fast when I back up after the first one tried to slowly exit in my direction.

Question - not that I want to do research, but you all think a rattler would turn and exit if you hit him with wasp spray, or just come at you all the harder?

Other snakes that I have used it on had mixed results. I wouldn't try it.

Thanks for the report. The first time Mom went up (alone) to their country place after Dad died, there was a snake in the house. She sprayed the hell out of it with "bug spray", then beat the snot out of it with a broom, then cried and cried. Bittersweet story, but by God, I've always admired that woman's tenacity.

How many of us have something like Benadryl handy in case of a bad reaction to a sting? I do and like Creekrunner a full can of wasp spray.

I hit a big Bumble Bee nest while I was mowing a friends pasture a few years ago. After getting stung by a few of them,I bailed off the tractor and ran like hell. Luckily,The bees followed the tractor,and it finally stopped when it ran into a big tree!

That wasn't a fun experience.

This is what we call a "Profound Revelation"

I usually have two epi pens at camp, plus benedryl. Epi is life saving in case of an anaphylaxis. My throat clothes and I can't breathe if I accidentally eat any kind shellfish so I have to carry them....Works the same for a wasp or hornet sting if I have a reaction.

I keep benadryl in my truck glove box and a couple of them duct taped to the inside of the Ranger glove box. I always try to have two cans of wasp spray in the Ranger also.

Hate them hornets. I do equipment inspections on stuff that sits for several months and even years. Got into a nest under the front of a trailer tongue. Took off running at the first sign. Come back 10 minutes later and sprayed the whole bunch. A six inch nest had 87 of them on it.

Yes, I suppose I should follow my Wife's good advice and slow down. I'm still in decent shape (for 62)...but today's 'epiphany' (the mind willing, but the body less able) proved a valuable reality check.

Still think I could have outrun 'some' of them...had I not been so encumbered. Or maybe not?

Gonna go get some 'payback' in the morning.

Being someone who was attacked by African bees and losing both of my dogs to them I have a little advice. Run like hell. They cant fly very fast and at about a hundred yards the swarm will generally return to their hive. Don't try to fight them RUN. When you see they are no longer chasing you then you can get the ones on you off. The next weekend the man around Waco was killed by a swarm. I was very lucky.

Hate to hear that about your dogs.

We have to watch the bees at our place, a couple about a mile north of us was hospitalized and lost their dog too.

Earlier this year in September, I was using a chainsaw at camp and one of the other guys was holding the ladder. I was intent on what I was doing until the ladder dang near went and he started hollering. I killed the chainsaw and when I looked up, I got hit right in the forehead. Turns out there was a hive under a shed close to where we were working.

We ran about 100 yards, brushed ourselves off and had to run another hundred because they kept coming. Was a bad day...

I finally built me a "bee suit" and we hooked the shed up to a truck and hauled it way down the road.

We got wasp strips in all the blinds a few weeks ago. Should make opening morning much more enjoyable this time around. They are everywhere with all the rain the past year. I was plugging in some lights and they had a nest inside the cover. Only one got me and didn't hurt luckily since i was standing on something.

Last year I was helping my wife take some potting soil out of a storage bin when a yellow jacket hit her on the end of the nose. I made the mistake of laughing at her.

I hope that they were not yellowjackets because the itch from a yellowjacket sting is worse than the pain

Those aren't hornets. They're wasps. Hornets build a cone shaped totally enclosed nest that hangs from a branch, overhang, etc. Hornets are WAY worse than wasps.

I'm allergic to any wasp, bee, hornet sting. I swell up like a balloon. I have to carry an epi pen with me all of the time. Really sucks to have to watch out for them all of the time when outdoors. Thankfully I haven't been stung in over 10 years. But I know that it's coming sooner or later ...........

.22-250 is the ideal wasp gun, though a .177 will get the job done.

I would have thought a .22 Hornet or .218 Bee ?

Will my .17 HMR work?

And IF so....do you recommend I use a 17 gr. 'TNT' or the 20 gr. 'GAMEPOINT'?

I'm not familiar with where the 'vitals' are on a wasp, but maybe it doesn't matter?

Thatz funny right there

Jokes aside I beheaded a red wasp from 8 yards with my .177 Walther Terrus, no scope. Have a witness as well. Best shot I've made in my life. Lol

I should have said yellow jackets. Wasps up here are large (not as big as your large hornets) and fairly slow compared to yellow jackets. I am lucky to have nature killing ours out every year due to winter.