Chris L. Fuentes spoke with Kevin Paulson, Founder & CEO of HuntingLife.com, about how important it is for hunters to wear repellent every day, and why the Ranger Ready P2 PAK is the perfect hunting companion.
KP: I think that’s what we kind of see in the hunting community is a lot of hunters get Lyme disease, but they don’t know that they have it. And so, by the time that they get treatment, or they get seen by a doctor, it’s been three to six months and they’re like, I don’t know why I don’t feel good.
CLF: I kind of have to admit that being the stubborn male that I am, I ignored it. It’s that period of ignoring the situation where you don’t know – you have the uncertainty and you don’t know how you got it. In fact, only half of the people actually see a bullseye from being bitten by a tick. You only have half the chance to be right, and I was lucky with a huge inflammation that told the doctor that I got bitten.
One of the hardest things about hunting is that you have to be tick aware. Standing alongside of a stream you can get ticks because the animals come to water and ticks drop off near the water. Hunters are starting to realize that it is not just the deer but it’s also rabbits, squirrels, racoons, mice and even song birds that have ticks. These animals don’t have to get bitten, but they can carry ticks into your yard or where you are hunting.
I think the key thing that hunters need to know is that they can protect themselves and they don’t have to get bitten. There are options out there that are safe and can protect them.
KP: Tell me a little bit about your Scent Zero for hunters.
CLF: We are a young brand. We started our first trade show in March of 2018 in Suffern, New York at the World Fishing Expo. I had never been to a fishing or hunting expo. We set up our trade show and sold our first bottles. We didn’t even have production fully established yet. We had a great show and one of the hunters who came up to us at the show told us, “You know, you guys are pretty smart, but I’d make something that’s completely unscented, doesn’t smell so hunters can really enjoy the fact that it doesn’t smell.” So, we went to work. We took on the challenge head on and developed Scent Zero and the trigger spray at the same time. The trigger spray head allows people to use the repellent more generously on themselves, and we are finding that hunters really like our product. Season after season they are using our product and the news is travelling through word of mouth. We are also making a pretty great entry into the fishing market. Ranger Ready Picaridin does have to be reapplied after your hands get wet, but what is great about it is that it is not greasy, not sticky, doesn’t deteriorate your line or your reel or equipment. Trout and bass anglers are telling us they really like the formula – that is pretty exciting to us.
We also launched Permethrin directly for hunters. We knew that hunters understood Permethrin and wanted to use it, so we created our formula and created the P2 Pak specifically in Scent Zero for hunters. We are hearing from hunters who are using it and telling us that deer are coming in and they are not able to smell them. It’s been a really great fun ride and we encourage hunters to reach out to us directly and share their stories on social media using the hashtag #rangerreadyrepellents.
To read the full interview, visit HuntingLife.com
