YeeOwch! What the heck just bit me???

[Mad Mikey]

I think I have recovered from the badger incidents and feel fairly safe to wander around in the woods again.

A few days ago I took a hike behind the locked gates into the Beaver Creek water shed to look for some red diggers and do some pre-season Blue Grouse scouting.

Yeah, laugh all you want but Blue Grouse are serious bid'ness in my book.

The terrain was not looking especially "blue-grousy" but I nailed a few diggers with the .17HMR. I found a few huckleberries but just enough for a quick snack.

As usual I was dealing with all sorts of flying/biting insects, mainly horse/deerflies. I rarely use repellants, I just hate soaking myself with chemicals that don't come in ice cold 12oz cans.......

About a mile or so after I turned around and dropped down to the road to hike back to the truck I felt something hit my right shoulder and then....


PAIN!!!

I never saw the bug because I whipped it off my shoulder so fast. But, it felt BIG and made a rattling noise as it flew off. I glanced at my shoulder and saw a dime sized spot of blood seeping through my fairly thick, cotton shirt.

I can't imagine a horsefly could do that. That thing must have been big, nasty, and on a mission.

A few co-workers told me about some kind of flying beetle or wasp thing that resides in the high country that will come and take a bite outa' ya'.

I dunno, this is my home terrain and I've never been bit like this before. Today I have an itchy, slender 1/2 inch bump where the bug got me.


I did see a 2 inch flying beetlebug on my day pack. Shiny grey back with black spots on it. Pretty cool bug but it didn't seem aggressive.

So, the million dollar question is: What bit Mad Mikey?

Bonus question: And why?

References to badger conspiracy theories do not count......

:grin:

[jnicholson]

Deer fly?

[lor]

Originally Posted by jnicholson

Deer fly?

Sounds like the badgers have a contract on you.
Since that first incident, you can't seem to go in the woods without an encounter. I suspect the badgers have enlisted help from the insect kingdom. Dude, your toast. Might want to hunt an area with no badgers, or find a spot beyond the range of there influence, like the westside.

In all seriousness, maybe a hornet or bumblebee.

[SImudBogger]

red tail hawk

[DAB]

Mad Mikey
You keep on posting this kind of stuff and you wont be able to get even the devil to hunt with you...
DAB

I dont have a clue of what got you.

[Mad Mikey]

Originally Posted by DAB

Mad Mikey
You keep on posting this kind of stuff and you wont be able to get even the devil to hunt with you...
DAB

I dont have a clue of what got you.

I think I have it figured out. Bat-boy was recently given a pink slip.

http://www.ifish.net/board/showthread.php?t=161179






Dang was he fast........ :grin:

But seriously, I'd sure like to find out some info on a bug that can poke a hole in a thick cotton shirt and draw blood on a scale I've never witnessed.
What got me???

[Limbhanger]

I got bit by a big ol' horse fly once and it about dropped me to me knees. He drew blood, but before he could escape he ate a convulsive panick swat and died. That sucker had a beak like a parrot. I wouldnt doubt if that is what got you. I am not at all bothered by bee's or bugs, but if I see a horse or deer fly around they have my full attention!

[Abalone]

It was the love bug and the reason is obvious.....

[Chug]

Shot from a Silenced, Badger barrel?? . They are sneaky, & you are at war with them critters.


Guess beetle, Or horse fly. Hate them things... Swack them

[toas243]

Note to all ifishers don`t Hunt with MM ,he brings bad bug`s and varmints

[Smoked Salmon]

Pine beetle or close relative. They are vicious.

[river rat]

**** bug!

[Matthewc]

it was clearly a no-see-um..

[Chrome Bumper]

Northern spotted piranha fly. Do you have a slight fever, fear bathing, have muscle aches or a desire to listen to Britney Spears singing?

[duckboy]

That would have been a Blue Grouse (Male combatant type)

Typically they will hang in the high country and tend to have an arsenal of tools (mostly alloy pneumatics) and some high tech implant items (so they can tag you and monitor your location via satellite from their master control nest locations in the secure tree towers) .

You will start a download sequence in the next 72 hours, now that you are tagged with their receptive implant.

You should experience a series of dreams, and daydream like states in which you envision yourself flying, and working in a sewer pipe (some folks envision flying through the length of a sewer pipe.

After that, you will have cravings for pine nuts, forbs, and grasshoppers.

Good luck Mike,

Should be an interesting fall for you.

[woolybuggerboy]

i've been bitten by a dragonfly before and that drew blood. never had a horsefly draw blood but i've seen some that could have prolly. my best guess would be sea lion

[Just Fish]

Sounds like a bald face hornet.

[JustCallMeDave]

Keep an eye on that spot, just in case the larvae took hold in there.

[Headhunter]

Mikey,

It was the Mother Ship implanting another tracking device....I would call Scully ASAP!

[thresher]

It was a horse fly. I have had them bite me through 2 pairs of socks in the past. And they are freaking HUGE.

[fergy61]

Here is a wikipedia quote about the horse fly



Bite

The bite from a larger specimen can be singularly painful, especially considering the light, agile, and airborne nature of the fly. Unlike insects which surreptitiously puncture the skin with needle-like organs, horse flies have mandibles like tiny serrated scimitars, which they use to rip and/or slice flesh apart. This causes the blood to seep out as the horsefly licks it up. They may even carve a chunk completely out of the victim, to be digested at its leisure.
The horsefly's modus operandi is less secretive than that of its mosquito counterparts, although it still aims to escape before pain signals reach their mark's sphere of awareness. Moreover, the pain of a horsefly bite may mean that the victim is more concerned with assessing and repairing the wound, than finding and swatting the interloper.

[flyfisherwoman923]

you say that you do not like bug sprays...but I have to wonder if you are wearing a cologne or scent that has singled you out to the beavers and they have communicated to other species that you are the mortal enemy and must be stopped.......maybe you should post a positive experience to make others want to hunt with you....and it was probably a horsefly...nasty buggers.......good luck!!!

[scottishsetter]

Have you considered that it might have been a 'widow maker'?

[Mad Mikey]

*chuckle* You guys are having WAAAY too much fun with this, but I guess I set myself up for it. I'll just settle on horsefly, that seems to be the consensus here and at work. It was still one hell of a bite though, a week later and the area is still red.

Did a little poking around on the net and found some cool piks of the bug. I now can see why they can go through clothing!!!!

maybe you should post a positive experience to make others want to hunt with you....

SHHHHH!, I'm just trying to keep the rest of Y'all on the West side....

Part of my evil plan........

[WestsideGal]

Ouch Mikey!! Maybe I won't go after all.....

[julezilla]

http://www.youtube.com/v/Ua4Cq2gSvjU

I'd stay out of the woods for a while if I were you . . .

[pablofeesh]

ther was a fly in alaska called a white socks, it hurts when it bites and drew blood but i have never heard of them in oregon. your insincts need working on grasshopper, if something hurts you, you have to see what it is rather than flailing like a schoolgirl.

[Grantspastor]

It was a "Badgergeist"

[scottishsetter]

Or a Bridgeport!