thomasmgp

So we put up a new free standing quad stand in the middle of September. I hunted it a few times and saw lots of deer from it and have shot my only buck from this stand. 2 weeks ago I noticed 7-8 hornets flying in and out of the stand. I had just hunted it the night before and didnt see anything so I thought it was quite strange. I looked around the stand and didnt see a nest anywhere.

Told my dad about it and he just called me a sissy for not wanting to hunt in it cause of a few Hornets. When he came the following day I told him to go hunt it then. He was gone 10 minutes before he came back. The stand has a fabric door that velcros shut and I had always left it open and it was folded over. Said when he opened it up there was a mass of about 60-70 hornets in it.

Went back with loads of hornet spray and just hosed them down. Waited a few days and I decided to go hunt it again. Just to be safe I shook the hell out of the stand before I climbed up and nothing flew out so I figured it was safe to hunt. Climbed inside and sat down then happened to glance in the upper corners of the stand to my right. Nothing but Hornets. I dont think I touched but 1 step on the ladder I came out of that stand so fast. So we killed those as well.

This was Friday so I decided to hunt it this afternoon as it boarders some thick brush and baby pines on one side and hardwoods on the other and over looks an old corn field with a decent sized food plot. Also the wind wasnt bad in this corner of my farm so thought maybe I would see something. Well the only thing I saw was more damn hornets.

I dont want to abandon or move this stand cause its in a great spot but a trip to the emergency room after getting swarmed on by angry hornets isnt worth hunting it anymore. If they are coming back that fast should their main nest be close by? I have looked everywhere but I just cant find it.

elmoughler

Does the stand have tubular steel? They could have a nest inside that.

thomasmgp

Yea but the only hollow ends contain the inserts for the foundation and are hammered into the ground.

My dad said when he first opened the door about 20 of them flew directly over his head and off into the pines behind the stand. I would figure they would have went for him since he was only 2 feet away. Im guessing they flew off to the main nest? I read that bald-faced hornets die off in the winter and a queen will hibernate but sometimes it stays in the 60s and even 70s until January so waiting on them to die off might take a while.

Really sucks cause this has been an awesome stand so far. Seen 4 bucks including the one I shot in a 2 week period and about 12-15 does in that time as well. Also I have a friend who hunts and his stand can see the same treeline that I hunt and he says he sees deer near my stand all the time. I really hate hornets.

OFDOlson_173

You could try n smoke bomb the place.... But you will make it stinky so I might not wanna do that...

AquamanPSD

wow I have never heard of such a thing. The only thing i could think of is go in there and kill all of them that are there and sit in there for a while and try to find how they are getting in. If there is an open ended tube some where in there that you don't know about then i would think that that would be it. Once you find out where they are coming from then you shoul dhave no problem killing them or keeping them out. If they are that persistant I would think the hive is in the stand somewhere.

thomasmgp

Yea but so far we have killed probably 80 of them. A hive would have to be massive like those giant basketball sized ones you see pictures of. I have found one before and it was also in a pink thicket but thankfully it was empty so maybe they like pines? But with there being such a large number of them hanging around the stand if the hive was in the stand itself it would have to be noticeable. Plus we have hosed the entire thing down with hornet killer and shake the hell out of it and nothing has come out. So once we kill them the others must be coming back from a larger nest somewhere close by.

Have also talked to some of my dads friends who have been hunting for 30+ years and they have never heard of hornets just massing up like that and appearing out of nowhere. Only thing we could think of is that they got cold and found shelter in that door flap and lumped together like that so they could generate heat to stay warm. But all I know is I have never been stung by anything before so I dont know how allergic I might be so Im probably not going to hunt the stand again. I have another friend who hunts over here and if just 2-3 of them sting him hes off to the hospital. Also for some reason Wasps and Hornets just creep me out. I would rather deal with a rattlesnake or copper head as snakes dont bother me at all and most of the time I just walk through the woods with tennis shoes on instead of snake boots.

AquamanPSD

Yea I got nailed 6 times in a matter of about 5 seconds a couple months ago by some ground hornets. It is painfull enough to send chills down your back for a couple hours! they hurt like heck thats for sure.

rritchey sr.

It sounds like you have a real delema on your hands. I would have tried the spray first and that they came back is not a good sign. I can empathize with you as I had my "spot" invaded by a nest of hornets this fall. It is a basket size nest and only dangling by a thread. There was no way that I was going to mess with them so I moved my "spot". If I go there in dear season and it has been cold enough that nest is coming down!

M134

heavily soaped water. palmolive hand soap... it washes the magic dust off their wings they cant fly. it wont kill them immediately, but they will die from living on the ground. and ya sprayed a bunch of stinky pesticide in there ya need to dilute any way. seal the blind up, duct tape works good. spray foam around the roof edge, where i suspect them coming in at. hornets are no joke, when 1 stings you, it makes you release a pheromone that tells other hornets where to sting..basically yer whole body! make sure to start packing benedryl in yer bag and leave some at camp, it can save yer life. one cop died in front of his son fallin off his ladder trying to get away from bees..he landed and impaled himself on a t stake. wont have to worry about it in the cold weather, unless you heat yer blind

thomasmgp

It was pretty cold this morning in the 40s so I sent my dad over with the hornet spray and he didnt see any. Gonna be low 40s-high 30s tomorrow that should do it so im hunting it tomorrow morning. Bad thing is I always get in my stand an hour before sunrise so they could creep in there and I would never know it. Watched 6 deer come out near it cause I can see it from another stand. Too bad it would have been a 600 yard shot.