Ticks in the snow? (And a buck)

[GoOutside]

Hey guys i was recently hunting in reg 3 near the Fraser. I was hunting an old burn I hiked up for an afternoon hunt and when i got back to my camp(i sleep in my car) i was sitting* with the heat on for a few minutes and i noticed a tiny tick crawling on my arm. I've never had a tick before,and it was so small i wondered if it was some sort of mite. Then i looked at my pants. I had at least a dozen+ all over my pants. About 1mm long and redish brown. Where i was camping there was a stream* that was basically frozen over and about 6 inches of light fluffy snow it was -4 degrees. I went up the next day it snowed another few inches and looked at some of the tops of grass and found a few with literally clups of 10-20 these tiny ticks, some covered in frost. Is this normal for Nov? I've hunted a ton every nov for 6 years and have never even seen a tick on me. This was a new zone. Are some zones just worse or are some years just worse. If i go back next nov am i likely to have the same experience? Oh and on day 2 i shot a decent 4pt. Ill try and post a picture down below. When i get home.
Cheer guys and good luck!

[caddisguy]

Do you happen to have a picture of them?

I have picked up ticks in the snow in March, but not this time of year (not saying it doesn't happen though)

[boxhitch]

Winter Ticks, or moose/deer/elk ticks

Reported to kill more moose than wolves do, in some years

[GoOutside]

https://postimg.cc/mtLVkjZq

[GoOutside]

On the end of the grass there is a small red mass. Thats a ball of poppy seed sized ticks. Theres also a few that i knocked off onto the top of my bino harness (that beige fabric).

https://i.postimg.cc/RVfYPpkM/Screenshot-2020-11-17-22-33-36.png (https://postimg.cc/mtLVkjZq)upload img (https://postimages.org/)

[caddisguy]

Hmm that is interesting. I can't see much at least from my phone, but I imagine it is tough to photograph a ball of poppy seed size critters in any focus or detail.

I am not very familiar with tick eggs or larva, or what time of year that could even happen to say that is what it is.

I have been bitten by several dozen of those things and busted 10x more crawling on me, but never had anything like that. The smallest I had (nymph stage I believe) was larger than a poppy seed, maybe half the size of a sesame seed.

I guess I am just good at attracting them but don't know all that much about them.

Funny enough I looked up "winter ticks" after seeing boxhitch's post and pretty sure I've picked those up. I always thought they were female dog ticks. Never been bit by one though... they seem clumsy and not eager to bite. It's the deer ticks that love me the most.

[caddisguy]

Looking forward to the deer pics / story :)

[boxhitch]

Just a w.a.g. without a better pic, but likely the larval stage of one or another

cwhc-rcsf.ca/wildlife_health_topics/winter_tick/wintertick.php

[Redthies]

Yeah, where is the deer pic? We just get out of focus ticks? That’s a bit of a tease!

[GoOutside]

https://i.postimg.cc/N0skKj10/Screenshot-2020-11-20-05-03-34.png (https://postimg.cc/9Dk7SVg3)

[GoOutside]

Shot this guy in a spot i had no businesses shooting a buck. Was a heavy, long pack out.

[2chodi]

Nice buck - Congrats. Those are tick larva or nymphs. From my experience in the north with moose winter ticks, these stages do bite and produce very itchy marks that seem to heal and then return a week or two later.

[boxhitch]

Tick and Lyme disease special on W5 tonight "Bitten"