2025 EHD?

[Bigcountry40]

I would argue there are a lot of areas today we have MORE deer than we did during the time period you’re remembering.

You're not wrong, but growing up our area was not deer dense like the Eastern, Southern and SE Ohio was in 90's/early 00's. Our area's deer population has steadily increased. Remember our Teenage years ? Everybody left the Friday or Saturday after Thanksgiving to go to "Southern Ohio" to deer hunt because there was way more deer than we had an opportunity at in our area.

 

[giles]

Step back and think more simple...habitat beyond your birds and deer goes to insects.

What bug eats bugs? Dragonflies for example need a specific habitat and are very efficient at killing other bugs.

I come to this thinking as I think about marshes. This doesn't seem to be a huge problem in marsh area yet it is the exact example giving for what this bug needs to live.

So think about this and let's talk about it. Habitat

 

[Creamer]

Here's a couple updates from me and what I am seeing around Athens. Our yard doe, that I previously posted pics of in this thread that appeared to be EHD-affected, has drastically improved. Her coat is still patchy but she's no longer acting lethargic/apathetic. I have seen her and her BB fawn nearly every day for the past week and the doe is acting normal again. She's much more alert and just generally looks healthier. She crossed the yard at lunch today a few minutes after her BB fawn. Last night, she crossed while I was out back shooting and gave me the classic head bob followed by quickly bouncing away. 2 weeks ago I could walk within 30-40 yards of her and she wouldn't even lift her head or look at me.

My cameras on our property are getting daily pics of deer. Historically, on this property, I rarely get pics of more mature bucks until late Sept-early Oct. One large community scrape that gets hit hard every year by bucks is where I have had a cell cam for a few weeks. This guy showed up yesterday. I'm optimistic that some better deer will show here as the fall progresses. We'll see what survived.

Here's the interesting thing, to me. Our kid has baseball 3 nights a week in Athens, in town. I know EHD hit hard along the Hocking between Athens and Guysville. The city/campus deer SEEM to be completely unaffected. My dad and I walked along the bike path from OU's football stadium after the WVU game past the hospital area to where we parked. I think we saw 14-15 deer along campus that evening. At my kid's practice a few nights ago, on the baseball field behind us, there were 9 deer. When we left, there was an additional 8-10 near that field.

It's odd to me that the EHD issue seems to drastically go down along the river once you get into town. Then we leave the city area to drive home, and once you get 2 minutes out of town, we hardly see a deer until we get home.

 

[hickslawns]

Here's a couple updates from me and what I am seeing around Athens. Our yard doe, that I previously posted pics of in this thread that appeared to be EHD-affected, has drastically improved. Her coat is still patchy but she's no longer acting lethargic/apathetic. I have seen her and her BB fawn nearly every day for the past week and the doe is acting normal again. She's much more alert and just generally looks healthier. She crossed the yard at lunch today a few minutes after her BB fawn. Last night, she crossed while I was out back shooting and gave me the classic head bob followed by quickly bouncing away. 2 weeks ago I could walk within 30-40 yards of her and she wouldn't even lift her head or look at me.

View attachment 212048

My cameras on our property are getting daily pics of deer. Historically, on this property, I rarely get pics of more mature bucks until late Sept-early Oct. One large community scrape that gets hit hard every year by bucks is where I have had a cell cam for a few weeks. This guy showed up yesterday. I'm optimistic that some better deer will show here as the fall progresses. We'll see what survived.

View attachment 212049

Here's the interesting thing, to me. Our kid has baseball 3 nights a week in Athens, in town. I know EHD hit hard along the Hocking between Athens and Guysville. The city/campus deer SEEM to be completely unaffected. My dad and I walked along the bike path from OU's football stadium after the WVU game past the hospital area to where we parked. I think we saw 14-15 deer along campus that evening. At my kid's practice a few nights ago, on the baseball field behind us, there were 9 deer. When we left, there was an additional 8-10 near that field.

It's odd to me that the EHD issue seems to drastically go down along the river once you get into town. Then we leave the city area to drive home, and once you get 2 minutes out of town, we hardly see a deer until we get home.

I get it. When my area got hit, we took (was at minimum) a 50% hit. Grumbled to a buddy in the North side of the county. They were overrun with deer. Didn't take a hit at all. Even guys 5-10 miles any direction were not affected. It's weird how it came pin point specific areas. Almost like a tornado.