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2025 EHD?

The antlered doe we had on cam didnt survive the epidemic. Drove my usual loop and smelled death all 3 times I was at a creek crossing. Not a buck to be seen and we saw a fraction of the deer that I usually see on that drive. The local "What's Happening" page on FB is full of reports of dead deer. It's not looking good fellas. 🤕

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giles said:
Going thru this multiple times will change a fella. Very obvious that nature doesn't want the same deer on the land that I do. This is just a huge waste. Other animals dont even eat them. (That part throws my tin foil for a loop) Just a big waste and it bothers me. So I hunt different than I used to.
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Not a buzzard in the sky. Super weird...
 
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Informative article. Also a plug for the EHD Fense products to help control the midge breeding environment.

www.northamericanwhitetail.com

Hemorrhagic Disease: How to Combat the Deadliest Deer Disorder - North American Whitetail

The primary mode of transmission are midges, and there are now water and soil treatment chemicals that kill or impede them.
www.northamericanwhitetail.com www.northamericanwhitetail.com

I still think using something like these in water sources can help. If it kills mosquito larvae and other gnat larvae then it likely would impact the gnat/midge causing the EHD.

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I get trying to help them, but it seems like a tall task to wander the woods looking for every possible water source to drop one of these in there. Thinking of our farm, for example, the pond makes sense, but we have over 3,000' of creek, so it feels like the needle in the haystack approach.
 
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bowhunter1023 said:
I get trying to help them, but it seems like a tall task to wander the woods looking for every possible water source to drop one of these in there. Thinking of our farm, for example, the pond makes sense, but we have over 3,000' of creek, so it feels like the needle in the haystack approach.
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I know walking our creek there some spots that get stagnant pools, I'd treat those first. Many places where the water keeps moving well enough, maybe the conditions don't exist for the midge to thrive. Or treat the furthest upstream pools and rely on the moving water to help cover that longer stream bed. I'd say one here or there can't hurt there and especially in ponds with real shallow entry.
That article also talks a bit about water troughs and the possible benefits over shallow ponds when it comes to the midge breeding grounds. That could be an option for future plans.
 
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My main property and hunting area was hammered three years ago, we are just now starting to recover in my mind. Found 18 on under 200 acres and for sure missed some others that I smelled. Ended up finding 3 mature bucks couple smaller ones rest were all does. One thing I can say, it seemed like it balanced the doe to buck ratio and last year I had the best "rut" activity I have ever had there. (which I attribute to the reduction of does from EHD years prior) Perhaps mother nature has a way of calibrating albeit cruel but if for sure made for a couple slow unexciting seasons. I still have not harvested a doe in the area since the EHD outbreak, just trying to do my part.
 
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Or, you could kill more deer and help balance it that way. Way less waste that way and it's pretty dang fun. Sure we all like to go hunting and see deer, but it seems nature doesn't like that. This doesn't apply in every hunting area, but it sure is way more noticeable on farms with a large deer herd. And yes, I realize with a bigger population you will have a bigger kill off. Not sure, I just know I started not double guessing my doe kills. I went from shooting BB's to shooting fat nanny does. Them smart ones are a challenge like mature bucks, just way more targets and you can kill multiple.

*Disclaimer* I like to search out high deer density areas and hunt them. Im not going to public land and being Amish. I am picking and choosing.
 
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Gern186 said:
Jesse is Washington county low on rain this year?
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It’s been an incredibly wet year overall, and like many, I was under the impression that drought was the primary driver behind EHD outbreaks. There’s certainly some truth to that drought concentrates deer around limited water sources, which can increase their exposure to midges if they’re present. But what often gets overlooked is that midge populations thrive in muddy, organic-rich environments. In rainy years, those environments become far more widespread, meaning flooded low spots, random puddles (vernal pools), and pond edges all become ideal breeding grounds. That leads to a larger midge population and more opportunities for transmission. Overall, in wet years, EHD tends to be more widespread than in dry ones, and that’s exactly what we’re seeing down here now.

The data says May and June saw nearly double the average rainfall, and July was above average as well. May-July this year saw 6.5" more rainfall than average. I can tell you that I've never seen areas of our property, both at the house and the farm, as wet as they are this year. We might go the entire year without being able to brushhog certain areas because we can't get a tractor in/out at the farm, and that hasn't happened in the 20 years that we've owned the farm.
 
giles said:
Or, you could kill more deer and help balance it that way. Way less waste that way and it's pretty dang fun. Sure we all like to go hunting and see deer, but it seems nature doesn't like that. This doesn't apply in every hunting area, but it sure is way more noticeable on farms with a large deer herd. And yes, I realize with a bigger population you will have a bigger kill off. Not sure, I just know I started not double guessing my doe kills. I went from shooting BB's to shooting fat nanny does. Them smart ones are a challenge like mature bucks, just way more targets and you can kill multiple.

*Disclaimer* I like to search out high deer density areas and hunt them. Im not going to public land and being Amish. I am picking and choosing.
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Oh I kill multiple every year, that isn't a question, what I do is change regions/locations and allow the herd to recover where the problem was observed.
 
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