I believe in the frequency/baiting logic. I dont live down there any more, but have a hard time believing its density related.
2025 EHD?
- Thread starter Smawgunner2
- Start date
Wiley E Coyote
Active Member
I've been told it blew up here from hurricane Ike in 2008. That strong wind we had for a week carried those gnats here. IDK maybe I do know that both of my hunting areas have been dealing with it every year since 2017. I used to believe this is going to go away but I don't believe it's going to anytime soon. It's not just Ohio it's across the whole mid west. Makes me sick in my stomach every august
Deersurgeon
Junior Member
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Making its way to Hamilton County now
www.cincinnati.com
Dead deer reported in Hamilton County. What to know
There have been several reports of dead deer with no apparent physical trauma in the Newtown area last week.
www.cincinnati.com
the ODNR post with the graphic a page or so back
Please Report Dead or Sick Deer
Our agency is seeking reports of dead/sick deer suffering from Epizootic Hemorrhagic Disease (EHD) to help us track potential disease outbreaks. If you find a deer that has died or observe a deer that is behaving abnormally, please report your observations online.
https://ow.ly/h6Ue50WIcZk
General EHD information:
Virus does not affect humans
Symptoms
Bighoun52
Active Member
Neighbor found two this morning. Looks like we are getting hit for the second year in a row.
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IMO.... This is strictly food for thought... Could EHD be a result of all the chemicals being spread on the ground today??? Everyone's spraying Roundup to kill weeds today... Whether it be hunters trying to establish a food plot or farmers trying to squeeze that extra dollar out of their crops... Today corn and soybean are Roundup ready... Meaning while the corn is growing it can be sprayed with Roundup and not be killed... Years ago you did not hear of widespread EHD and how come mountainous areas don't have it... And there are bodies of water in mountainous areas that would have these midges... So I'm not buying the theory that it comes from midges...
RUR crops were introduced in the late 90's. Athens is leading the state right now per that map, which has considerable more woodland/hills than crop land compared to other counties.
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Wva is having an outbreak too. An area I hunt in Kentucky got hammered a few years back and there isn’t an ag field for miles in any direction.
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Just a thought guys... I just remember growing up there was no such thing as EHD... Nor was cancer so prevalent...
EHD is very interesting to me. In my area of NW/NC Ohio, we have as high or higher a deer density as anywhere else in the state… Yet, we are almost never noticeably affected by EHD (knock on wood). Why is that? Is it because we have ample water supplies nearby? Even on a drought year, like 2024, we weren’t really hit by EHD.
The biologist in me wants to know more about the disease. But I wonder, all of you screaming to the DNR to “do something about it,” what exactly do you want them to do? Yes, it sucks that deer are dying before season. But the reality is we have as many or more deer on the landscape now as we’ve ever had. Arguably too many. Mother Nature is gonna do what she does, no different than when any other population of a species gets relatively high. If we don’t kill them, she will.
I often wonder if EHD didn’t kill mature bucks, if everyone would be as up in arms about it as they are. Let’s face it… guys get pissed because a deer they’ve got 2-3 years of pictures gets taken out by a midge instead of their arrow/bullet. Don’t get me wrong… I’d be really upset too. I just think we need to step back and understand there’s only so much we can control.
The biologist in me wants to know more about the disease. But I wonder, all of you screaming to the DNR to “do something about it,” what exactly do you want them to do? Yes, it sucks that deer are dying before season. But the reality is we have as many or more deer on the landscape now as we’ve ever had. Arguably too many. Mother Nature is gonna do what she does, no different than when any other population of a species gets relatively high. If we don’t kill them, she will.
I often wonder if EHD didn’t kill mature bucks, if everyone would be as up in arms about it as they are. Let’s face it… guys get pissed because a deer they’ve got 2-3 years of pictures gets taken out by a midge instead of their arrow/bullet. Don’t get me wrong… I’d be really upset too. I just think we need to step back and understand there’s only so much we can control.
Wiley E Coyote
Active Member
The areas I live and hunt in, Warren and Highland county have no were near the deer numbers we had 20 years ago thanks to EHD and probably other factors. You don't even see many road kills during rut anymore. There are some pockets with good numbers but there also are pockets with very few deer. 20 years ago the numbers were spread pretty equally though out the region. It's not that way now in SW and SC Ohio
the ODNR post with the graphic a page or so back
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My answer is simple; act like you give at least a little bit of a crap about the resource. In 22, Athens county had a massive outbreak. Mrex alone reported 90 dead deer presumably from EHD. What did the Dow do to mitigate? Absolutely nothing. Bag limits and season dates were completely unchanged. It would sure be nice to feel like the DoW at least held a finger on the pulse of wildlife. At least put forth enough effort to make us naive sportsman FEEL like we get our monies worth from the division by doing something aside from releasing rainbow trout into soon to be warm waters or releasing all male pheasants into wildlife areas. Put and take is not management. At least not when there are serious concerns that are overlooked or intentionally ignored.
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That’s a fact. And before anyone claims that what I have is only anecdotal evidence, I’ll just go ahead and say that anecdotal evidence is better than any the DoW has offered in response. 2007 was the year I started bending Mrex and MTonk’s ears regarding declining deer density in my area. So not quite 20 years, but darn close. We now have a decent herd on one farm in Fayette, but that has taken years to biol with the landowner agreeing to allow zero doe harvest in that time. As a whole, that county is nothing like it was when I started hunting it in 1995. And keep in mind, in 1996 we only harvested 600 deer, county wide! There simply is not a lot of habitat in the county. Areas that do have habitat obviously will support deer, but not if the guidelines laid out by the DoW are followed. Private land management is the only hope for a huntable population. Nimrods that believe “I can shoot three deer”, will run out in very short order.
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We also had an outbreak in 22, but our deer did not start dying until the first of September. Athens county had a full month and a half head start on us. You’d think with Tonk being in the middle of Athens county, they would have made some changes to mitigate the impact.
Wasn't Nimrod a hunter? How does only taking 1 deer/year impact your 88 county venture? Not sure there's enough years left for any of us to do it at that pace.
Wiley E Coyote
Active Member
That's how the herd grew so fast in the 80s. The Western side of Ohio had no deer in the early 70s. I grew up in Greene county and our first deer season was 1977 or 78 I believe. In the 80s I could only buy one deer tag and it was buck only and by the early 90s the state was covered with deer. Around the mid 90s we were offered a second tag for a antlerless deer.
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I thought I clarified that; it is not my intention to KILL deer, it is my intention to have hunted deer in all 88 counties. And I am having second thoughts about the attempt due to this very misconception.