2025 EHD?
- Thread starter Smawgunner2
- Start date
Talked to my processor tonight and he agreed with my estimate that if they do 50% of the deer they did last year (600 for this season), he'd be surprised. He has a good network in Meigs and said the big cattle farm he used to work at, as the epicenter going in a 3 mile radius, has found 200 deer so far. Truly devastating.
I saw ehd in muskingum, in early 2000. Those areas bounced back to a higher deer density than my own county in nw Ohio in no time. A dozen years ago it hit the same areas and some spots on the Michigan/indiana line with extremely high deer densities. three to four years Michigan/Indiana line bounced back to respectable numbers. It hit the same spot last year and trickled down st line. Drilling counties just north of me and in surrounding counties in Indiana. We found 2 in the pond behind my house and another less than a mile away. First ehd positives i've ever heard of here. I still think what we want as a deer density mother nature disagrees. We have the most deer I've ever seen and thought the same last year. I'm just waiting until nature say thats enough. Most all creatures have kill offs of some kind. Just think it's for balance. I doubt the state would step in if they found out baiting enhances it......
Last edited:
Bighoun52
Active Member
Deer can live through it and huntable populations still comes back though. It's not extinction. We want fast gratification, nature has as much time to recoup or take away is she sees fit. I'm sure lowering limits would ease some hunter anxiety and could rebuild populations a little faster. the population has always found its way back (to a huntable level) maybe not to what we as hunters enjoy, but maybe what nature has intended?...I would love to see a deer density drone survey of the hardest hit county this winter and keep tabs on it just so everyone could learn more......
I believe i was one of the first people to take the approach of killing more deer while hunting. I don't like the waste that EHD causes and think it's total bullshit that CWD gets all the research. EHD is a much bigger problem in my opinion and nothing is done about it. Like Jesse saying 200 deer in a 3 mile radius, I'd say that area needs shut down for hunting. A few years back we found 28 on 200 acres. Completely decimated all the mature deer. So we didnt hunt it that year.
Not to pick on leasing or OOS hunters, but they have invested money and are not local to know what is happening. So they come in November and take out the breeding stock. Then wonder next year what happened. Blame the neighbor kind of thing. When they were the problem and didnt know it. Most of us have the ODNR app on our phones and the awareness is silent. Im sure it's on FB but look at how many of us have left that platform. Im sure that that extends beyond the walls of TOO. Hell, I'm getting notifications to buy deer management tags. So they are promoting killing more deer. Once again it feels like we are paying for a resource that only we care about.
Imagine if us deer hunters cared as much about pheasant, quail, and grouse populations declining (add in songbird & pollinators too) as we did about EHD possibly taking out our target buck every year. We might actually be able to organize as a unified voice and get something accomplished in this state. I honestly haven't looked into the EHD outbreaks much, but I do wonder what (if any) links are between consistent outbreaks and overall habitat / land use in the areas? The deer will rebound, just as the sun will come up tomorrow. And if the sun doesn't come up, then there's nothing to worry about anymore.
I found the article linked below interesting and wonder if our northern deer will eventually develop higher levels of immunity like their cousins in the south? "Regional deer herds are impacted differently. According to SCWDS records, in coastal regions of the Southeast, most adult deer have antibodies to the disease and disease outbreaks are rare."
deerassociation.com
I found the article linked below interesting and wonder if our northern deer will eventually develop higher levels of immunity like their cousins in the south? "Regional deer herds are impacted differently. According to SCWDS records, in coastal regions of the Southeast, most adult deer have antibodies to the disease and disease outbreaks are rare."
EHD in Deer: Here’s What You Need to Know
Hemorrhagic disease in deer, also known to many deer hunters as EHD or bluetongue, is a serious viral disease of deer that is spread by biting flies.
deerassociation.com
Last edited:
I drove home to Athens from Marietta last night, on the road from roughly 7pm-8pm on a relatively cool night. I should have kept more accurate count, but I'd closely estimate I saw around 20 deer on the drive home. On a night like that, with the soybean fields around Guysville/Canaanville, that number is pretty low compared to "normal." But it's definitely not nothing, either. I was also driving, so I could have missed some by trying not to die in a fire on the highway.
Another good article regarding research and findings on the weather conditions that can lead to the perfect EHD storm. Ohio had all three of these conditions this year.
deerassociation.com
“The best model was above-average spring temperatures plus increased July precipitation plus decreased August precipitation,” said Sonja. “These are stand-alone variables in the model, and when they were all together, that is what created the higher likelihood of disease outbreak. One alone might contribute, but it really wasn’t meaningful in the dataset unless you had all three players happening in a county at the same time.”
These Warning Signs Could Predict EHD Outbreaks in Deer
A new study gives us a specific combination of weather factors that mean increased probability of an EHD or bluetongue virus outbreak in deer.
deerassociation.com
“The best model was above-average spring temperatures plus increased July precipitation plus decreased August precipitation,” said Sonja. “These are stand-alone variables in the model, and when they were all together, that is what created the higher likelihood of disease outbreak. One alone might contribute, but it really wasn’t meaningful in the dataset unless you had all three players happening in a county at the same time.”
Tysonhunter
Member
I had mentioned it before, but, Indiana did a mid season reprint and revision of antlerless quotas a couple years back when we were hit hard and kept them reduced for two years following. It seems like common sense to me that Ohio would do the same.
200 deer in 3 sq miles is to many deer. 20 deer in a square mile seems like way more than enough. I agree more research needs done and wasted meat sucks.
We all know there's a simple solution to this issue.
