2025 EHD?

[Bighoun52]

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This is why we can never get on the same page collectively. Most of you are untouched while others are watching it all fall apart.

100%

 

[Clay Showalter]

getting pretty bad for sure

 

[md1]

View attachment 211620
This is why we can never get on the same page collectively. Most of you are untouched while others are watching it all fall apart.

Isn't this year completely different as it started earlier than most years? Seems like most years it doesn't start until now?

 

[Smawgunner2]

Isn't this year completely different as it started earlier than most years? Seems like most years it doesn't start until now?

Yep. Saw my first zombie in late July!

 

[Knelly]

Slowly moving north towards my direction in Musk, Guernsey and Noble. Have not found or smelled anything yet on our farms. We got hit pretty hard in the early 2000's.

 

[cotty16]

Slowly moving north towards my direction in Musk, Guernsey and Noble. Have not found or smelled anything yet on our farms. We got hit pretty hard in the early 2000's.

You can add Jefferson County to that. We are getting more reports daily. I have one shooter still hanging around, but my cams have gone pretty quiet lately. I'm afraid to even take a walk in the creek bottom for fear of what I will find. We just got drilled about 5 years ago ad have finally rebounded to a healthy population. This just sucks for everyone.

 

[Hedgelj]

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.

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.

I feel your frustration about feeling that the ODNR is only paying lip service to the consumers of their goods and that the best interests of the wildlife and hunters are not the key interest of the only group that has state wide control (and i would say the given power) over the wildlife.

It sucks but it follows other trends that get me in a pissy mood so i I'm trying to only put my focus and effort on things i can control