2025 EHD?

[Buckmaster]

2017 in Jefferson Co. we lost around 66% of the herd per ODNR. Club found around 15 dead heads trolling the Creeks over 150” that year. We killed 3 that year. 4-5 years later we recovered. 2025 produces deer sightings every hunt. 2011 produced about 20 deer sightings per hunt which was best season ever.

 

[Creamer]

From a reliable source:

"Opening weekend harvest totals for Washington, Athens and Meigs Counties…

Total harvest across the 3 counties was 37 deer. Last year opening weekend was 153. Down about ~76%.

There’s no way to gauge how many people hunted in comparison…but certainly not surprising at the same time!"

I talked to 20 or so hunters at our local fair this weekend. No one was hunting, or had plans to hunt, for the foreseeable future. A few have bucks they'll chase, but in general, most folks are playing it safe until the first frost. Tonight was the best night on our farm since January for deer sightings, so patterns are shifting and things look a little better than expected. Our house remains devastated and we won't be shooting anything back there this year.

That's my current approach, as well. I've decided I'm not shooting a doe for sure until after we've had a frost and see where things stand. Got some bucks on camera I'd love to stick but I'm not blowing stuff out right now with this hot weather. It's a marathon, not a sprint.