|
Post by 10ga on Dec 5, 2014 9:43:06 GMT -5
Hemmoragic fever has cut the herd severly here in my area. The northern tidewater area has had a herd reduction of 40-60% or more. finding dead deer in streams, ponds, marshes and swamps is widespread. Many of the deer killed show signs of the fever. Personally my long term kill average is 9 per season. With 70% of them taken in ML and 1st 2 weeks of gun season. This year at the point I usually have 5-6 deer taken I have only 2. One of them came from an area 140 miles away that did not have any fever kill. son in law club usually has a December 1 total season kill of 35+ and currently they have a total of 9. As always hunting is good but the take is diminished. Due to lower deer population hunting pressure is way off too. I'm thinking it will be a 3-4 year recovery for herd to get back to "regular" population levels. anybody out there have any experience with dieoff like this. Have seen fever before but never such a severe reduction in numbers. Best to all. 10 ga
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Dec 5, 2014 16:30:04 GMT -5
10ga yeah we were hit in 2012 with ehd and it killed about 50%-60% of the herd here as well. Numbers ate still low and send to be getting a little better but 4-5 years is my guess on recovery. Problem is the game and parks felt the kill off got the numbers to where they wanted them. Don't agree with that but oh well.
This is in Nebraska and Iowa.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Dec 5, 2014 18:35:17 GMT -5
Ohio has had it's share of disease and over harvest IMO. It's the toughest year of a 5-7 year demise and I don't see light at the end of the tunnel.
|
|
|
Post by jbm77 on Dec 5, 2014 23:10:25 GMT -5
In the summers of 2012 and 2013 EHD and blue tongue killed off a large % of our herd in central Illinois. It was worse in some areas than others, but the numbers are definitely down.
|
|
|
Post by dannoboone on Dec 5, 2014 23:28:51 GMT -5
My oldest son lives in a small village just a couple miles west of Luke. There was a bad blue tongue kill there last year. One land owner just outside of that village found over three dozen dead from the disease.
|
|
|
Post by deadeer on Dec 6, 2014 1:04:47 GMT -5
Yep, feeling it here in NW Indiana too. There was 80+ deer found dead on a Rolling Prairie farm near where we live 2 or 3 yrs ago. A very tough thing to swallow. Hunting has been getting tougher the last few seasons and I can't imagine it getting any worse. My boy is 4yo and wants to go but it would be dead boring for him right now. I have been pacifying him with squirrel hunting and maybe try for a crow and coyote soon. Hope it turns around fast. This disease and others sure has gone thru the country in a hurry lately. Hope it was just a natural occurrence and not something "planted" here by the powers that be!
Jay
|
|
|
Post by floormat1957 on Dec 8, 2014 11:23:45 GMT -5
Hey 10ga, we have noticed that our deer population seems to have reduced significantly here in Appomattox Co. I hope the game commission will look at the decrease in population and reduce the number of doe days we currently have until the population rebounds. I know that most of us in my hunt club have agreed to not take any until the last week of season and if you haven't gotten a deer by then, then take one.
|
|
|
Post by rileydog on Dec 10, 2014 4:44:35 GMT -5
The eastern shore has been on a steady decline for the last five to six years . This year is even worse . Sam
|
|
|
Post by pposey on Dec 16, 2014 22:54:17 GMT -5
Really down around here as well
|
|
|
Post by jims on Dec 16, 2014 23:18:19 GMT -5
I do not like hearing this. The closest I am aware is perhaps 135 miles away but that is too close, I do not know how many years it will take to get here but it is not something I want to see.
|
|
|
Post by floormat1957 on Dec 17, 2014 7:28:58 GMT -5
I read an article from the game commission last week that stated that the kill rate in the state of Virginia is down 30% over last year at this point. The two culprits they say are wasting disease and to liberal a doe season. I know in a county next to us has the second and third Saturday as doe days and then the last 30 days. You can kill two per day and buy as many extra tickets as you can afford. It is possible that one hunter can kill up to 64 does. I think that they left out one other large factor. Coyotes are killing a lot of deer. We can't stop the disease. We can shoot as many coyotes as possible. As far as the liberal doe kill the game commission needs to look at farmers for a model. If you have a herd of cattle and you get rid of all the cows you certainly won't have any calves. It doesn't take a brain surgeon to figure that one out.
|
|
|
Post by tcmech on Dec 27, 2014 20:44:25 GMT -5
I hunt in the tidewater area myself and did not notice any difference in the deer population this year. It may be that I don't hunt much any more since I went back to school. I say deer every time I hunted in bow season, I only hunted during shotgun season two or three times including last weekend. I didn't see any on opening day but I shot two last weekend. I think I would see a lot more if I hunted with dogs.
|
|
|
Post by barrycuda on Dec 31, 2014 11:05:52 GMT -5
I feel your pain Bob. I have taken only one and my grandsons have each taken one. We decided a few weeks ago not to shoot any doe unless they looked sick and only take cull bucks but don't see any of them. I think the disease along with our liberal doe bag limits and the coyote explosion have really hurt the deer population. I built a new gun this year and didn't get a chance to do the hair test with it.
Barry
|
|
|
Post by bluedog on Jan 1, 2015 4:24:48 GMT -5
I live in south side VA, Prince George area. and the deer kill is down here too, way down!
|
|
|
Post by dirtboy on Jan 1, 2015 16:39:46 GMT -5
I live in fluvanna county and we have noticed a big decline in deer as well. I also hope they change the number of doe days next year to try and help the situation out. I hunt private family land and usually put 3 in freezer a year so far i have not killed the first one. All of my friends that hunt in clubs have said the same thing the deer are not out there like they used to be. Hopefully things will get better.
|
|
|
Post by slipperhead on Jan 1, 2015 23:08:20 GMT -5
I hunt in Charles City, Cumberland and James City County (Virginia). Our deer kill numbers are down too but we have had a MUCH different season this year....ABUNDANT mast crop (acorns STILL dropping) and not nearly as cold as the previous two years. On the private farms I hunt on, the deer have gone mostly nocturnal with all the holiday hunting pressure. The wheat fields are covered in tracks/scat. The deer are there. We found a group of about 25 this morning bedded down in a relatively small, thick area at the edge of the marsh. This section is never hunted. Another group of 20, or so, is on the opposite end of the property in thick brush near a creek...that is seldom hunted. I got drawn for the Radford Ammo Plant hunt this year. I took the opportunity to ask several of the VADGIF biologists about HD in our state. Apparently, the virus can be found in most counties but typically affects a small percentage of the deer (one told me 1-5%). It is not always fatal. Here is an information sheet on HD: www.dgif.virginia.gov/wildlife/diseases/hd.aspThough I hear the same rumors, I haven't, and no one I personally know, has found any dead deer. I'm sure there are some dead deer somewhere. I just haven't seen them. No carcasses around ponds, water, anywhere. Maybe this year is worse than before. Frankly, I think it has come to be a convenient excuse for a lot of hunters, much like the coyote effect. I know of hunt clubs that are blaming the decline on Sunday-hunting, which is new to our state this year. Just wait a couple of weeks after the season to watch your deer reappear!!! Just my opinion...
|
|
|
Post by smokepolehall on Jan 2, 2015 10:01:54 GMT -5
I live in the Ozarks of MO. we had bad EHD past couple yrs. It really showed uo here in my part of the County. I usually see 65-100 per season & take 4-7. This yr i saw 16 deer total & i killed 5, 4 with my Crossbows & 1 with my ML.
|
|
|
Post by hemicuda on Jan 20, 2015 21:23:48 GMT -5
Deer are down in NW Ohio and I don't see dead deer lying around so don't expect disease. Twenty years ago we had more deer than now. For a new hunter it would take a lot to keep hunting as I go many days never even seeing one and I hunt almost every day from Oct. to Dec. and a small amount in January. I just like to be out. We had a trapping seminar last February and they told of a coyote den that had 37 fawns brought in-caught on a trail camera. We also have a liberal doe harvest if you buy the tags. I believe the insurance companies are happy plus the game dept. seems okay with it also. As hunters we need to limit ourselves if the game dept. doesn't or give up hunting. I guess you can always shoot at paper............
|
|
|
Post by Alabama on Jan 20, 2015 21:41:40 GMT -5
I am seeing a decrease in our Alabama herd. Haven't seen that many on side of road this year and I drive through one of the highest deer population counties in Alabama (Lowndes). I believe it can be attributed to the growing number of coyotes, not disease or over hunting. I hear them every morning and afternoon. Not just 1 or 2 but prob 12-15 yipping and howling.
Very tempted to get some Golden Maldrin and kill some flies. Just sort of scared of the stuff!!!!
|
|
|
Post by Alabama on Jan 20, 2015 21:49:56 GMT -5
We have a very liberal season as well. 3 bucks and a doe a day for entire season. Which if you bow hunt season starts in mid October and last gun season ends Feb 10 th! In theory 1 person could harvest over 100 deer legally in Alabama. Last year it was 2 does per day or over 200 deer in a season. But it's been this way for years and years with no real effect on population. Actually it was growing. Now since yotes are taking over the deer are declining.
|
|
|
Post by mrbuck on Jan 21, 2015 16:55:05 GMT -5
When EHD strikes an area , you just can't keep shooting antlerless deer and expect the herd to have a big comeback in a year or two ! Even without EHD the great increase in coyote numbers makes fawn survival difficult . hemicuda is correct . It would be very difficult to keep a young hunter interested when you sit for 8 to 10 hours and not see a deer . Chris
|
|
|
Post by floormat1957 on Jan 27, 2015 9:40:31 GMT -5
I was rabbit hunting in Central Virginia (1/24/15). We walked up on a buck that was dead and it seemed no longer than 1-2 days. The deer's hoofs were rotting off. I thought that cold weather was supposed to kill off this disease. Obviously it didn't.
|
|
|
Post by mrbuck on Jan 27, 2015 12:41:58 GMT -5
Cold weather kills the midges (bugs) that transmit EHD , however that buck may have been infected before the cool weather and just took longer to die . Chris
|
|
|
Post by smokepolehall on Jan 28, 2015 9:32:40 GMT -5
Here in my county of Mo. up until this yr we could kill all the Doe's we wanted to, no limit. We have yotes plenty of them i have gotten 2 with my crossbow. I saw only 2 fawns this Fall.
|
|