Hudson Valley Deer Hunting Down Due To EHD

[Archer 756]

Yes its a bad year for deer hunting here in the state of NY EHD has really taken a toll on our deer populating . What has others been seeing.

 

[Skychief]

Sorry to hear this Archer. Here in my part of Indiana, the deer herd has finally rebounded a good bit from 2 EHD outbreaks in the last several years. The population really dwindled after these and its taken years to get where the numbers are now. Hopefully your outbreak wasn't as severe as ours were. I've heard and read estimates of 80% of the herd was lost in some areas. I have no doubt those numbers in my hunting areas. I won't sugar coat it, it takes a good while for the numbers to get close to "normal".

Best regards, Skychief.

 

[centershot]

Here in Chautauqua County, extreme western NY, friends along the NY/PA border have told me that the State has put in large steel boxes, asking hunters to leave the heads of harvested deer for testing. I've not heard of any numbers or percentages of infection but we know it's here. DEC is telling us to bone out the deer for consumption, do not freeze or save the spine/head or any bones.

On a different note, I was stunned to learn of a 4 state study, NY, PA and 2 others I can't remember. They said that the deer herds in these states were 30-40% positive for Covid-19! Wonderful! They cautioned us not to handle the lungs, wear gloves and to thoroughly disinfect knives used to field dress. This is taking a lot of the fun out of hunting for me.

 

[oldwood]

I would question anything the Pa. Blame Commission would do or say.

 

[bluemule66]

We were hit hard here in North Dakota with EHD this year. About the only thing you see, if you see any deer is fawns. We had a LOT of nice bucks this year till late summer. EHD kicked in and almost all of the adult deer were dead in about a month.

 

[necchi]

Epizootic hemorrhagic disease (EHD), which is spread by a biting insect called a midge, is a viral disease that occurs naturally and can infect white-tailed deer.

https://www.dnr.state.mn.us/wildlifedisease/epizootic-hemorrhagic-disease.html
It's prevalent here, but "infection" was very localized. I live near and know the land of the 2019 St. Stephen outbreak listed in the link.
It's very low and very flat muddy grounds off the Mississippi in that area. It never spread much. The farmer found 4 dead deer on the edge of his field late that summer before hunting season.
2 doe and yearling fawns bunched up, so he called.
It was an odd season that year,, pretty much dry spring, then heavy wet mid-summer.
It was local news for hunters w/advice to be aware,, but the bottom line,, it was just about that single incident of infection

 

[Ranch 13]

It gets to be a problem in this continued drought. Parts of the Wyoming side of the Black Hills were hit pretty hard, as were some areas in the central part of the state.

 

[FishDFly]

"Epizootic hemorrhagic disease (EHD), which is spread by a biting insect called a midge, is a viral disease that occurs naturally and can infect white-tailed deer."

Thanks, I was wondering what EHD is. I hate acronyms. Do not know if folks are just too lazy to type or they assume that everyone knows what the acronym is.