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EHD is Taking a Toll on the Midwest Deer Herd

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    EHD is Taking a Toll on the Midwest Deer Herd

    EHD has taken a major toll on the herd in parts of Iowa, Illinois and Kansas.

    My trail cam pics were down by 90% from 2011on our farm in SE Iowa. My neighbor in Iowa found many, many dead deer this summer and fall. He has 950 acres with a river that flows (used to flow) thru a large portion of his place. He said in his 44 years the river had not stopped flowing until this past summer. The two year drought created a lot of stagnant water where the midge flies that spread the disease breed and hatch.

    Epizootic Hemorrghagic Disease, or EHD, has been widely reported in eastern and southern Iowa as well as parts of Illinois and Kansas. In dry years it can be worse as deer are more concentrated around water, and since the disease is spread by a biting midge, more deer can become infected.

    EHD causes high fever in infected deer and also causes the cell walls in their heart, lungs and diaphragm to weaken and burst. The deer are attracted to water to combat the fever and dehydration due to the hemorrhaging. Most deer die in 1-4 days after being infected with EHD.

    Here is a thread from Iowa Whitetails (a forum much like TBH) discussing the damage done to the Iowa deer herd by EHD.



    and here is a thread from hunters here on TBH.com



    I have 5 preference points for Iowa and was going to put in for the Iowa draw for 2014. I have decided to wait on using my points in Iowa. I bought a guided Elk Hunting yesterday at the Dallas Safari Club instead.

    The EHD situation in the Midwest is real and its bad.

    #2
    I hunted perioa county illinois this year and everybody was talking about how bad it was over most of the state.

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      #3
      I had heard it was getting bad but not this bad...

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        #4
        Our area in Missouri has taken a hit two years in a row. The dryer years are the worst.

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          #5
          Our farm is in Davis county.

          Midwest Whitetail has been built on two core principles: education and storytelling. Whether it’s public land, permission properties, or hard-earned dirt that represents the achievement of a lifelong dream, there’s a journey for everyone to follow at Midwest Whitetail.

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            #6
            thats terrible

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              #7
              in case anyone was wondering what to look for

              and what it is

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                #8
                I talked to a guy that guides in southern Kansas this year and he says it is far worse in some areas than you are hearing about. The outfitters are scared that if the actual numbers got out their booked hunts would go way down. I told him to look on this site if he thinks people will stop going to Kansas.

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                  #9
                  East Central IL has been hit hard. Talked to a couple buddies of mine I grew up with in Vermilion County IL. They haven't seen a deer since before Thanksgiving. They normally shoot 170+ class deer every year. They've saw 1 shooter buck all year in Oct. that was it. Depressing.

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                    #10
                    At our place in SE Iowa in 2011 I was getting 3 to 5 game game pics a day....mainly does.This was with one camera on a trail and then later on a mineral site (no feeder). My battery went dead in early September just as some nice bucks started showing up. I did not have a camera out in 2012. This year we had two cameras out from Labor Day weekend until the middle of December. I had THREE pictures of deer. All three bucks...NO does.....Very sad. I had tons of turkeys, coons and a few coyotes.
                    Last edited by Arrowsmith; 01-14-2014, 10:57 AM.

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                      #11
                      I posted this here in Oct. 2013. Title was "EDH hitting Iowa"

                      Just talked with my Dad. He has hunted deer in NE Iowa for the last 50+ years. He says one of the guys we hunt with has found 18 dead whitetail, mostly mature bucks, on his 500 acres in the past month. Others in the area have found them also. Glad I was able to harvest my 167" buck last year. This will hurt the hunting up there for years to come. Terrible deal.
                      Last edited by Dr. Evil; 01-14-2014, 11:14 AM.

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                        #12
                        REally hate to read this! Tough deal for sure. I did see two good deer during the rut but otherwise nada worth shooting in Kansas. Doe numbers were up and down per my 3 trips this year. Hopefully it slows as deep southcentral Kansas cant afford any other pressures.

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                          #13
                          Originally posted by Muygrande View Post
                          I talked to a guy that guides in southern Kansas this year and he says it is far worse in some areas than you are hearing about. The outfitters are scared that if the actual numbers got out their booked hunts would go way down. I told him to look on this site if he thinks people will stop going to Kansas.
                          Unfortunately, some hunters are likely to get screwed over by a few outfitters who know their numbers are strongly depressed but don't tell their hunters the straight up truth ahead of time.

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                            #14
                            Originally posted by Joshua Flournoy View Post
                            Unfortunately, some hunters are likely to get screwed over by a few outfitters who know their numbers are strongly depressed but don't tell their hunters the straight up truth ahead of time.
                            I am sure the outfitters are worried about the 2014 season. I would think twice about putting in for the draw for 2014 unless you know for sure the areas (farms) you are hunting have not been affected by EHD.

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                              #15
                              I talked to our Kansas landowner last night and he's never seen this few deer, said around 60 dead deer were found that he's aware of. I was going to put in to hunt this year but have decided to wait and see how this plays out.

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