EHD Where I Hunt
I hunted opening morning (near Tekamah) and yesterday afternoon (near Springfield), and our group has seen a total of 20 deer thus far – more than we saw during our first two hunts last year.
Now, I did see a yearling by itself yesterday in a place where the landowner has found one dead deer, but it seemed healthy.
So when a friend tells me that he isn’t hunting this year because there are “no deer,” I feel even better about telling him that his statement just isn’t true. And I was a little skeptical myself, I have to admit. But my confidence is growing each hour I sit in the stand, and yours should too.
But I would like to hear any reports that you have on deer numbers and the general location you’re reporting from.
JK
I wish i had the same optimism. I live in north central nebraska between the niobrara/keya paha rivers and missouri river. I’m a farmer/rancher and see alot of ground and talk to alot of land owners. I hear of people finding large numbers of dead dear in small areas like 4 per 100 yards along the niobrara, draws with 10 – 20 in them, sit in the niobrara river for an afternoon and watch 15 – 20 deer carcasses float by. Personally i think the die off will be huge and recovery slower than expected with current drought conditions. However i do not believe the die off will be 50% as i hear some reports of but it will be significant.
are yoiu in kaya paha county? will be hunting there on the 30 sept.
I’m in western boyd co.
Came across another dead buck today.
Might some people be seeing low numbers on their areas, not because of EHD, but because the drought has pushed the deer into different areas seeking food and water?
I live in Homer NE. Driving down the creek with my ATV you can not stand the smell of dead deer. I found a few along the bean field and a big 8 point laying dead in the timber.. A farmer next to me who has been getting his corn in said he counted 40 laying dead in his fields.
Any word abut the percentage in the Republican area i havent heard very much
Talking to law enforcement at NGPC, they’re getting flooded with reports, with folks saying things very similar to you all. We need that hard frost to come quick. I’ll be back out in the field tomorrow and Friday. If anyone comes across any EHD deer near water within an hour of the metro cities let me know because I’m needing a photo for the magazine.
I haven’t been out in the woods myself yet, but I’ve heard enough success stories from opening weekend of the archery season to believe things are as bad as some would lead a person to believe. Having said that, it stands to reason that die-offs could be much more significant in some areas then they have been in others. Of course, people also tend to inflate numbers (intentionally or not) when talking about such things, so even in areas where the deer have been affected to a larger degree my guess is that there are still plenty of deer to hunt. My suggestion would be to go ahead and continue with your hunting plans and see what happens — even unsuccessful days in the woods are much better than staying inside, and Mother Nature is very capable of bringing things back to normal quickly even if there was a significant die-off this summer. As Jeff said – bring on the frost!
You can also listen to the Nebraska Outdoors Podcast that had Kit Hams, NGPC Big Game Program Manager, on talking about the deer herd & EHD. He starts after the 25 minute mark.
http://www.kfor1240.com/play_window.php?audioType=Episode&audioId=6037340
Just heard that south dakota thinks the ehd die off is so significant that they are considering revoking deer permits in gregory and other counties. If it is truely that bad in parts of nebraska i hope ngpc takes a proactive stance instead of the reactive one they currently hold. I think ngpc does a good job and hope this issue is all about the deer herd and not revenue from permit sales. Like i’ve stated before, i believe current drought conditions will slow recovery. Winter die offs due to starvation plus a high harvest on already concentrated populations could devastate numbers, effect future permits sales especially nonresidents. It will take a minimum of 5 years for the big buck opportunities to reach levels of the last couple years. That’s with a good winter. 7 to 10 years may be more realistic. I live to hunt deer and hunt deer to live, watch them, write about them and photograph them. It’s a very sad day!
This entire issue is fascinating to me just because it seems to be so localized. Obviously where it’s bad, it’s very bad. But I also spent some time with farmers combining near Tekamah yesterday and their deer counts are consistent with where they are from year to year and we saw 11 yesterday, a pretty common number from year to year when multiple hunters are in the woods.
But I’ll be spending some time this weekend in a Cass County stand in a place that usually has some decent deer numbers. I’ll check with landowners there and report back.
I been hunting this week on my brother’s land in Knox county seeing deer but have yet to see a buck. Between me and my brother we seen 4 dead deer all does. About 15 miles away on my dads place tues he found a nice buck dead. But there seams to be more deer ther also. I agree that the deer may be moving to better food and water. Such as cropland I was hunting in pasture land and it is pretty sad almost looks like dirt.
Well the weather has been warm and deer movement sporadic. Sad to say, on a little scouting mission with a couple of my boys Friday evening along the Keya Paha river we found 5 deer carcasses. I nice buck and a doe lying right in the middle of the river. The others were 20 to 40 yds off the river bank. There was 1 doe and 2 really nice young bucks with alot of points and potential. I really wish it would freeze and this would end! I had thought things had slowed a bit until I tralveled the south side of brush creek, in holt county, yesterday. The intense smell of newly rotting deer filled the air for 2 miles. I travel this road at least twice a week and it has not smelled this bad all summer. I still have yet to go sit on stand and I may this evening but I’m a little apprehensive about what I will see. Or won’t see. Saddest part of the week for my family was Tues. when my dad found the carcass of a buck we have been watching for 3 years. He had it all. Non-typical, mass, drop-tine, and 5 1/2 years old. He was awesome! Now we pray his lineage will survive this mess and maybe in a decade we will see his likes again.