Are Morgan County Deer Sick?

[philagothon]

A buddy at work has a farm on highway 44 east of Martinsville. Over the weekend he found the carcass of an 8 point buck near the mouth of a natural spring on his property. He did not find any bullet holes or arrows. He says it looks like it's been there for a couple weeks, so I'm not sure of the state of decomposition and whether bullet holes could still be found. He had heard that there was some illness in the herd and he thinks that is what took it down. His theory is that the buck was feeling sick and sought an area with fresh water to try recovering.

Personally, I'm a little surprised that there was much left with the number of coyotes he reports. Would a coyote turn away from a deer that died from disease? If it was a disease would it present a threat to humans? The farmer has hinted, but not outright asked, that he would like me to take a couple deer off his farm this year. He seemed concerned that I wouldn't want to waste tags on sick deer. Well, he's right, I don't want to waste tags, but I also don't want to pass on a great opportunity to hunt.

Is the herd sick or was it likely something else? Should I hunt the farm if I get the chance or pass and stick with public land?

 

[purple72]

What about contacting your local DNR office and express your concerns? I'm sure they can offer you the info you need to make a decision.

 

[Indy_Guy_77]

Also, deer, like humans, just sometimes die.

While they may be "sick" individually - doesn't necessarily mean that the herd is sick communally.

Just more food for thought.

-J-

 

[csmith]

The answer is probably yes. Read this thread and or google EHD indiana 2012.



https://www.indianagunowners.com/fo...d_hopefully_not_a_sign_of_things_to_come.html

 

[Spinaltapls1]

they have the blue tongue disease. they get it from some kind of bug hundredes of deer are dieing from it this year.

 

[doctrpt]

According to the information I have received, they have found more than 50 deer dead in Green Township alone, all from this disease. That has been within the last month or so. I hear it is spreading, and that deer season this winter might be a little sparce. The interesting thing is that I haven't seen a coyote on the property in a while either. When the deer started disappearing, they did too.

 

[buckstopshere]

I was in Missouri couple weeks back having lunch at Qdoba. Some guy turns and says to me "we got lots of deer dying from blue tongue disease around here."

I thought it an odd way to strike up a conversation. Not even sure how he would've known I was hunter but I played along. Seems the deer population to our west is really getting hammered according to our resident expert at Qdoba.

It's possible it's heading our way, ive heard about some cases, but it's also possible this deer died of natural causes. If it were me and a deer died on my property under those circumstances, I'd have a conversation with the DNR and invite them out if they were willing and able.

 

[purple72]

Well, on that note, I'm probably going to have a rough season. Supposed to hunt Missouri middle of November, and Illinois beginning of December. We'll see. Gonna keep my fingers crossed.

 

[hickuleas]

I have farm property close to area mentioned and haven't found any dead deer. Also no neighbors have found any as well.

 

[hammer24]

A buddy at work has a farm on highway 44 east of Martinsville. Over the weekend he found the carcass of an 8 point buck near the mouth of a natural spring on his property. He did not find any bullet holes or arrows. He says it looks like it's been there for a couple weeks, so I'm not sure of the state of decomposition and whether bullet holes could still be found. He had heard that there was some illness in the herd and he thinks that is what took it down. His theory is that the buck was feeling sick and sought an area with fresh water to try recovering.

^^^^He should report it to the DNR. It is probably EHD or Blue Tongue. Read through my thread csmith posted, it'll answer some of your questions. Morgan is getting hit hard right now. It hits small pockets hard, can wipe out the deer in a square mile, then a mile over it is fine.

 

[sig shooter]

If you find a deer that is dead or appears to be dying you can contact the DNR and they test the animal. If the animal is dead the test needs to be completed in the first 8 hours of death. Most of the deer will be located around or in water.

 

[philagothon]

Thanks for info guys. I talked to the farmer last night at work. He says he will make a trip around his property this weekend to see if he can find any more carcasses. He's also going to talk to his neighbouring farmer and they will likely go around his place too. I found some pictures of what their hooves look like after getting EHD and I will show those to him so he will know what to look for. If he finds any more he is going to call DNR, I'm not sure he's going to call over the one buck.

Are blue tongue and EHD the same thing? I found some confusing/contradicting info and wasn't sure if identifiers (primarily hoof damage) was common to both diseases. He asked if it was contagious and I didn't have a good answer last night. After further reading it looks like sheep are especially susceptible, but so are cattle and some other livestock. It seems to have no effect on humans who eat infected meat or are bitten by a carrier midge. I think a nearby friend of his has ~300 head of cattle and he's probably worried about his friend's herd.

Thanks for the help so far. I'll update this thread as I hear more from him.

 

[Lock n Load]

A few weeks ago at the Sportsmans Club in Martinsville we found a dead deer, small doe/ yearling back up from the backstop at the 100yd range. My son noticed the smell when placing the steel target.

We had to search around a little bit to find it, there was fluffs of fur in a few spots mostly where it initially lay. From its position its possible that it was shot while laying above the backstop...???

It was in the end stage of decay and that was still pretty hot and dry back then so Im not sure how long it had been dead.

I havent heard any of the farmers where we hunt say anything about finding dead deer this year....

 

[hammer24]

Are blue tongue and EHD the same thing? I found some confusing/contradicting info and wasn't sure if identifiers (primarily hoof damage) was common to both diseases.

They are a different but very similar virus, but exhibit almost identical symptoms in deer.

Bluetongue disease or catarrhal fever (BTV virus) does infect sheep, goats and to a lesser extent cattle; as well as wild reumenants (deer.) Certain breeds of each are more susciptible than others.

Epizootic Hemorrhagic Disease (EHD) is a whitetailed deer disease with identical symptoms to blue tongue. Both terms are often used together even though we are really looking at EHD. EHD can infect cattle, but they do not get sick from it.

Major signs are high fever, excessive salivation, swelling of the face and tongue and cyanosis of the tongue. Swelling of the lips and tongue gives the tongue its typical blue appearance, though this sign is confined to a minority of the animals. Nasal symptoms may be prominent, with nasal discharge and stertorous respiration.
Some animals also develop foot lesions, beginning with coronitis, with consequent lameness. In sheep, this can lead to knee-walking. In cattle, constant changing of position of the feet gives bluetongue the nickname The Dancing Disease.[3] Torsion of the neck (opisthotonos or torticollis) is observed in severely affected animals.
Not all animals develop symptoms, but all those that do lose condition rapidly, and the sickest die within a week. For affected animals which do not die, recovery is very slow, lasting several months.

 

[hammer24]

BTW, don't want to hype another site, but if you check out the bow hunting forum at archerytalk.com, it is a virtual horror show of EHD dead deer from Kansas to North Carolina!

 

[hammer24]

Sorry double post.

 

[irishhunter]

Everything I have on Camera here in Mooresville/Morgan County look nice and healthy to me. Seen a few with an unusual amount of Ticks on them but even the yearlings look good. We did find a dead buck but it was before the drought. Not sure if he got hit or just died of old age. Neighbor cut off his rack. He was stinky

 

[Yeah]

All the deer on my place look good as well, though I've only been home for a couple of weeks this summer and run the cams just three times. Rolled back in just now, and will give the place a good walking tomorrow to look for carcasses.

 

[HICKMAN]

yes, they are sick.

One of the Purdue Extension guys was talking about it at the Venison workshop at Bass Pro Shops last night.

 

[ghitch75]

have found no dead deer on or around my ground.....all the one on cams look healthy....