This was posted in one of my FB groups and I noticed the article in the bottom right. Wish I could find it in it's entirety.
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Article from 1949...
- Thread starter BuckWild
- Start date
Savage
Well-Known Member
Interesting- isn't blackleg bacterial?
My guess based on time of year would have been EHD…
My guess based on time of year would have been EHD…
If you know anyone with a Jackson Sun digital subscription they might can get the archives for you. Looks like article potentially came out 9/29/1949.
That makes sense. South Side High was opened in 1956. The Cats were from the old JB Young High School.
Im guessing there first real run in with ehd
Smo
Well-Known Member
My thoughts exactly…
We're the deer herds in the late 50's large compared to today's numbers?
We're the deer herds in the late 50's large compared to today's numbers?
killingtime 41
Well-Known Member
Smo
Well-Known Member
That's what I was thinking..
I know it was the same in North Alabama…
And zero turkeys in most areas along the State line until Tennessee started relocating/ stocking birds.. In the 80's as well. iirc..
Strange they could find so many dead in one County..
I know it was the same in North Alabama…
And zero turkeys in most areas along the State line until Tennessee started relocating/ stocking birds.. In the 80's as well. iirc..
Strange they could find so many dead in one County..
Nowhere near it. Most Tennessee deer died during the Depression. I know they trapped deer in Virginia and relocated them to Tennessee state parks and forests. My Dad started deer hunting in 1967 and never saw a buck in the wild until 1974 when he killed a basket rack 6 point at Chickasaw State Park. Six seasons of hunting and killed the first buck he ever saw...I was nine years old at the time and it was a big deal back then. The only does that could be harvested were in archery season.
I think the deer in this article probably were early victims of EHD. No telling how long it's been around...
Wow. Yea, I was just thinking that 75-80 deer, at that time, could have been 25% of the population! 
Smo
Well-Known Member
I have never understood why TWRA didn't trap/ catch deer from the Western Tn and relocate them in Eastern Tn…
Prior to CWD being prevalent..
My Dad started deer hunting in 1967 and never saw a buck in the wild until 1974 when he killed a basket rack 6 point at Chickasaw State Park.
I started hunting deer in 73' and my experience was much the same as your Dad's.
We had deer in NW Alabama but they were few and far between.
Seeing a buck or even a doe was uncommon, much less killing one.
Even a spike or a basket rack got a free ride home and around town on the hood!
Prior to CWD being prevalent..
My Dad started deer hunting in 1967 and never saw a buck in the wild until 1974 when he killed a basket rack 6 point at Chickasaw State Park.
I started hunting deer in 73' and my experience was much the same as your Dad's.
We had deer in NW Alabama but they were few and far between.
Seeing a buck or even a doe was uncommon, much less killing one.
Even a spike or a basket rack got a free ride home and around town on the hood!
If I remember right deer were trapped at Central Peninsula WMA now Chuck Swan for stocking many other places in the state in the 60's and 70's. About that same time Hawkins County had the largest deer herd in the state according to a local outdoor report on tv at the time. No we don't want or need any CWD in East Tennessee. I shot one deer this year and passed 10 more on easy shots so we're good.
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Smo
Well-Known Member
Hopefully the spread of CWD will stop..
But I'm not sure that will ever happen….sadly.
Smo
Well-Known Member
A little history on deer relocation in Alabama.
[td]With deer virtually nonexistent in north Alabama, interest grew for a restocking program. The first known restocking attempt in Alabama occurred in 1925 when the Department of Game and Fish and the U.S. Forest Service purchased 105 deer from Michigan and released them in what is now the William B. Bankhead National Forest. The success of this restocking effort led to the release of 52 deer from the Pisgah National Forest in North Carolina into the Ted Joy Game Preserve in Jefferson County.
The Choccolocco and Oakmulgee sections of the Talladega National Forest received a number of deer from the Pisgah National Forest between 1938 and 1941. Word of the successful restockings in the national forests and other areas soon had sportsmen demanding other areas be restocked.
A statewide restocking program was soon ahead for Alabama. The passage of the Pitman-Robertson Act provided for a tax on firearms and other equipment earmarked for states to organize game restoration programs. Other factors including improved land use practices, increased interest in deer hunting, public acceptance of game laws and more efficient law enforcement also contributed to an increase in the deer population.
In 1945, with funds from the Pittman-Robertson Act and public support now in their favor, the Game and Fish Division of the Department of Conservation (previously known as the Department of Game and Fish) embarked on a deer trapping and restocking program. Landowners from all over Alabama allowed deer to be restocked on their property, and sportsmen raised money to assist with restocking expenses.
Most of the deer for Alabama�s restocking program came from three instate sources: Shady Grove Plantation in Marengo County, Sumter Farms in Sumter County, and the state-owned Fred T. Stimpson Sanctuary in Clark County. Deer were also received from Texas, Wisconsin, Michigan, and North Carolina.
By the 1950s the Game and Fish Division had the trapping and transporting of deer down to a science. Large stationary traps with doors on both ends were used in the early stages of the restocking program. The traps were set late in the evening and any deer trapped were removed early the next morning and transported to their new home the same day. Speedy releases from the traps minimized stress on the animals and mortality during capture was negligible.
Stockings continued at a brisk pace through the late 50s and 60s. Areas where deer had been restocked were closed to deer hunting for five years. This protected the well-established seed crop, and by 1965 populations were growing at a rapid rate and continued into the early 1970s. The herd population began to level off in the 1980s to slightly less than today�s population.
[/td]
The Choccolocco and Oakmulgee sections of the Talladega National Forest received a number of deer from the Pisgah National Forest between 1938 and 1941. Word of the successful restockings in the national forests and other areas soon had sportsmen demanding other areas be restocked.
A statewide restocking program was soon ahead for Alabama. The passage of the Pitman-Robertson Act provided for a tax on firearms and other equipment earmarked for states to organize game restoration programs. Other factors including improved land use practices, increased interest in deer hunting, public acceptance of game laws and more efficient law enforcement also contributed to an increase in the deer population.
In 1945, with funds from the Pittman-Robertson Act and public support now in their favor, the Game and Fish Division of the Department of Conservation (previously known as the Department of Game and Fish) embarked on a deer trapping and restocking program. Landowners from all over Alabama allowed deer to be restocked on their property, and sportsmen raised money to assist with restocking expenses.
Most of the deer for Alabama�s restocking program came from three instate sources: Shady Grove Plantation in Marengo County, Sumter Farms in Sumter County, and the state-owned Fred T. Stimpson Sanctuary in Clark County. Deer were also received from Texas, Wisconsin, Michigan, and North Carolina.
By the 1950s the Game and Fish Division had the trapping and transporting of deer down to a science. Large stationary traps with doors on both ends were used in the early stages of the restocking program. The traps were set late in the evening and any deer trapped were removed early the next morning and transported to their new home the same day. Speedy releases from the traps minimized stress on the animals and mortality during capture was negligible.
Stockings continued at a brisk pace through the late 50s and 60s. Areas where deer had been restocked were closed to deer hunting for five years. This protected the well-established seed crop, and by 1965 populations were growing at a rapid rate and continued into the early 1970s. The herd population began to level off in the 1980s to slightly less than today�s population.
[/td]
