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Dry weather and EHD

That picture of the ticks reminds me of one of the grossest things I've ever seen when it comes to deer. I was checking creeks in late August, looking for EHD victims. I believed I found one. At least I assumed it was a deer. But instead of a deer lying next to the creek, I found a huge mound of writhing maggots, in the exact size and shape of a deer. No hide visible, no bones visible. Just a writhing pile of maggots. And of course, being the good wildlife manager that I am, I reached into that pile of maggots - bare-handed - and ripped out the doe's lower jaw. Needed to see how old she was. True dedication...
 
poorhunter said:
I was thinking about this the last two weeks. I've seen numerous deer standing in the creeks that run beside the roads in my area. They all look fine, but it's got me wondering for late summer. Like @JCDEERMAN we had it bad in 2019.
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Hickman, Perry and parts of Humphreys really took a beating in 2019. Actually had a client in Perry County that decided to forgo hunting the 2019 season because their population had dropped so low. I'm lucky in that my place is all hill country and our only water is limestone stairstep creeks that have no stagnant pools and no mud for the midges to breed in. We had zero deaths on the property in 2019. However, I'm surrounded by bottomlands with significant swamps. The bottomlands DID take a beating and we could tell once fall arrived. Far fewer deer to move up out of the bottoms.
 
poorhunter said:
I was thinking about this the last two weeks. I've seen numerous deer standing in the creeks that run beside the roads in my area. They all look fine, but it's got me wondering for late summer. Like @JCDEERMAN we had it bad in 2019.
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Keep monitoring and let us know. In the state we're in, hoping they get a little sick, but not bad. Kind of like Covid - the vaccine, or in this case, previously having it greatly reduces severe cases
 

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