Cant wait for opener! Taking 1 kid at a time next week in the ground blind a few times. Always take my daughter's on my first few hunts of the season. They are very excited! As am I. Sent from my LM-Q610(FGN) using Bowhunting.com Forums mobile app
Aaronb change our name, lol safe to say we’re probably team blood red, Truck bed Sent from my iPhone using Bowhunting.com Forums
Good news is he still looks pretty nice after shedding the velvet. Not too much shrinkage. Hoping I get a crack at him at some point during the season. Camera time stamp is off by about 2 hours. He’s moving just before light and just after dark.
Saturday was our opener for bow season and I did a morning hunt before my nieces birthday. I saw 1 doe and 2 fawns but they were just over 100 yards. I did however get some great new intel on this spot and think it’ll be great later in September. Also have a new and quieter way to get in so shouldn’t bump any deer. I’m going to try hunting a new piece of public every hunt until I build up intel or see sign that I can’t turn away from. Hope to get out a night or 2 this week. I’ll keep everyone posted Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Well boys...the way things are looking right now, I am losing hope daily that I will have any number of deer to actually hunt. EHD is BAD right now. Every time i go to a farm i find more dead. over 30 found so far, and I know I'm only finding a fraction. This is just terrible. Very frustrating. Over 4000 "confirmed" cases of EHD by DNR...Confirmed only means what was reported,; the majority don't get reported.
Number of deer and Iowa counties hit by EHD has increased August 30, 2019 By Dar Danielson A Department of Natural Resources expert says the outbreak of a virus in deer has expanded. Tyler Harms has been following the outbreak of Epizootic Hemorrhagic Disease or EHD. “Total statewide number of reported deer is 583. And we are seeing a bit of an expansion in terms of space and scope. So we are see it reported in some additional counties in southern Iowa — and also some counties in eastern Iowa as well,” Harms says. The total had been 400 deer, with the first reports of infected deer coming from Warren County. Harm says there are now reports from a total of 20 counties. “We know that that’s not the exact number of deer which are dying from EHD. We suspect there are very likely more deer on the landscape,” Harms says. “Although its challenging to know exactly what that number might be without some sort of standardized survey.” The disease is spread through the bite of the female midge — and is not related to Chronic Wasting Disease. “They are two very different diseases — both of which we monitor closely. Obviously CWD we monitor very closely with our surveillance program during the hunting seasons. EHD we rely on reports from out citizens as well as our field staff,” Harms says. EHD does kill deer — but Harms says humans don’t have to worry about catching it. “EHD is not a public health risk. Humans don’t have to worry about getting the disease, nor do hunters have to worry about eating any venison that is suspected to have EHD,” according the Harms. He says the threat to deer will last through the fall. “Once the midges die after the frost this year, the disease cycle is ended for this year,” Harms explains. “But it is a disease that we see in varying degrees in Iowa every year. We get reports of EHD in Iowa every year.” He says you can still report deer that you find that have died from the disease. Infected deer are attracted to water to combat the fever and dehydration due to the hemorrhaging and usually die within a few days. “They die either laying in water or very near to water sources. So, if individuals are finding dead deer on their property that fit that criteria — we would a appreciate a report of that — because we do try to monitor this as closely as possible, ” Harms says. Harms says they keep track of the number of cases of EHD as part of their effort to manage the size of the deer herd. _____________________________________________________________ One of the guys responsible for monitoring this was just in my office last week and said these numbers are probably a bit low, but to say that there are 4000 is a stretch. The original confirmed number was 400, and that is now a few hundred more, not thousands more.
That absolutely sucks! Keep your chin up. Deer are resilient and hopefully the strong will survive for you. I only can empathize with you a bit as my land was flooded and almost unhuntable for a good portion of last season, but the deer were fine so it really isn’t a great comparison. I can just imagine how disappointed you are.
Talked to a local outfitter yesterday. They have found over 40. Every buddy I have talked to has found multiple deer. I am getting almost daily phone calls from my landowners telling me they are finding them dead in ponds and hayfields. Crazy stuff Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I will be in a tree this Saturday. had some unexpected things came together all of a sudden. I was offered access to 24 city/suburban properties that are all within the city limits of a city that has an urban program (all private property). Urban season opens Saturday the 14th. Only does for me this year, but if I get enough of them I will get an urban buck tag next year and there are some absolute freaks in this city. I have cams in there already. So if anything I have lots of motivation to shoot some does...so getting one for the contest should happen pretty soon. I went and got my city tags Friday. Pretty pumped about the new opportunity. Hopefully it takes my mind of the EHD plague taking place on some of my other spots.
Soooooo what your trying to say is we shouldn’t expect anything from you this year? Lol jk man, it’s a bummer for sure Sent from my iPhone using Bowhunting.com Forums
Really depends. I do have farms where there has been no sign of EHD yet, so it's not like "all is lost"...BUT, the ones affected are some of my best ones, and as of now my top 4 deer are all MIA. Just talked to a big hunting realtor in my area. He estimates 80-90% of the herd is dead in a certain 15x15 mile area and gets progressively less bad the further from there you get. But essentially there is a 50-60 mile radius of death from the epicenter. Unfortunately I have several farms in that area, but thankfully a few that are not and they seem fine.
Our opener is this Saturday. My cousin's daughter is getting married and my wife and daughter want to go and my daughter wants me to go so I'm not sure what will happen yet. I am still negotiating my way out. There is a lot of weekends in a year why do people always seem to pick deer or fishing openers?
I think we should get a picture of a red classic 57 Chevy truck bed and edit in team 15 on it Sent from my iPhone using Bowhunting.com Forums
Opener Sunday so I’ll be smashing some public land looking to punch an early doe tag or get into a nice buck out there which I’m pumped for. Bear season has been decent, seen two littles and then cameras showing I have a few moving daylight I would arrow but haven’t crossed paths with them. Also, currently on antibiotics for Lyme Disease as I wasn’t feeling too hot and then located a bite and bullseye on the back of my leg, but haven’t let it slow me down too bad. Was told I need to rest and i don’t know a better spot to rest than in a tree stand. @boonerville wicked bummer on the EHD, it’s awful!
Wow Boonerville, you are creative and good with computers. I think you are onto something there. I like the top one as well but do you think you could photoshop a dead deer in the back of the truck bed instead of the bike? I think that would be awesome. Then we can get our avatar out for the team to use. Just my thoughts. Sent from my iPhone using Bowhunting.com Forums
My season starts on the 28th of September here in Arkansas. I plan to hunt a public WMA spot for the first time. I am not sure what to expect but I am not picky. “If it’s brown, it’s down”. I got 5 hungry mouths to feed in my family. Lol Sent from my iPhone using Bowhunting.com Forums
