I have hunted IL for almost 20 years in Calhoun Co and I have never seen something devestate the deer population like EHD has in the last few years there. Does anyone have any comments or knowledge of what the IL department of Conservation is doing to help get the numbers back on track? I always see a booner at least on film and the last two years I've been lucky to see a 150 class. This year only a few 3.5 year old deer! I have a lot invested in IL but I am very concerned! Thanks for any info!!
Fortunately, our property (in Madison County, just south-east of Calhoun) has been spared the EHD hit that some other counties have experienced. I know Calhoun and Macoupin counties seem to have been nailed pretty good. This disease is strange how localized it can be. We found no dead deer on our property the past couple of years, yet guys that are no more than 20 miles north of us were finding them everywhere. Sadly, most were mature bucks. I don't think the IDNR is doing much, if anything, to do anything whatsoever about the dwindling deer population. It is fairly common knowledge, and the apparent concensus of most deer hunters, that the IDNR is poorly managed by people that don't have the expertise to get the job done. It's Illinois politics, and it's corrupt and broken. Why would the IDNR be any different? Hopefully, the Illinois Whitetail Alliance, which is a newly formed organization, can provide the insight our newly elected Governor needs to make wholesale changes and get the deer numbers moving in the right direction. We need educated, experienced deer biologists calling the shots on the state wide deer herd, not some politician that doesn't hunt. When you are using deer vehicle collision statistics as your sole factor in managing the herd size, you have a BIG problem. I am holding out hope that Gov. Bruce Rauner can and will bring the changes we need, for the sake of our Whitetail Deer numbers, and the sportsman.
Iroquois county has been hit bad too. We have found 21 dead bucks in the last 2 years...almost no mature bucks on camera this year. Dnr said they estimated 60-70 percent mortality in our area
EHD is horrible but there are a few things you can do to lessen it on your property.. I think Dr Kroll did a write up on it last year.. on anther note a buddy of mine who is an outfitter in north central KY lost the biggest buck he was getting on cam two years ago, he had folks from all over the country and several tv shows want to come hunt it.. imagine losing this deer to EHD...
