As of 8/31. Seems the leader is still the county that doesn't do much for deer herd control. East central IL seeing a lot. Not sure if this is a dynamic image link that will be updated or not.
Bowfished at Lake Shelbyville on Saturday and whew.... stinky. Quite a few dead deer around the lake. Some dead deer were found at the river's edge where I bowhunt in Piatt county yesterday.
Yeah, not sure what it's going to be like where I hunt. A lot of ponds and such that I'm sure dried up and stagnated. A buddy from work was either scouting or hanging stands out at JEPC over the weekend and came across this. Not sure if it was blue tongue or not, but assume it was. Looks like it just get done shedding the velvet around the bases.
I know they're up to over 250 dead in Cook County so far, including a few giants (200"+). I have to admit, I find it quite ironic that the forest preserves with deer densities off the charts have been hardest hit. The anti's fight tooth and nail to keep both hunters and sharp shooters out because they don't like deer being killed, and in the matter of one summer a disease sweeps through and kills off hundreds of them who die an extremely painful death over the course of several days. So far the closest cases I've heard of are about 3 miles from my house, but about 10 miles from where I hunt. Hoping that it stays contained until the first good frost. I don't have many deer as it is in these parts.
Do you know if your friend reported it or not? I'm just curious because I'm currently a conservation worker out there til the end of the month, and we haven't received any reports of people finding dead deer this summer until I saw this.
Chicago needs to keep the insurance companies in their pocket. Plus, God forbid, they allow a gun season in Cook it would be letting the constitution have merit. That county alone is the only reason I hate living here. Be interesting to see the numbers if they update the map again, just got the newest IL outdoor news today, haven't looked through it but I'm sure there's something on it. Shelbyville has taken it hard as well
Just read the article in ION, says logged 721 dead deer from 51 counties through the end of August. Leading the Way, Cook 256, Macon 69 and Calhoun 59. Says an insect killing frost normally ends the outbreak mirroring Justin's post. Has the same map as above through 8/31
I hope they leave the deer carcasses laying around up in Cook Co.. Somebody needs to get some pictures of those poor deer as they are dying to show the bunny-huggers what a 'natural' death can look like. I'm waiting to see if somebody puts out the conspiracy theory that the DNR planted the disease up there... Kinda like dropping mountain lions and rattlesnakes out of helicopters. I see they are opening up a couple of Kane Co. forest preserves. About time. I'd apply if I still lived up there. :D
In my rant, I almost put I wished they could somehow gather them all up and parade them through town as a way to push for humane/ethical herd control. They're going to have to implement some sort of new control methods eventually. But have a feeling they'll use it more for tactical training with the SWAT teams via tax increase rather than practical funding through the willing taxpayers who would actually willingly pay to do so.
I kid you not - got an email from a guy last week claiming he heard that "This blue tongue thing was something the DNR did to poison the deer". I nearly fell out of my chair laughing. Latest reports said they are only removing deer that are in park areas or in water (ponds) with frequent foot traffic. The rest they're leaving lay And I'm hearing the Kane Co FP's will be county residents only? Too bad I'm in McHenry now.
It has to be a whole lot worse than what this map represents also. Jersey County is where my farm is and I know guys that have found 10-15 themselves. I'm afraid most don't get reported.
Here is the newest map, seen 4 dead deer in a field leaving my Uncles today in Morgan county. Can't really say for sure, but not too many reported by the map below
Did you look at the most recent map posted? It shows Calhoun with 125+ reports. And the article posted below it says 181. That's only confirmed cases so there's plenty more I'm sure
Awesome that the counties I hunt in are the ones hardest hit (Macon, Moultrie and Shelby). We havent found any dead on our property (300 acres) in Macon. I heard it was mostly around the Sangamon River and Stevens Creek in Macon. I am not surprised about Shelby and Moultrie considering the deer density in those counties.
