I have been hearing reports of widespread blue tongue outbreaks in eastern MT and western ND. This can kill up to 90% of a local deer population. It seems to affect whitetails more than mule deer where I have hunted in ND, but is not good for an already decimated deer herd from 2 bad winters. Anyone know of this?
Blue Tongue in Western North Dakota?
- Thread starter MAT
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sdmuleybuck
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Yes EHD has hit western ND pretty hard. There are lots of dead deer every where. There are some pockets that still have some deer but very few. We have it in Northern SD but not as bad as ND.
I am heading to friends large ranch in west central So Dakota for opening deer hunting. This spring and summer He found quite a few dead deer - wt and muleys - including a number of mature bucks still carrying antlers. I know it was a rough weather year but I am very concerned that blue tongue may be the issue. If weather was the issue it probably would have been post antler shedding death loss? He has the primary wintering area and gets heavy concentrations of wintering deer. Does game and fish track the disease and are their mgmt practices to mitigate disease? I have heard of it over the years but do not know much about it other than it is nasty.
D
DougW
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blue tongue has been a factor up there before, but don't you guys think last year's weather was a big factor? You had the worst winter in decades. Are these carcasses down to bone already or are they fresher, maybe from this past summer/fall?
sdmuleybuck
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Most of the bucks that I have seen dead had velvet on them. When they get this disease they will run a high fever and will go to water or shade to cool off. Alot of the dead deer are found along the creek sides, and dugouts. Many have been found laying dead in the water. There are also alot that have been found while people are harvesting their corn and sunflowers. The winters have lowered the deer population but the EHD has decimated it in many areas. This disease shows its ugly face in late summer and early fall until there is a strong enough freeze to kill the midges that infect the deer.
