Check this out!!!!!!!!!!

[exguide67]

Here is a story I read on a local news site. Any early hunters run across this???

LA GRANDE, Ore. - A virus is killing deer in Eastern Oregon.
The Blue Tongue virus has hit the La Grande area before, but never with this intensity. One family found nine dead deer on or near their pasture last during the past month.

The epidemic does not affect humans. But it is killing an unusually large number of deer this fall, and wildlife biologists don't know how many more will die before it's run its course. The blue tongue virus generall affects deer between August and October, and is believed to be spread by tiny biting flies called "midges".

 

[muleyman]

I think the deer are just "scared to death" that hunting season started!

Just think, the deer were just "outstanding" if their field before they died.

Just Kidding.

I hope they can get it under control. Our deer herds here in OR need some help.

muleyman

 

[exguide67]

I agree with CWD and now this what are we going to hunt ?

 

[sremim]

hopefully they'll open a legal illegal season!!! There is definitely no shortage of those!!!

 

[NDBadlandsbucks]

We get bluetongue in North Dakota every once in a while, our neighbors found a couple of dead bucks one year. There has also been a couple of years where it did get bad in a few units and the Game & Fish Dept. gave refunds for tags in those units if they were willing to give up their tag. Populations always came right back though. I think its kind of a cylic deal, and yes it is caused by flys that lay eggs in the deer's noses.

Keep the Sun at Your Back and the Wind in Your Face

 

[KNOPHISH]

How close to Washington is La Grande? season opens in a week. I wonder if any here got it.

 

[Huffmad]

60 miles or so

 

[Tally]

Doesn't blue tounge affect whitetail more than mule deer. It really put a hurt on the whitetail population in E. Mont a few years ago but didn't seem to affect the muley's.
Also tuff on antelope.
The Mont. boys told me it's because muleys drink more out of ponds and the others drink out of puddles where the midges can survive.

 

[Busching]

I had a personal encounter with Blue tongue. My and my buddies were driving down a road scouting and we see this doe run up to our truck.. We are like what the hell? She acted just fine until she was behind the truck and then she started spinning around in circles. It was the weirdest thing. We then watched her for quite some time and she must have down this several times in like 5 mins. My buddy jumped out of the truck to hit her with a stick, (to try and kill her so she didn't have to suffer anymore) He was like 4 feet away when she jumped off (just like a normal deer would) and then she would start spinning around in circles again. We then made a call to my buddy who is a Warden and he told me to shot her and take her to a Biologist, so we did and it came back with Blue Tongue. This all took place in Grand Coulee, Wa. She was a Mule Deer Doe. True story this happened two years ago..