2021 Going down as a rough year for NJ deer

[GlockZ]

EHD is quite the killer here in NJ. Probably the worst I've ever seen. The NJF&W has stated at least 60% of the deer population affected, numbers may be higher in some areas. During the archery season, only saw a few small doe, and this last week, the NJ 6-day firearms season was eerily quiet in the zone I hunted, only 2 bucks taken by my hunting club, usually we get around 12-14, some other hunting clubs harvested nothing. I know the whitetail will bounce back, this is just a cycle of nature to keep things balanced, and I'm grateful to have been able to harvest a nice 8 pointer while hunting in PA, and also a Maine black bear.

 

[castnblast75]

I thoroughly agree. Hunted 4 of the 6 days last week in the Monmouth county area and only saw about 20% of what i'm used to seeing. Word of Ehd was prevalent. I pre scouted the week before and found 3 dead ones within sight of my stand. Shooting was extremely lite. Spoke with other hunters who said the same.

 

[Dougfirtree]

Yikes! That sounds like the kind of mortality that could warrant a change in seasons/limits next year. Hopefully the state collects good data.

 

[Stocker]

Yikes! That sounds like the kind of mortality that could warrant a change in seasons/limits next year. Hopefully the state collects good data.

Or they’ll do like Nebraska and see it as a good opportunity to eradicate the rest of the deer from the state. Our numbers are still running 30% of what they were before the 2012 EHD outbreak. They did take the “earn a buck” away. That’s where you had to shoot a doe before you could kill a buck. Wonderful idea when it was a struggle to find any deer.

 

[FranklinME]

Had a few real nice bachelor groups on camera all through the summer. Right before the season they started dropping like flies.

The last thing NJ will do is adjust the seasons/bag limits, unfortunately.

This is the limit for EACH of fall bow, permit bow, muzzleloader, permit shotgun, and winter bow in my zone.

"Season bag limit is nine antlerless deer and ONE antlered deer. Two deer may be taken at a time."

 

[88man]

We had it pretty bad in areas of eastern pa. No frosts until late October this year kept it rolling.

 

[BrentD]

I found this guy on Sunday afternoon. We (Golden Gus The Senior and me) stood 12ft away while he spent a full minute getting up, and then he stood staring at us for 2 more minutes before running/staggering off a few hundred yds and then collapsing. The DNR asked for a map of his location. They are going to try and find him.

Too bad, he was a handsome guy.

 

[Dougfirtree]

I found this guy on Sunday afternoon. We (Golden Gus The Senior and me) stood 12ft away while he spent a full minute getting up, and then he stood staring at us for 2 more minutes before running/staggering off a few hundred yds and then collapsing. The DNR asked for a map of his location. They are going to try and find him.

Too bad, he was a handsome guy.

Would that still be EHD this late in the year?

 

[BrentD]

Would that still be EHD this late in the year?

Looked like it to me. The DNR official said another large, dead buck in the area was reported by another group a few days earlier.

 

[Trial153]

We had some very bad localized outbreaks in New York specifically in the Hudson Valley. It was very sad to see that despite the population being down significantly some hunters was still trying to fill every tag they could. I swear there are hunters that would shoot the last year in the forest if they had a tag for it and they wouldn't think twice about it,

 

[AlaskaHunter]

Blue Tongue has devasted the whitetail population in eastern Washington.
https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2021/oct/10/deadly-wildlife-disease-continues-to-ravage-deer-p/