Whitetails dieing?

[sweetnectar]

Found five dead whitetails. What is the cause of death, any ideas? Here is what I know, 4 bucks and one doe. One buck was a young 3 point, one four point, one buck was a 160" heavy horned (sorry no pictures on that one), and the 5 x 4 buck bellow. Bear sign all dead animals. The buck bellow has a claw mark on the neck, but wasn't missing any fur around the neck, had about 2 lbs of butt meat eaten off. The oldest dead deer looked like it died a week ago and the earliest death about a day ago. Was it blue toung or killer bear or what do you suspect?

 

[TheTone]

I'd guess EHD, I'd read that Montana was having a break out this year in some areas.

 

[Carrion Carrier]

What TheTone says.

http://fwp.mt.gov/news/newsReleases/fishAndWildlife/nr_0303.html

FWP wants to hear about dead deer that are found. Call 'em!

 

[Carrion Carrier]

"Sightings of deer that are dead, obviously sick and weak or apparently unafraid of humans should be reported to the Glasgow, Mont., FWP office at 406-228-3700."

 

[sweetnectar]

EHD sounds like a likely suspect in these cases. How long does the deer have to live after it is infected and do they go to water to die?

 

[tarheel]

EHD sounds like a likely suspect in these cases. How long does the deer have to live after it is infected and do they go to water to die?

From what I've read it's only 3-4 days and yes, it does drive them to water.

 

[Lawnboy]

Abe I think you've found the culprit. You should have your dad hack a sample off of them and freeze it till he gets home to Billings.

 

[Brandenbowhunter]

weird...that is just weird

 

[Hem]

I'm guessing bluetongue,with a coyote taking advantage of the easy meal.They usually start chowing the ham starting at the brownstar.I'm no authority ,it is my impression blue tongue is associated with stagnant water.Once infected the animal expires quickly,and surprisingly mature animals(bucks) are especially susceptible.One heavily hunted Block management I hunt has revealed itself as having some tremendous bucks as evidence by the casualties to B.T.

 

[mconway951]

Im no wildlife bio but have seen a few deer that have died from EHD some were next to water and some were completly in the water. According to the bio i talked to about it the diease has an incubation period of 5 to 7 days. so it takes a few days to kill them. it is a very deadly diease but a lot of deer do survive and show only mild signs to no signs at all, and those that do survive an infection develop anit bodies and are immune to the diease in the future.
Sad sight hope the first frost comes soon thats for sure.

 

[Horn Seeker]

Its most likely blue tongue/ehd... I found 2 bucks yesterday, one was a 140 dandy with great mass.. other a smallish 4 point. Found 2 does and 2 fawns too. Around Billings, the river bottom smells like a dam morgue.

 

[----]

Man how big is this thing?
sounds like its spread out across half the state.

 

[highmountian]

That is a bummer, saw It in northern Idaho about 5 years ago. It kills any size animal it wants!

 

[sweetnectar]

The only thing I don't like about the idea of this being EHD is that only 1 of the 5 died near water. Animals infected with EHD exhibit a fever, hence the dieing near water part. I didn't check inside the mouth for ulcer's but didn't notice any blood coming from the mouth or nose areas.