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East Central Illinois deer herd decimated by EHD.

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East Central Illinois deer herd decimated by EHD.

Old 12-13-2012, 05:04 AM
  #31  
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My hunting partner and I hunted the 4 day second gun season in McDonough County and did find 4 dead deer in the creek just at the crossings without really looking for them. 3 were bucks and one doe. We did see plenty of deer and a few shooters but IMO the overall sightings were down as compared to last year. We didn't hear the amount of shooting we expected but in all fairness it was pretty warm and deer might not have been moving. We had the feeling that if we had actually walked that creek and looked for the dead deer we would have found plenty more. Next year or two might have fewer shooters since all the dead ones were either mature or 2 1/2 yr old bucks.
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Old 12-13-2012, 01:20 PM
  #32  
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WE ARE IN SCHUYLER COUNTY,and in the last week have talked to two diff people that have found 11 dead bucks so far Sucks.........Im missing 3 huge bucks from last year that no one has seen...
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Old 12-09-2013, 04:17 PM
  #33  
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I live and hunt in Iroquois Co. on the east side of IL and this area has had a huge decline in its deer population also. I found 3 deer myself(one was a 9 point buck that was still in velvet when it died. One of my neighbors found 9 dead or dying deer in Sept. and another neighbor found 8 in Oct.
I have also heard more than one taxidermist in the area reporting about 70% less deer brought in.

Last edited by KPH1; 12-09-2013 at 04:21 PM.
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Old 12-09-2013, 06:01 PM
  #34  
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Originally Posted by whitetailcrazy
I have spoke with guys who hunt just outside of Pittsfield Illinois in Pike county, and they said the same thing...
"They have noticed a significant decline in numbers this year..." So, I don't want people to think this is my opinion...

Check local contests in your county, those numbers don't lie.. I wouldn't trust anything that comes from the state of Illinois and I am a resident of the god awful state!

EHD was to have hit the center of the state the hardest, and that was put out by the IDNR.. You can go to their web site and look at their EHD Report.
I hunt a farm just outside Pittsfield and the EHD was there for sure but the deer also just were not moving in the daylight at all. I didn't see deer out of my stand several days in a row leading up to gun season but I did see them in big numbers around the roads every single night on my way home. The deer did not budge in the mornings at all. It has been a funny year.

The deer moved much better this last weekend. I seen 30 deer Thursday afternoon including 5 bucks including a 140ish and a 150ish.

Still a lot of deer around Pittsfield. Everybody I talked to seen deer the second season.

The hunting pressure is immense. EHD certainly hasn't helped though.

There are less deer now for sure. This is the 2nd straight year of significant EHD in the area but we also had a very warm/late fall. crops in way late, leaves and cover still very abundant on in to November,acorns on the ground late etc.

1000s of acres of corn still stood during 1st gun season.

As long as the EHD doesn't continue to happen the herd will bounce right back no problem at all.

Last edited by rockport; 12-09-2013 at 06:58 PM.
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Old 12-10-2013, 12:55 PM
  #35  
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Hunted Williamson county 2nd season and saw more deer than I have seen the past 10 yrs. The snow helped no doubt but in my opinion the numbers were not down where I hunt.
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Old 12-10-2013, 01:30 PM
  #36  
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Greene Co. seems to have been hit fairly hard by EHD. Way less deer seen during bow season and only a few shots 1st gun season. I'm done for the year and feeling lucky with the one I did get.
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Old 12-10-2013, 01:39 PM
  #37  
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Originally Posted by s. il. hntr
Greene Co. seems to have been hit fairly hard by EHD. Way less deer seen during bow season and only a few shots 1st gun season. I'm done for the year and feeling lucky with the one I did get.
I still think the bow season was greatly effected by the weather. Greene county I know was way behind for fall this year.

I know EHD is there and it is certainly a factor. I'm just saying I think there are more factors than that and maybe even bigger factors.
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