Iowa and EHD

[GeoFish]

I have been applying in Iowa building up points. With the EHD break out in SE Iowa I am wondering if I should apply next year or just pick up a point.
Any Iowa hunters out their that can give us some input?

Hundreds of deer fall to Iowa’s most widespread outbreak of EHD

Meanwhile, reports of chronic wasting disease continue to ramp up

www.thegazette.com

 

[BTaylor]

Not sure there is a right or wrong answer. EHD didnt kill em all but it likely wont be a glory days hunt. That doesnt mean you couldnt go kill a giant though. Facing a similar deal with where the area I am going to apply for in KS. I'm planning to apply and go.

 

[sureshot]

It's very regional, even within zones. Parts of the south got hit hard, the east had some. I would say if you had multiple hunting spots worked out within a zone (assuming you are going to south), you should be able to adjust to unaffected areas.

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[sureshot]

EHD

Heard it's hitting Van Buren and Davis county pretty hard. Anyone else finding dead bucks?

iowawhitetail.com

This is probably your best source for affected areas.

I know Guttenberg, IA area got hit pretty hard also that isn't mentioned on that thread (eastern part of state).

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[GeoFish]

It's very regional, even within zones. Parts of the south got hit hard, the east had some. I would say if you had multiple hunting spots worked out within a zone (assuming you are going to south), you should be able to adjust to unaffected areas.

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Are you from Iowa?
Do you know anything about Shimek state forest?

 

[sureshot]

I live in iowa, but know nothing about shimek state forest. All I know about EHD in the southern part of the state is what I read on the link provided above.

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[Arrowsmith1]

I live in SE Iowa (Davis county). Davis county was one of the hardest hit according to the DNR. I was very concerned going into the season. Considering that only about 1 in 20 to 1 in 30 EHD kills are reported we could have been looking at 2000 to 3000 dead deer based on the numbers. I am fortunate that I can walk out of my house and be in a stand in 5 minutes. I live in this creek bottom with these deer 24/7/365. I do 70 to 80 sits a year with almost all of them on my 64 acre farm. I actually saw more deer this year than in the previous 4 years that we have lived here. I saw more bucks this year than the previous 4 years as well. I only saw 3 bucks that I would consider shooters, but I was only skunked on 3 sits. I killed one of the 3 shooters that I saw. On November 15th I saw 11 different bucks on a 4 hour morning sit. Like mentioned above EHD can be very spotty. One area can have very few dead deer and right down the road you can walk a piece of timber and smell death. Here are the shooters I saw, one that I never laid eyes on and the one I killed.

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[sureshot]

Are you from Iowa?
Do you know anything about Shimek state forest?

You're best bet would be to call the local DNR officer. It looks like that would be Hunter McAninch 309-470-0788. Chris Flynn is van Buren County, so he might be able to give info also 641-919-9115.

They should be able to give a decent report on EHD, although they are somewhat limited to what hunters report to them.

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[GeoFish]

I live in SE Iowa (Davis county). Davis county was one of the hardest hit according to the DNR. I was very concerned going into the season. Considering that only about 1 in 20 to 1 in 30 EHD kills are reported we could have been looking at 2000 to 3000 dead deer based on the numbers. I am fortunate that I can walk out of my house and be in a stand in 5 minutes. I live in this creek bottom with these deer 24/7/365. I do 70 to 80 sits a year with almost all of them on my 64 acre farm. I actually saw more deer this year than in the previous 4 years that we have lived here. I saw more bucks this year than the previous 4 years as well. I only saw 3 bucks that I would consider shooters, but I was only skunked on 3 sits. I killed one of the 3 shooters that I saw. On November 15th I saw 11 different bucks on a 4 hour morning sit. Like mentioned above EHD can be very spotty. One area can have very few dead deer and right down the road you can walk a timber and smell death. Here are the shooters I saw, one that I never laid eyes on and the one I killed.

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Thanks, do you need a hunting buddy, LOL. Some nice deer. Thanks for the info. I have hunted Shimek 3 times. Last time was in 2019. With only 4 points I don't have much of a chance getting drawn. So I am wondering if I should just pull a point? Since I am 70 the next trip will most likely be my last so I want it to be a good one. I do know some locals their I will contact and see what they think.

 

[HuskerInIowa]

I haven’t hunted Shimek so I’m not speaking to that area directly but as a rule I wouldn’t personally let EHD factor too much into your decision making. Sounds like you know some locals that can give you better insight to that area directly so that’s always good. It’s just my opinion you’d have to get super unlucky for there to be a large enough impact in the area you were hunting for a large difference in your hunt. That can happen, not saying it doesn’t, but you might wait and it’s worse the year you apply. Just a gamble in that aspect. Like you said, with 4 points that’s probably the first hurdle! Good luck regardless of your decision!

 

[OSUTodd]

Around Christmas in 2022, while visiting my mother-in-law in NE Iowa, I snuck away for a few hours of trout fishing. I found two deer that were recently deceased laying in the creek. I sent a note to Iowa DNR through their website and never heard back from them. Maybe they already knew about possible infections in that part of the state. I do hope they took time to check it out if it wasn't a known case.