Blue Tongue and EHD outbreak in NE Washington

[hunter399]

https://idfg.idaho.gov/article/what-ehd-means-clearwater-region-white-tailed-deer-hunters


My property and the thousands of acres we have access to are mostly in 8.
Daily visible deer numbers are down.
We haven't started busting brush yet to see how bad it is... almost don't want to..had some good bucks running around this year.

I wish our fish and wildlife would publish something similar.

They haven’t even addressed blue tongue....kinda weird.  They are more worried about getting the gps coordinates on where you killed your buck.  Losing an entire population and partial year class of deer in the NE due to blue tongue and here we are freaking out over 6 cases of cwd.  Not minimizing cwd, I just think they could have used proactive management instead of now reactive management with the blue tongue crisis.  I don’t think they really give a rip.

And yes a 3rd grader could have seen blue tongue coming well before it started....

Not sure what they can do to address ehd or blue tongue. They are spread by midge bites and unlike cwd they are not spread by contact with other animals. CWD they can attempt to minimize contact between animals, but not much they can do to reduce contact with midges.  Fortunately the midges die with the first frost and also ehd and blue are not 100 percent fatal. CWD is 100 percent fatal and spreads and kills year around.

Totally agree with the physical midge aspect of controlling some of this.  Not much can be done.  I guess I’m thinking a little deeper on it?  That’s why I bring up the management aspect.  We can almost predict these droughty years in the NE where blue tongue is almost predictable.  I personally saw it come and saw it first hand on all of our property beginning in July.  So the no brainer is start managing immediately.  Example would be shut down doe seasons or go to some sort of antler restriction...take your pick?  I watched my neighbor the last six years hammering the heck out of every doe or buck that walked by taking new hunter to his property everyday.  This years lack of deer didn’t slow him.  If it walk it was dead.  With restrictions we could have preserved what was left.  Am I the only goofball that thinks like this?  We were just starting to recover from the last blue tongue epidemic.
After working with wdfw for years I saw how everything was mismanaged by reaction.
Many states deal with both of these issues and still have healthy populations, there is nothing new under the sun on these subjects.  After hunting in many other states over the years, I’m always perplexed NE Wa can’t hold better deer numbers.

The first step in managing are deer herds is managing predators.  If you have a robust deer herd and you have a disease outbreak......they will fare better and recover faster.  The fact that our state refused to manage predators should tell you everthing you need to know.....  They don't care if we have deer to hunt.

CWD is backed by federal funding, blue tongue or EHD is not funded.
That's the difference,CWD will always come first ,as far as research and testing.
I'll post some links.

Chronic Wasting Disease Management and Response Funding Opportunities | Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service https://share.google/Sxuax9yiT7NV6qK8O

USDA awards $11 million in funds for chronic wasting disease | dvm360 https://share.google/jb3PnSEUcoKZYCYQw


H.R.5608 - 117th Congress (2021-2022): Chronic Wasting Disease Research and Management Act | Congress.gov | Library of Congress https://share.google/rUpppVzWMfREqVvex


Congress Passes Important Chronic Wasting Disease Legislation | Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership https://share.google/RHR4FVdgAGo8tEsbE

Those are just some links ,I'll throw in here.

Washington has been testing since 1995 with federal money to detect CWD.
As of 2023 they never found any CWD.

Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) Incentive Permits | Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife https://share.google/oQPzgK9qmKE4kkuIq

With Idaho having a few CWD positive not far from Washington, basically the hunt was on.
The way I understand it, is you only get testing money,till a positive case is found.
Then research money will kick in,after a positive case is found.
Also after a positive case is found, restrictions are mandatory to receive the federal money.
Transport and bait laws are pretty much mandatory to receive grant money.
That's why we have state wide bait ban.
Kinda a time line of facts.
2022 federal money ramped up for CWD
2023 Incentive permit for testing.
2024 first case detected in Washington.

Personal opinion here.....
We have had thousands of dead deer from EHD. They rarely test these deer for CWD.
I Believe EHD kinda muddy the water, CWD positive cases increase federal funds.
Testing deer that may of died from EHD,no money in that.
That's not to say that EHD or CWD are not connected in some way.
Or the way the immune system is effected in some way by each of these.
One can fuel the other in some form or another.

Regardless of feeling or opinion.
NE Washington herds are not doing well. Harvest has declined for ten years.
Over a decade,2015, four point minimum was lifted,record harvest that year.
With a steady decline since. It can be too many antlerless tags given around 2015.
EHD die offs, predators,over harvest. Whatever the reason, it's been happening since 2015.
Over the years multiple organizations and people have asked for 4 point APR.
With it always voted no by our commission.
Our department always works hard. I have a lot of respect for our department.
Not so much for commission.