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Milk River Montana

RedCloud

RedCloud

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I was just reading today that they don't think they really have a huntable whitetail population out there this year. Last winter was a harsh one and EHD ( bluetongue) has been killing deer left and right for the past couple years now.

Here is another blurb I found of the situation out there. Trying to find the other I read earlier this morning again lol.

http://www.mikehanback.com/blog/index.cfm/2011/8/18/Milk-River-Montana-EHD-Killing-Deer-In-Droves

The one I read this morning said something like a 80-90% die off. That's a ton of deer right there. The milk river has been a goto mecca for deer hunting for years.
 
Milo

Milo

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jackie bushman is screwed!! i bet the buckmaster signup push will be huge this year
 
RedCloud

RedCloud

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Milo said:
jackie bushman is screwed!! i bet the buckmaster signup push will be huge this year
Click to expand...

His ranch got hammered by EHD last year or the year before. Doesn't look any better this year. Going to be some big named hunters skipping out on Montana whitetails for the next few years.
 
Jackalope

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Funny.. I was in great falls Montana on a business trip once. Went in a local bar "And Casino". There was one other dude there at the bar. A shorter Native American dude with ratty clothes and bourbon cologne... He got to talking about how he used to work for the state department, was a sniper blah blah blah... I entertained the discussion and though it was just another drunk injin with big stories.. He even told me about his ranch.. 50,000 + acres and how he hunts and everything... Whatever.....


After he left i went to poke fun at him with the bartender. "You believe that guy? I've seen some bullshitters in my day but man he takes the cake" She laughed and said, "Who the guy that just left?" "Yeah, what a story teller" I said Oh he wasn't lying".... He told me he own like 50,000 acres and worked for the state department.... "He does and he did" she said......

Never judge a book by it's cover. Some dirty ole injin in a Montana bar may be your "in" to 50,000+ acres of prime Montana hunting.
 
RedCloud

RedCloud

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http://www.realtree.com/hunting/blogs/blanton-blog/milk-river-deer-herd-devastated


It’s no secret that areas that maintain a very high deer density such as the Milk River in Montana are occasionally hit with EHD or “blue tongue” disease. But this year an incredibly “perfect storm” has left the region with very, very few deer. And it’s very sad.
First, the toughest winter in many, many years killed about 40-50% of the deer herd. THEN, “blue tongue” hit late summer and has killed roughly another 60-70% of the deer herd. The net result means no hunting for 2-3 years so the deer herd can build back up.
Recently, Michael Waddell went over to the Milk River after an elk hunt nearby to see firsthand just how bad the situation was. The “wild” can be extremely harsh.
 
RedCloud

RedCloud

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I know we have had an outbreak here in southern Ohio but I couldn't imagine anything on this scale. That would just plain suck and nothing you can do about it.
 
Jackalope

Jackalope

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cotty16 said:
That WOULD suck! I hope we never face that issue.
Click to expand...

There we parts of ohio that had that issue just that bad a couple years ago. I guarantee it. Isolated pockets got slammed something fierce. I was just down on our lease in VC and the deer looks to be rebounding some. Only took them 4 years to get back to levels somewhat close to what they were before EHD.
 
Big_Holla

Big_Holla

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The area I hunt down in Meigs County several years back got hit pretty bad with EHD. Had a few great bucks back then we were looking for come up missing. Our numbers were way down for several years after that, so much that we didn't shoot a single doe for about 3 years after.
 
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