Blue Tongue disease in Illinois

K

king.460

New member
This dreaded game disease is hammering the Illinois whitetail population. I had heard about the problem in southern Illinois but a buddy returned from Pike Co. yesterday and reported a major hit there as well. Said there was a stench wherever he scouted or hunted in the woods and found seven carcasses on Sunday before opening day on Monday. This is terrible and won't get better until several hard freezes.
 
This is a common problem in the southeast.We have had three outbreaks in the past seven years and it always happens right before the season starts.I believe blue tongue is another name for hemmhoragic disease and is caused by biting flies.The flies spread this through the deer herd but the deer don't pass it between themselves.That is why the problem goes away after cooler weather.Some deer survive it after being infected but not many.Don,t worry it won't wipe out a whole herd,but it can put a major dent in your population for a few years.If you aren,t seeing as many deer as you are accustomed to and suspect that you may have an outbreak,look around water supplies for carcasses and for extremely lethargic deer.My favorite hunting spot got hit again this year but is not as bad as several years ago.Hope for cooler weather.
 
Not to argue with the label "blue tongue", but that has always been associated with sheep, in the Southwest, and led to the demise of the desert bighorn in Texas. Some sort of long-lived bug that lives on/in the ground for many, many years. It apparently has died out after some sixty years, and the bighorn restoration projects are finally becoming successful.

Art
 
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