For those of you who may be considering a deer hunt to Nebraska, beware. EHD has devastated the deer population in large areas of the state. Game and Fish has been reluctant to publish information on the latest outbreak, but it is very bad. In 2012 there was a fair amount of info about EHD, but Nebraska Game and Fish waited to see what the harvest was before saying anything. They published that based on harvest figures the estimated population loss was 30% state wide. They have just come out with a statement that the 2013 population loss was another 20%.
I hunted the Sand Hills area in 2010, 2011, 2012 and again this year. The population was down a lot in 2012, but was still decent. This year we hunted one day. The deer in the area I hunted near Gordon, NE were gone. At least 90% loss. The locals told me that there were no deer between Chadron and Valentine. We spent 2 more days trying to find deer, but there just were not any. It will take many years to rebuild the population. In the mean time, they should close the season in the worst areas.
I hope Game and Fish will be honest about what is going on and address the problem. License sales are revenue, but they have a disaster on their hands and it is time to tell the truth.
I hunted the Sand Hills area in 2010, 2011, 2012 and again this year. The population was down a lot in 2012, but was still decent. This year we hunted one day. The deer in the area I hunted near Gordon, NE were gone. At least 90% loss. The locals told me that there were no deer between Chadron and Valentine. We spent 2 more days trying to find deer, but there just were not any. It will take many years to rebuild the population. In the mean time, they should close the season in the worst areas.
I hope Game and Fish will be honest about what is going on and address the problem. License sales are revenue, but they have a disaster on their hands and it is time to tell the truth.