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LINCOLN -- Near normal hunter success during the 2000 Nebraska Firearm Deer Season alleviated some concerns that disease caused major deer losses in the state this past summer.
Statewide hunter success was about 60 percent, three percent above 1999, when hot weather limited hunter access, and down only slightly from 1998.
"The die off was apparently not great enough to significantly effect harvest," said Karl Menzel, big game biologist with the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission.
Menzel had anticipated a drop in harvest success due to an outbreak of EHD, epizootic hemorrhagic disease. Losses to the disease occur every year and are sometimes significant in localized areas, especially during dry years. In 2000, however, reports of deer losses were several times higher and more wide spread than in any year since 1976, when EHD killed about 50,000 deer in Nebraska -- 30 to 40 percent of the state^s estimated population at the time.
There are more than twice as many deer in the state today. Menzel said because of the larger population, disease losses apparently didn^t affect hunters.
Menzel won^t be ready to estimate the total EHD loss this year until all hunting seasons are completed in mid-January. At that time, he will pay particular attention to the number of white-tailed deer harvested compared to previous years. EHD has a greater affect on white-tailed deer than on mule deer. "If the proportion of whitetails in the harvest is down, that is an indicator that EHD losses were at some level of significance," Menzel said.
The number of deer killed on Nebraska highways in 2000 will also help biologists grade the significance of the EHD outbreak. Those totals, which include data compiled by the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission and the Department of Roads, will be compiled in April.
Only three deer management units showed a decrease in hunter success from 1999 to 2000 -- the Buffalo (down 5 percent), Frenchman (down 5 percent) and Platte (down 2 percent) units. All three are in southwestern and south-central Nebraska, where Menzel said heavy snow, which limited hunter access during the season, was more likely the reason for reduced success.
Uploaded: 12/16/2000
Uploaded: 12/16/2000