Obviously, there is no way to determine exactly what caused the deaths of these two great bucks. However, since both racks were fully developed, the deer likely died sometime between September 2007 and the first few months of 2008, when the antlers would have been naturally shed. This falls in the period when the state was experiencing a significant outbreak of epizootic hemorrhagic disease (EHD) and it is quite possible that this was the culprit.

The disease did cause the death of one additional giant buck during the period, a huge 18-point non-typical from Ohio County scoring 204 4/8. (Please see the October 2008 issue of Kentucky Game & Fish for the story and photo of this great deer.)

One short note of explanation regarding terms commonly used when discussing a disease outbreak of this nature. EHD and bluetongue (BT) are actually two separate diseases caused by genetically distinct viruses. However, since they are very closely related, both occur in the same geographic areas at the same time of year, and infected deer exhibit similar types of symptoms, the collective term generally applied is simply hemorrhagic disease (EHD).

In 2007, the Southeastern Cooperative Wildlife Disease Study, headquartered at the University of Georgia, monitored the biggest outbreak of EHD they had ever documented. A total of 812 counties in 31 states reported either confirmed or suspected EHD activity. Hit hardest, were the states of Kentucky, Illinois, Indiana, Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia. All 11 of these states estimated deer mortality exceeding well over 100 deer per county.

While EHD is endemic to all whitetail populations in the Southeast, outbreaks are usually sporadic with low annual losses and relative little effect to local deer populations.

One possible reason for the intense outbreak in 2007 was the extremely dry weather conditions that prevailed during late summer in many of the states. This forced deer to congregate around isolated watering holes where there were concentrations of small biting gnats, called midges. These small blood-sucking insects are the primary vectors that transmit the EHD virus from deer to deer. Like most diseases, EHD is not selective and infects both bucks and does in all age-classes. This means, in 2007 there was not only the immediate loss of several record-class bucks, such as those just mentioned, but there was also a loss of potential trophies from the younger age-classes.

Certainly, the total number of Bluegrass deer lost in a single year to EHD would have to be called dramatic; however, in terms of the entire state population, long-term affects of the outbreak should be minimal.

It should be noted that disease is only one example of non-hunting mortality that affects the buck segment of a deer population. While passing up young, small-antlered bucks is definitely a sound management practice, hunters should also realize that this is not exactly the same as depositing money in a bank. Regardless of the situation, a fairly high percentage of these bucks will be lost to a variety of mortality factors as they advance through the age-classes. Weather, highways, fighting, parasites, infection and illegal shooting are just a few examples that take their toll on bucks.