South Dakota authorities expanded hunting license refunds after deer deaths from epizootic hemorrhagic disease rose to 791. They also removed youth and mentored licenses in nine counties and limited archery hunting to bucks.
Reports of deer deaths from a viral disease rose from 407 to 791 in just a few weeks, prompting South Dakota wildlife officials to expand a program that allows hunters to return their licenses for a refund.
Epizootic hemorrhagic disease is a viral illness transmitted by tiny biting flies typically found along muddy shorelines. In South Dakota, the disease primarily affects white-tailed deer, according to the Department of Game, Fish and Parks. Mule deer, bighorn sheep, elk and pronghorn can also be infected.
The department says the disease usually affects deer herds in late summer or early fall. Warm conditions, such as those recorded across much of South Dakota this fall, can extend the period when the insects are active. A hard freeze of about 25 °F (approximately -4 °C) generally kills them off and brings the seasonal outbreak to an end.
At Thursday's commission meeting, Game, Fish and Parks Secretary Kevin Robling said the department is concerned, but that "the great news is that white-tailed deer, in particular, have incredible reproductive performance and can multiply very quickly." "We will recover from this, no doubt," he said. "So we will continue to be conservative with our harvest strategies and our tag allocations, and we will recover. It will take a couple of years, but we will recover."
The state has adopted several measures to limit deer hunting in areas affected by the outbreak, with the goal of giving populations a better chance to recover. The department eliminated youth and mentored deer licenses in nine southeastern counties where outbreaks have affected deer over the past two years. It also withdrew 62 unsold licenses: two in McPherson County and 60 in Dewey County. In addition, it changed statewide archery license rules, which allowed hunters to take any deer, to buck-only licenses.
The department offered hunters with deer licenses along the Missouri River corridor the option to return their licenses for a full refund. That program has been expanded to some western parts of the state and to more areas in south-central and southeastern South Dakota.
The department asks the public to report sick or dead deer through the methods listed at gfp.sd.gov/contactus. Officials enter the reports into a system that updates the department's public online map.
