“Death Is in the Air.” This Drone Pilot and Deer Tracker Is Uncovering Mass Whitetail Die Offs

If you’ve been following news from the whitetail world this summer, you’ve likely seen headlines from local news sources about Epizootic Hemorrhagic Disease outbreaks in Ohio. But longtime deer tracker and drone pilot Shon Butler says that EHD-caused dieoffs in southeastern Ohio and western West Virginia are much worse than many folks realize. 

“It’s an extreme kill over in Ohio,” Butler says. “And I dare to say there’s some properties and some drainages that have 100 percent death rate, so it’s reminiscent of the Milk River [in Montana] back in the late 90s or early 2000s where EHD wiped out every deer in the system … this is a pretty drastic kill.”

“You cannot ride the back roads right now in those counties with your windows down, it is just an amazing stench [from the rotting deer].”

Butler has a masters in biology and operates Longspur Tracking and Outfitting, which is a deer recovery service that leverages about 60 trackers and drone pilots across a 12-state area. Last summer Butler started using his drone and his locating dog (a German Jagdterrier) to survey private deer properties that suffered EHD kills. 

This summer, a perfect storm for EHD materialized — a wet start to summer followed by weeks of dry, hot weather created innumerable exposed muddy areas, which are the spawning grounds for EHD-carrying midges, or no-see-ums. EHD is a viral disease that is transmitted by what most hunters call “no-see-ums.” In deer, the disease can cause fevers and swelling of the head and neck, sending infected deer to water sources. 

As deer dieoffs began to ramp up, Butler started getting calls and messages from concerned landowners. Now he’s surveying affected properties for free — though many landowners provide tips or at least cover his gas expenses.

So far he’s found estimated mortality rates of between 80 to 100 percent on hard-hit properties. He calculates those rates by taking the state wildlife agency’s deer density figure for the area and then comparing that to the number of kills he finds on any given acreage. He finds kills by flying his drone, running his dog, and simply walking creek beds with landowners. He recently posted a YouTube video showing how he does these surveys. 

Butler says he can often locate deer that have been dead for three to four days with his thermal drone. 

“If there are no scavengers touching these deer, they’re naturally decomposing and fly maggots are eating them up. As their hair slips, their skin is mummified black,” Butler says. “So when it’s like 72 degrees and bright and sunny, those carcasses are gonna gather heat and give off a signature.”

Using his drone, Butler’s also able to spot “struggle circles” in the vegetation. As deer succumb to EHD they’ll bed and convulse, tearing up the vegetation and dirt around them. When deer do this in the open, they’re easily spotted from the air.  

Butler has a background in managing whitetail properties and deer herds, so after each survey he consults with the landowners on what to do next. 

“I think the biggest thing I tell people is it’s not the end of deer hunting as you know it,” Butler says. “It’s gonna be a setback, but I’m seeing guys talking about selling their land or moving out of those counties, they’re talking about dropping long-term leases, and I understand this. But it’s gonna be okay … if you take that long-term holistic response.”

Butler tells landowners to not hunt properties that were hard hit by EHD this year. He also suggests adding clean, mid-slope or ridge-top water sources so that deer can access fresh water without going down into the muddy bottoms. Lastly, and where legal, Butler advocates for a high-protein feeding program (not just pouring out corn). He says that bucks that survived EHD this summer could be in rough shape after the rut in the fall, as they’ll still be recovering from the disease and they’ll likely have to travel farther to find does, since there are fewer deer on the landscape now.

While Butler knows that deer herds will recover in several years, he worries that there will be lasting impacts in the areas rocked by EHD. Hey says that landowners, local business owners, outfitters, and lease holders will all feel the hurt of a few seasons without healthy deer herds.  

“I mean, I’m hearing of guys finding 200-inch deer that are dead from EHD,” Butler says. “So, yeah, it’s gonna be tough.”