Tough Bloodlines??

knock on wood ,pa Geronimo has done well for me but you never no with ehd it could hit them this year

I agree. PA Geronimo line is all I had left standing last year after EHD season had ended.

We are located in Louisiana and have found no correlation between surviveability and lines. Our observations show us that survivability varies between each individual deer. Some deer can just deal with it, some get it and are chronic for the rest of their life, and some die at the first hint of the outbreak. We see no patterns that lead us to believe certain LINES of deer are better than others. Now, when talking about native louisiana deer and their ability to survive we see a definitive pattern.

We get it every year. I can't say there is a 100% guaranteed immune line to EHD but, it does seem certain lines or more hearty than other.



PA Geronimo/Reno

Patrick Lines

Redoy Ben

Flees - Especially Bucky stuff



Those are some of the more hearty lines I have seen down here.



Texas deer definitely seem to fair better here than the northern lines when it gets bad. That doesn't stop us from breeding other stuff but, it puts us more on edge.



The majority of the TX lines are pretty tough that we use. If you can go full TX then that is the best in this case. I like to use stuff crossed TX/Bucky or Tx/Reno when possible.



Just my .02.



And for the record, I don't believe any deer or line is immune which might sound odd coming from guys down here!

Last year my Texas Tea doe was one of the first ones to die from EHD and Pa Geronimo was on the her bottomside!! Im thinking like Darren! Its coming, its here, fight it and fight but its going to happen and it will kill some of your best ones especially your FAVORITE ONES! (RIP Dragonfly) Eldon

Eldon , I have felt your pain many times my friend and never gets any easier the next time

Im AIing with mainly texas semen this year im not saying it will help my ehd problem but it cant hurt when I see a strain of deer live in south texas anywhere from 9 to 16 years when they get hit hard with ehd every year there doing something right and it doesn't matter how many big deer you have in your pens if you cant keep them alive

I agree quad maybe no line is immune to it but I do believe that some of the texas lines do deal with it a lot better maybe its the shorter hair or smaller bodies but theres got to be something

pdaddy said:

We are located in Louisiana and have found no correlation between surviveability and lines. Our observations show us that survivability varies between each individual deer. Some deer can just deal with it, some get it and are chronic for the rest of their life, and some die at the first hint of the outbreak. We see no patterns that lead us to believe certain LINES of deer are better than others. Now, when talking about native louisiana deer and their ability to survive we see a definitive pattern.

Click to expand...

I could not agree more. The southern deer at my farm have know problem surviving ehd. My farm borders the river swamp. I do not spray or vaccinate and have never lost a southern deer to ehd. I have never been able to keep a northern alive for a full year. There is a reason northern species do not exist naturally in the deep south. It takes a while to breed the southern or native deer up but that is the route we took and it works. I try to not have over a quarter northern in a deer. I AI southern on bottom to pure texas and then outcross with a texas/northern buck.

Wish I could raise the big northerns but I can not get them to survive here. Others claim to have some success raising them, maybe it is my location but I will not try that route again.

I have 100% northen and have not lost one to EHD in 4 years. I think if your going to breed with texas cross u will slow your antler growth down and I am trying to speed up the antler growth not slow it down. just my 2 cense

I am raising 100% pure south tx deer and to my knowledge (knock on wood) have not had a death to EHD. I do think the Southern deer have adapted/survived over the years due to EHD resistance.

Headley said:

I have 100% northen and have not lost one to EHD in 4 years. I think if your going to breed with texas cross u will slow your antler growth down and I am trying to speed up the antler growth not slow it down. just my 2 cense

Click to expand...

Forgot to add, I do think the Texas deer take longer to grow. Not going to see 200 inch 1 year olds, actually a 130 is big. But at 2 and three are really starting to see results. First is a 2 year old and last is 3 year old. I am trying to grow a more typical frame, but do like drops and few character points and have a 2 year old that has really grown.

I'm in Alabama and raise Southerns/Texas due to ehd resistance. I feel my line is extremely resistant but that doesn't mean some don't occasionally die from it. I also have one Northern doe bought from Jimmie Smith that is 9 and never been sick a day in her life, but generally you will see more deaths in the Northerns in the South. I tell people, if you haven't lost a deer to ehd yet, you are one day closer to the day you will. I think, like Quad, that certain lines are more resistant than others. If any deer is infected at the wrong time, meaning during periods of nutritional, fawning, or heat stress, etc., it doesn't matter how resistant you are, your immune system can be overwhelmed. I have a pond in my pens, live within a mile from a 700 acre reservoir, don't fog, spray, or vaccinate and have lost 1 in 3 years and in my worst year, I lost 4 does and their 8 fawns who were too old to bottle feed and too young to make it on their own. Everyone has their own philosophy as to what works, here's hoping you all have good luck.

Wow headly slow growth down by crossing texas on northern , guess I'm lost have you not looked at the 2 and 3 year old texas buck lately most I have seen are just as big as the northern and idk about everyone else but I'm raising shooters don't get me wrong I would love a 600 inch buck but most of my buyers want

big main frame 200-275 inch bucks and If you can't raise them on texas northern crosses well idk what to say ask qaud how many big 2 year old pure texas bucks he has

I live in Louisiana and I have bloodlines that are southern and very ehd resistant and also produce 200 inch yearlings every year so I don't think you have to go backwards to get ehd resistant deer. These deer don't die from ehd and are big like northerns

I live in Texas with a mostly pure northern herd.the first 5 or 6 years was a complete wreck.I lost over 80% of my original deer.I get hit 3 times a year with one strain or the other.have tested a lot of deer and have had numerous strains.in my area i have less trouble with my northerns then some of the farms with crosses or texas.i feel the texas deer are more resistant because they have been exposed more.Some of my friends and deer farmers in the counties east of me are getting hammered this year.they do not normally get bit with the bug every year and i feel this is where the problem is,I once read a article DR Kroll wrote to have resistance you need to get hit yearly.if you miss it for a year of 2 or maybe even 10 where are you going to get your immunities whether it be texas or northern .if you had a pure Texas herd in the far north for numerous years and moved them to my place would they have a resistance just because there ancestors were from texas????????? I have sold deer to deep south Texas with no problems, JUST SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT. brian

Kaicreek said:

I am raising 100% pure south tx deer and to my knowledge (knock on wood) have not had a death to EHD. I do think the Southern deer have adapted/survived over the years due to EHD resistance.

Click to expand...

Send your spleens in and get them tested and you will see EHD. I have deer out of the same line "that never has had ehd" except when we actually tested the deaths and sent spleens in guess what............

Great points from Quad and Brian. I don't know that there's any science that shows pass down immunity to ehd. I work in the immunology field (human), and although I'm not a vet, it's my understanding that any immunity to ehd is acquired/active immunity, not passive. Acquired/active meaning they have to be exposed and survive... Passive on the other hand would be passed down from mother to offspring. There's also artificial passive (vaccination) immunity, which for ehd is controversial at best.

Mike,



I am certainly no expert but, here is what we think we have seen and what we think we know.



If/when a fawn is exposed to EHD and their mothers have survived EHD it seems that somehow the mother passes some of the immunity through nursing. I am certain there has to be something genetically passed as well.



It also seems that as these fawns mature they pass down immunities to their offspring.



Time and time again we see certain does or eve lines that do better than others within just our TX herd.



The biggest problem is that the virus itself seems to mutate a little itself from year to year. Sometimes they walk on eggshells. The next year or time its seen in their face. The next time you wake up to dead deer etc.



I will say that while we don't have the number of Northern deer to effectively do a test it is pretty obvious in our herd that the TX in general handle EHD much, much better for some reason.



I believe there are TONS of benefits to breeding TX genetics in the north and vice versa, I just don't want people breeding TX strictly because they are EHD immune because I feel that is somewhat like buying snake oil.



I do think TX blood helps but, it is not a cure all and don't want to mislead anyone. I would rather undersell and over deliver if you know what I mean.