I would disagree with that, because of what we found over a period of months, this blue tongue was a long process in Cumberland county, so I say our deer were exposed to it from early hot summer up to late oct. b4 we had a hint of a frost.....
If I understood you correctly the bucks were only exposed during velvet, not what we saw, wasn't the disease transmitted by a type of a mite ??? and it took a heavy frost to kill the mite