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Learn all about wild deer behavior, habitat improvement, food plots, hunting techniques, and much more with over 500 free articles available on our website. If you enjoy our content, we'd love to have you as an NDA member!

Habitat

5 Forest Wildlife Species That Benefit When Hunters Improve Deer Habitat

Nov 11, 2025 Kip Adams

Deer are valuable for many reasons. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service estimates big game hunting provides over 250,000 jobs and nearly $70 billion in federal, state and local taxes annually. Whitetails provide American families…

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Deer Science

New Study Investigates Peak Rut Buck Movement

Nov 5, 2025 Lindsay Thomas Jr.

Bucks move more during the rut than any other time of year. The rut will peak at the same time every year in a given location. These two basic rules of the whitetail rut keep…

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Hunting

There is No Such Thing as a Nocturnal Buck

Oct 29, 2025 Cole Gander

We’ve all heard it before and some of us may have even said it ourselves at some point: “That buck has gone nocturnal.” After capturing countless daylight trail-camera photos all summer long, those same cameras…

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Hunting

NDA’s Recommended Practices for Deer Hunters in CWD Zones

Oct 27, 2025 NDA Staff

Deer hunters who live or hunt in areas where chronic wasting disease has been found in deer are on the front lines in the fight against this disease. The National Deer Association believes that CWD…

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Why Do Deer Raise Their Tails When They Run?

Oct 22, 2025 Matt Ross

Have you ever witnessed a deer raising its tail at you while it speedily ran away? Some believe it’s the deer version of flipping the bird, and to be honest it kind of feels that…

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Venison is the Heart-Healthy, Eco-Friendly Red Meat

Oct 21, 2025 Casey Rotenberger

You spend the season putting in hours of work to harvest a deer, likely because you enjoy the sport. The enjoyment can continue long past the point of processing if you begin to realize the…

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New Science: Rubs and Scrapes Glow Like Highway Reflectors to a Deer’s Eyes

Oct 15, 2025 Lindsay Thomas Jr.

In the light of day, our eyes see the pale yellow or white wood exposed by a buck that has shredded the bark off a small tree. But in twilight woods, deer eyes likely see…

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My Late-Season Doe Had White Hooves

Oct 15, 2025 Cole Gander

The 2024–25 deer season was one for the ages for me in northern Missouri. Along with mentoring new hunters through NDA’s Field to Fork program, I was fortunate to harvest my largest archery buck to…

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5 Steps to Recovering a Gut-Shot Deer

Oct 8, 2025 Cole Gander

My anticipation was at an all-time high as I settled into my treestand for a late-October bow hunt in the agricultural country of northern Missouri. Less than a week earlier, I had sat in that…

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A Deer for Ryan

Oct 7, 2025 Tovar Cerulli

In the dream, I was hunting with Brady. He was in good spirits, enjoying Vermont’s finest autumn weather and the chance to hunt deer in a landscape so different from his familiar Rocky Mountains.  On…

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6 Ways Hunters Taint Their Venison and Get “Gamey” Flavor

Oct 1, 2025 Lindsay Thomas Jr.

“Gamey” venison is code for mishandled venison. Having cooked and eaten young deer, old deer, mature bucks, rutting bucks, and ancient does, I will die on this hill. Properly handled and processed venison rarely has…

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Scientists: Releasing Captive-Bred Deer to Fight CWD in Wild Deer Is Unlikely to Work

Oct 1, 2025 Lindsay Thomas Jr.

Recently scientists have been exploring the idea that we can fight chronic wasting disease in wild deer by releasing captive-bred, “CWD resistant” deer. Some in the deer farming industry endorsed the idea, and legislators in…

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