Deer Science The latest in deer research

The NDA prides itself in keeping up with the latest in deer research and management and presenting that information to our members in easy-to-understand articles, videos, and podcast interviews.

Deer Science

Wild Pig Fertility Crushes Deer. Learn 5 Ways to Use It Against Them.

Mar 29, 2023 Lindsay Thomas Jr.

There’s a grim joke circulating among wildlife biologists who fought wild pigs and lost: “The average sow gives birth to eight piglets, and nine of them will survive.” Plug this fatalistic humor into a mathematical…

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Deer Science

Why Do Squirrels Gnaw on Shed Antlers?

Mar 22, 2023 Karli Gill

If every buck in your woods and fields drops their antlers every winter, why isn’t the landscape littered with them? Why haven’t you walked a few steps into the trees and found not only this…

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3 Promising New Ways to Detect CWD, Dead Deer Not Required

Mar 15, 2023 Lindsay Thomas Jr.

Good news is scarce in the fight against chronic wasting disease, so I’m pleased that I have some to share. A series of new tools could give us the ability to detect CWD in deer…

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8 Ways Deer Are the Opposite of What Many Hunters Think

Mar 8, 2023 Lindsay Thomas Jr.

Using your common sense isn’t always a good method for understanding deer behavior and biology. It’s easy to believe deer move more on a full moon night because it makes common sense: They must be…

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Can Deer Freeze to Death?

Feb 15, 2023 Matt Ross

Can deer freeze to death when severe cold weather, such as dangerously low temperatures, deep snow and crushing winds, set in? Although this winter has been warmer than average for much of the country, many…

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5 Things Deer Hunters Should Know About Deer Warts

Feb 12, 2023 Lindsay Thomas Jr.

Deer warts are one of the most easily visible diseases of whitetails, and every year deer hunters ask us about this health problem. Deer warts are hairless black or gray tumors caused by a type…

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CWD Roundup – January 2023

Jan 4, 2023 Torin Miller

CWD Roundup is the National Deer Association’s (NDA) bi-monthly update on all things chronic wasting disease (CWD). We’ll provide the latest updates on CWD spread, research and policy from across North America. Updates are provided…

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We’re Not Winning the War on Feral Hogs. Yet.

Jan 4, 2023 Lindsay Thomas Jr.

Forces fighting the national war on feral hogs can boast a series of minor victories in small skirmishes, but the swine are still dug-in across a wide territory. That’s the main take-away from the 2022…

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14 Stats From New Deer Research

Dec 7, 2022 Lindsay Thomas Jr.

For the past two years, NDA was proud to voluntarily coordinate and host the largest national gathering of deer researchers, the Southeast Deer Study Group meeting, to ensure its continuation despite the pandemic. It’s fortunate…

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Do Whitetail Bucks Ever Mate With Their Own Doe Offspring?

Nov 16, 2022 Lindsay Thomas Jr.

The whitetail rut is a frenzied scramble. Literally, that’s the biological term for the whitetail breeding strategy – “scramble competition” – because a buck’s success at breeding does is determined mostly by his ability to…

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