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
How to Hunt Food Plots: Maybe Don’t
Sep 21, 2022Lindsay Thomas Jr.
You worked hard to prepare that fall food plot, from filling the first soil-sample baggie to the final roll of the cultipacker, leaking drops of sweat onto the Earth the whole way. Now a green…
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Deer Science
What Does a Deer With CWD Look Like?
Sep 14, 2022Lindsay Thomas Jr.
Can you tell if a deer has CWD just by looking at it? In this new video, NDA takes a look at several examples of wild deer in trail-camera and harvest photos to show you…
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All Articles
All Articles
Deer Science
Some Piebald Deer Suffer Fatal Deformities
Mar 23, 2022Lindsay Thomas Jr.
Piebald deer are the result of a rare genetic trait that causes a mix of white hair patches among patches of the normal “brown” deer color. The genetic mutation causes these patches of skin to…
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Can Science Breed CWD Out of Deer? Not Likely
Mar 22, 2022Patrick Durkin
Pennsylvania’s state veterinarian thinks the best hope for controlling chronic wasting disease is to identify and selectively breed deer least susceptible to the fatal illness and slowly change the species’ gene pool until all herds…
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Understanding State Agency Efforts to Control the Spread of CWD
Mar 9, 2022Miranda Huang, Steve Demarais, and Bronson Strickland
One thing 2020 has taught us is that new diseases can change everything. The COVID-19 virus started in wildlife, spread to humans in every corner of the world, caused a massive health crisis, and impacted…
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The Biggest Buck Harvest in 21 Years
Jan 26, 2022NDA Staff
Deer hunters in the United States harvested an estimated 6.3 million white-tailed deer in the 2020-21 hunting season, the most since 2011, according to the National Deer Association’s latest Deer Report released this week. Harvests…
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Where Do Deer Sleep?
Jan 18, 2022Kip Adams
Where do deer sleep? The quick answer is, “anywhere they want.” Deer sleep anywhere they bed and may do so singly or in groups. However, during daylight it’s far more common for deer to sleep…
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How Many Fawns Does the Average Buck Produce?
Dec 15, 2021Randy DeYoung
Forty-two is the number that comes to my mind when I’m asked this question, but not because it’s accurate or has anything to do with deer. Instead, “42” is the line from Hitchhiker’s Guide to…
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The Science of the Second Rut
Dec 8, 2021Cheyne Matzenbacher
I hit the grunt call three times, and within minutes a nice mature buck jumped the fence and came in with his ears laid back in search of whatever buck just made that sound in…
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Anatomy of a Whitetail Tarsal Gland
Nov 17, 2021Matt Ross
Of the seven glands that deer use to communicate with one another, hunters are probably most familiar with the tarsal gland and its role when deer make a scrape. But have you ever wondered exactly…
