Articles

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

One Type of Plant is the Greatest Source of Deer Nutrition. Here’s How to Grow It.

May 21, 2025 Mark Turner

After analyzing over a thousand deer forage samples from 25 states, I learned there’s only one type of plant that consistently meets a deer’s nutritional needs. However, most hunting properties aren’t producing enough of them…

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Hunting

A Beginner’s Guide to Traditional Archery

May 7, 2025 Brian Grossman

I have a lot of great memories from over 35 years of bowhunting, but few compare to taking my first deer with a traditional bow. No, it wasn’t a big buck. In fact, it wasn’t…

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Venison

The Venison Liver Pâté Challenge

May 6, 2025 Elizabeth Kligge

I would not consider myself to be someone who likes liver. However, I had a desire to utilize more of my deer, and that meant tackling a portion that many claim is inedible. I wanted…

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Deer Science

A Photo Gallery of Jawbones From Extremely Old Deer

Apr 30, 2025 Lindsay Thomas Jr.

The longer deer live, the more they wear down their teeth from chewing forage and browse. It used to be that hunters could only age extremely worn deer jaws as “5½-plus” or some variation of…

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When Do Bucks Visit Scrapes?

Nov 1, 2012 Matt Ross

Have you ever set up on a fresh scrape, only to sit for hours and not see a thing? Well, wildlife researchers have shown that most scraping activity (nearly 85 percent) occurs at night. So,…

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Hunt Does to Find Bucks in November

Oct 30, 2012 Matt Pudenz

When November arrives, everyone is on the lookout for that big buck. However, it’s easy to overlook the main factor controlling buck movements in November – does. As the rut kicks in, bucks will be…

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Spike On One Side: Genetics or Injury?

Oct 15, 2012 Gabe Karns

Among hunters, few topics stir discussion like hunting over bait or hunting deer with dogs – but the dispute over “cull bucks” comes close. While ethics play a major role in other debates, the dispute…

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Estimating Deer Age with Cementum Annuli

Oct 12, 2012 NDA Staff

The cementum annuli (CA) aging technique is based on the annual addition of cementum, a specialized calcified substance deposited on the roots of teeth in many mammals. Layers of cementum produce “rings” similar to those…

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How to Hunt Native Warm-Season Grasses

Sep 25, 2012 Jennifer Pudenz

Just 170 years ago, a seemingly boundless prairie blanketed the Midwest, one of the largest ecosystems in the world, and it provided natural cover for whitetails and many other wildlife species. Today, only one tenth…

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How to Blood-Trail a Deer

Sep 21, 2012 Bob Westerfield

You have worked hard on your land all season long preparing food plots, hanging stands and clearing trails. Finally, the season has arrived and the moment of truth has just walked into your luscious food…

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8 Rules for a Successful Hunting Plot

Sep 18, 2012 Jeff Sturgis

Beautiful fields of green dot the landscape, evidence of hunters attempting to attract deer. Many of these food plots are intended not just for nutrition but for hunting, and they are often called “hunting plots”…

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The Rewards of Restraint

Sep 13, 2012 Lindsay Thomas Jr.

Look carefully at the trail-camera photo above, taken by QDMA member and private lands biologist Joe Lacefield of Kentucky. I love this photo because it captures part of the spirit of Quality Deer Management in a…

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