Deer Science

Some Whitetail Does Are Super Fawn Recruiters. Here’s What That Means for Deer Harvest.

Mar 13, 2024 Lindsay Thomas Jr.

Would you be surprised to learn not every doe raises a fawn each year? Zero is an option, even when fawn predators are not a factor. For some does to skip years, though, there must…

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Book Review – Advanced White-Tailed Deer Management: The Nutrition-Population Density Sweet Spot

Jan 16, 2024 Lindsay Thomas Jr.

Managing a deer population is pretty simple, really. Improve habitat to increase the quality and quantity of deer forage, and reduce deer density if necessary until you achieve balance between forage supply and demand. Early…

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CWD Roundup – January 2024

Jan 3, 2024 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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Wrecked Racks: Deer Photographer Tes Randle Jolly Recalls the Wildest Antlers

Dec 20, 2023 Tes Randle Jolly

NDA member Tes Randle Jolly of Alabama has been photographing whitetails professionally for many years. She’s seen many versions of the noble, “normal,” whitetail buck. She’s also seen the odd and unusual examples that result…

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Why Did This Deer Have Super Long Hooves?

Dec 5, 2023 Lindsay Thomas Jr.

What would cause a deer to grow really long hooves? Almost every fall, we hear from a hunter who saw or killed a deer with overgrown hooves, like those in the photo above sent to…

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Bucks of All Ages Succeed in the Wild Whitetail Rut. Yes, Even These.

Nov 29, 2023 Lindsay Thomas Jr.

In the frenzied breeding scramble that is the whitetail rut, are bucks and does selective about the age of their mates, or is rut success random? The answer is: Yes. There’s scientific evidence that age…

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Strike 3 for the Myth of the Genetic “Cull Buck”

Nov 8, 2023 Lindsay Thomas Jr.

The latest scientific attempt to improve wild deer antler genetics failed to find a practical method that works in the wild, but it helped shed more light on why the genetic “cull buck” remains elusive:…

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CWD Roundup – November 2023

Nov 1, 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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Wild Pigs Complicate Deer Movement in Hunting Season. Here’s What to Do.

Oct 30, 2023 David Jachowski

Invasive wild pigs are generally known to be bad for deer. Most hunters in the Southeast have a story of wild pigs destroying food plots or chasing deer away from food sources like acorns near…

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Do Deer Hunters Really Need to Be Concerned About Cowhorn Spikes?

Oct 18, 2023 Lindsay Thomas Jr.

When we tell deer hunters that “culling” spike-antlered yearling bucks to improve antler quality is a management mistake, a host of online experts are sure to correct us and remind us of their exception to…

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