The weather was brutal. After an unseasonably warm and rainy stretch to kick off the Pennsylvania firearms season, I was reminded how quickly Mother Nature’s mood can change in December. I don’t prefer hunting with…
read more
Top-10 States for Deer Hunter Success and Multiple Deer Tagged
Mar 20, 2024Kip Adams
Deer harvest is regulated by hunter numbers, bag limits, season lengths and timing, and other factors. Like deer density, these factors are not uniform across the United States. However, multiple deer bag limits and abundant…
read more
Do Deer Hunters Really Need to Be Concerned About Cowhorn Spikes?
Oct 18, 2023Lindsay 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…
read more
Which States Allow Bucks to be Taken With Crop Depredation Tags?
Jun 14, 2023NDA Staff
It is a deer hunter’s nightmare – you heard through the grapevine the buck you have been watching all summer was killed by a local farmer, orchardist or gardener using a crop depredation tag. To…
read more
4 Lessons When Someone Else Tags “Your Buck”
Dec 14, 2022Zack Vucurevich
I did everything right. I let him grow. I studied his movements. I kept my distance unless conditions were absolutely perfect. I even planted a food plot specifically to harvest this deer over, directly between…
read more
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…
read more
Find Your Buck Harvest Sweet Spot
May 29, 2018Lindsay Thomas Jr.
Prescribed fire brings a bonus to hunters in the South, where dense forest cover dominates most landscapes: Fire helps us find sheds. Most sheds in my personal collection are blackened by fire, and it was…
read more
The Payoff of Passing Young Bucks
Oct 18, 2017Mark Turner
As the buck edged along the creek, I tried to get a better glimpse of him. I had yet to see his body well enough to put an age on him. He turned toward me,…
read more
The Most Important Buck to Pass is the Easiest to Age
Aug 31, 2017Lindsay Thomas Jr.
Aging bucks on the hoof is not simple or foolproof, but I’ve got great news for you. The most important age to protect is the easiest to spot. Aging on the hoof really means determining…
read more
Kill the Right Bucks
Oct 19, 2015Lindsay Thomas Jr.
Where is the line that separates bucks you will try to kill this year from the bucks you won’t? Maybe it’s between bucks with six antler points and those with more. Maybe it’s based on…
