deer research

To Intercept Bucks in Daylight, Take Lessons From GPS-Collar Research

Oct 27, 2021 Dylan Stewart and Dr. Will Gulsby

it’s fairly common knowledge that hunting near roads or hunting the same stand repeatedly is unlikely to lead to hunting success, especially when targeting mature bucks. But this begs the question, “Why?” The obvious answer…

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Cold Fronts May Get Hunters On Their Feet, But Bucks Answer a Different Call

Oct 6, 2021 Lindsay Thomas Jr.

Don’t say it. Do not say it! Don’t say the cold front has got the bucks on their feet. You are going to say it, aren’t you? Seriously, listen to yourself this fall. You’re going…

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Should You Shoot a Deer Wearing a Tracking Collar?

Sep 29, 2021 Lindsay Thomas Jr.

Our knowledge of deer behavior and biology, and our ability to hunt and manage deer effectively, expands all the time thanks to the remote tracking collar. You’ve seen their movements as dots on a satellite map…

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Why Science Matters in Deer Hunting

Sep 22, 2021 Matt Ross

“Bull$h1t!!!” That was one person’s response when we recently posted a video on NDA social channels about how wildlife agencies use science to calculate deer harvest estimates every year. For whatever reason, this individual adamantly…

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Does Culling Bucks Improve Antler Quality? A 13-Year Test With Donnie Draeger

Aug 25, 2021 NDA Staff

In this episode of the Deer Season 365 Podcast, Brian talks with Donnie Draeger, a wildlife biologist at the Comanche Ranch in Texas, about an intensive 13-year research project Donnie was involved in focused on…

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10 Highlights From New Deer Science You Can Use

Jul 14, 2021 Lindsay Thomas Jr.

  The Southeast Deer Study Group meeting was one of the last in-person gatherings I attended in 2020 before the pandemic hit, and it looked for a while as if COVID-19 would prevent the 2021…

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Which food plot crops do deer prefer, and why?

Feb 10, 2021 Jacob Dykes, Bronson Strickland, Steve Demarais, and Marcus Lashley

“What is the best thing to plant in my food plot?” Have you ever asked this question? As University Extension professionals and wildlife scientists, we get asked that question a lot. The search for the…

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Deer Movement is a Mystery. Stop Trying to Solve It.

Sep 30, 2020 Lindsay Thomas Jr.

7 antlered bucks at one time. That’s what I was watching on the afternoon of November 17, 2018. One by one they entered a large food plot from different directions, all of them yearlings to…

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What Scientists Learned that Changed How They Hunt Mature Bucks

Aug 26, 2020 Dr. Jacob Haus, Dr. Jacob Bowman and Joe Rogerson

As professional white-tailed deer biologists, we are constantly prodded by friends and family for some type of insider information that could help improve their odds of encountering mature deer. It is always a tough question…

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Now You See Him: 9 Things We Know About Deer Excursions

Nov 6, 2019 Matt Ross

Nothing about whitetails ever seems routine, does it? Just when you think you’ve got ‘em figured out, they seemingly throw another curve ball in the grand scheme of World Series play we call “hunting.” But that…

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