habitat improvement

12 Signs You Should Harvest More Does

Aug 21, 2024 Lindsay Thomas Jr.

How many does should you harvest? It’s a perennial question for our organization and many deer hunters. Here are 12 signs to look for that indicate you need to take more than you have been….

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The Block System of Deer Management at Virginia’s Fraley Family Farm

May 1, 2024 Bruce Ingram

On August 9-12, the next NDA Deer Steward 2 course will be held, this time at the Fraley family farm and at the Preserve at Crooked Run in Botetourt County, Virginia. The approximately 10,000-acre contiguous…

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How to Use Growing-Season Fire in Hardwoods for Better Deer Habitat

Apr 24, 2024 Craig Harper and Mark Turner

More land managers are using fire to manage habitat for deer and other wildlife today than at any time in the past century. And for good reason. There is no other tool that can improve…

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How to Feather Field Edges for Deer Attraction and Habitat Improvement

Mar 27, 2024 Cheyne Matzenbacher

This article is about feathering edges to improve deer habitat, not feathering hair. I remember the feathered hairstyle fad back in the 80s, but I don’t think feathered edges are a fad because this is…

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30 Years of Deer Habitat Management, Part 3: What Will the Future Bring?

Jan 17, 2024 Craig Harper

The last 30 years brought rapid change to deer habitat management techniques and knowledge. It all began with food plots, and then science led us into fields and forests. Now let’s finish the history and…

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30 Years of Deer Habitat Management, Part 2: Into Fields and Forests

Jan 8, 2024 Craig Harper

Deer hunters today are more knowledgeable about deer habitat management than ever before. We are driven by a desire to produce better deer and better hunting, and science gives us better information and improved strategies….

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30 Years of Deer Habitat Management, Part 1: It All Began With Food Plots

Jan 3, 2024 Craig Harper

Deer hunting has evolved in a big way in the last 30 years. Most of us don’t hunt in blue jeans or a red-and-black plaid wool coat anymore. We don’t fry bacon in our hunting…

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The Three Most Dangerous Hinge Cut Safety Mistakes

Feb 13, 2023 NDA Staff

Hinge cutting is a popular and useful tool for improving deer habitat. It can also involve significant risk of injury since chainsaws and trees are involved. Luckily there are some very simple rules that can…

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How to Create a Heat Refuge for Deer

Jul 20, 2022 Zack Vucurevich

When you hear the phrase “thermal cover,” what’s the first thing that comes to mind? If you are like a majority of deer hunters, you likely pictured a south-facing hillside gathering winter sun, or a…

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Michigan DNR Again Offering Deer Habitat Grants in Northern Lower Peninsula

Jul 14, 2022 Torin Miller

The Michigan Department of Natural Resource (DNR) recently announced that it is accepting applications for the Northern Lower Peninsula Deer Private Land Assistance Network (NLP Deer PLAN) grant program. The NLP Deer PLAN is a…

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