Yearling-Buck Dispersal: How Far, How Fast, How Many?

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Each fall, many yearling bucks will strike out from the range where they were born, mostly in a straight line, onto ground they have never seen before. Mama is not coming with them, and they will in all likelihood never see her again or any other familiar or closely related deer. They don’t know where …

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A Look Inside Piebald Deer

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Missy Runyan, a wildlife rehabilitator in Hunter, New York, responded to a call about a fawn in distress on May 24 of this year and found an almost completely white, piebald fawn with severe birth defects. Due to significant internal problems, the fawn did not live long, but Missy had it x-rayed to get an …

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Something Big is Eating Feral Hogs and Hawking Up Hairballs

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Over my 20-year career as a wildlife biologist, I have run across my share of odd and puzzling things in the woods. Possibly the oddest was a whole parachute I found in a deer’s stomach. Yes, I said parachute! While field-dressing a deer harvested on a military base, I noticed its stomach was abnormally large and …

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Where Do Northern Deer Find Water in Winter?

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Follow Matt on Instagram. Winter Water Requirements of WhitetailsHow do northern whitetails quench their thirst in winter when all of the water is frozen? This was an #AskQDMA question we received from a QDMA member, and our own Matt Ross of New York provides the answer in this quick video. Posted by The Quality Deer …

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Defend, Display or Duel: What Are Antlers Good For?

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Antlers are like the beards on guys at hunting camp – they are secondary sexual characteristics that separate females and males but don’t directly contribute to reproduction. So, why exactly do bucks grow them?  There are four main theories as to why bucks grow antlers. According to noted deer researchers Drs. Steve Demarais and Bronson …

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