National Deer Association April Beer and Deer Webinar to Host Dr. John Kilgo

April 13, 2022 – The National Deer Association (NDA) April Beer and Deer Webinar will feature special guest Dr. John Kilgo, a research wildlife biologist with the USDA Forest Service. Supporters can tune in today, April 13 at 7:00 p.m. EST for this month’s episode: Coping with Coyotes by Managing Doe Harvest. To register for this, and other NDA Beer & Deer webinars, please visit the Beer & Deer webpage at DeerAssociation.com. 

“Dr. Kilgo has been heavily involved in wildlife biology and research his entire career and offers a lot of knowledge and experience to our listeners,” said NDA President and CEO, Nick Pinizzotto. “Coyotes have become a common sight for hunters and land managers across the United States. Understanding how they affect deer populations and how this impact can be managed is incredibly important, and Dr. Kilgo has a lot to offer on the subject.”

Kilgo has been with USDA Forest Service since 1997, serving as a research biologist and ecologist at the Southern Research Station. He earned his Ph.D. in Wildlife Ecology from the University of Georgia, M.S. in Wildlife Ecology from the University of Florida and B.S. in Biology from Wofford College. 

His current research is focused on coyote-deer dynamics in the Southeast. His other work has looked at assessing territoriality in wild hog sounders, with implications for success of whole-sounder trapping; Relationships between foraging habitat quality and population fitness of red-cockaded woodpeckers at the Savannah River Site; and chronology of wild turkey gobbling in South Carolina.

Join NDA the second Wednesday of every month to sit in with NDA’s staff and guests as they cover a topic related to deer hunting, habitat management, or the latest in deer research. Additionally, each episode includes a message from Nick Pinizzotto where he discusses everything from behind-the-scenes business at NDA, to important updates in grassroots conservation, advocacy and hunter recruitment efforts.

To catch up or watch previous episodes, please visit the Beer & Deer playlist on NDA’s YouTube channel. 

Join NDA and support their mission today, or sign up for their free e-newsletter to receive the latest on deer hunting and management at DeerAssociation.com

About the National Deer Association

Formally launched on November 10, 2020, the National Deer Association is a non-profit deer conservation group that leads efforts to ensure the future of wild deer, wildlife habitat and hunting. Formed by combining the strengths of two long-serving, successful organizations, the National Deer Association has a combined 38 years of action that has changed deer management for the betterment of hunting and protected North America’s most vital and admired game species for future generations. Visit DeerAssociation.com or follow @deerassociation on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and YouTube.

National Deer Association’s 2021 Field to Fork Report: 43 Hunts, 17 States

April 6, 2022 – The National Deer Association (NDA) recently wrapped up its sixth season of the Field to Fork adult hunter recruitment program. Holding 43 events in 17 states, NDA continued to blaze new trails in hunter recruitment through education and proved the efficiency of recruiting new adult hunters. This wildly successful program sees that their recruits continue to hunt independently and share in the camaraderie of hunting.

Alongside traditional events held in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, Missouri, North Carolina, New York, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas, Virginia, Vermont and Wisconsin, the Field to Fork program hosted events with organizations and conservation agencies across the country including Vortex Optics, American Outdoor Brands, Hunters of Color, The Nature Conservancy, Backcountry Hunters & Anglers, John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge and the Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge.

“The Field to Fork program has been beyond successful and it’s really exciting to put another great year in the books,” said Nick Pinizzotto, President & CEO of NDA. “Hunter recruitment is such an important part of our mission and seeing so many new hunters get excited to learn and experience what Field to Fork really means is extremely fulfilling.”

“Field to Fork is proving there is strong desire among many non-hunting adults to learn to hunt deer for food,” said Hank Forester, NDA Director of Hunting. “They have the independence and ability to hunt on their own immediately after they receive a helping hand for their first experience, and more than 80% of Field to Fork recruits are in fact continuing to hunt independently. They are sharing their venison with others, buying hunting equipment of their own, and even taking other new hunters into the deer woods.”

Many of the 2021 Field to Fork hunts were organized and hosted by NDA’s volunteer branches, while other partners included Departments of Conservation & Natural Resources in various states. The diverse community created through Field to Fork is what makes the program successful. By bringing together individuals with a passion for wild food, wild spaces and deer hunting, non-hunters can experience the true excitement found in camp or when hunting with friends and family.

Following another successful year for the program, the NDA encourages more hunting industry companies to look within their employee rosters to recruit new deer hunters. For those working in the hunting industry that would like to plan a hunt, please contact Hank Forester, NDA Director of Hunting: hank@deerassociation.com.

To see photos and more information about Field to Fork, visit: https://deerassociation.com/ndas-2021-field-to-fork-report-43-hunts-17-states/

Join NDA and support their mission today, or sign up for their free e-newsletter to receive the latest on deer hunting and management at DeerAssociation.com

About the National Deer Association

Formally launched on November 10, 2020, the National Deer Association is a non-profit deer conservation group that leads efforts to ensure the future of wild deer, wildlife habitat and hunting. Formed by combining the strengths of two long-serving, successful organizations, the National Deer Association has a combined 38 years of action that has changed deer management for the betterment of hunting and protected North America’s most vital and admired game species for future generations. Visit DeerAssociation.com or follow @deerassociation on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and YouTube.

National Deer Association Supports North American Grasslands Conservation Act with New Video

March 23, 2022 – Since 2007, more than 50 million acres of grasslands have vanished. To reverse the precipitous decline of these iconic landscapes and the big game species that rely on them, the National Deer Association (NDA) has coordinated a coalition effort to produce a video detailing the importance of grassland and sagebrush ecosystems to deer and other big game species and highlighting the threats these landscapes are facing.

The new educational video is part of the largest grasslands legislative effort in history, led by a coalition of the nation’s leading conservation organizations: The North American Grasslands Conservation Act.

To view the video and take action, visit: https://actforgrasslands.org/take-action/

“We’re incredibly proud and humbled to have coordinated the effort among the nation’s top conservation partners to produce a video highlighting the importance of grassland ecosystems to all deer species,” said Torin Miller, NDA’s Director of Policy. “Groups representing all kinds of outdoor enthusiasts and conservationists showed up to support this project – a true testament to the importance of the Grasslands Act and the benefits it provides.”

Undoubtedly, deer species across North America rely on healthy, intact grassland ecosystems. NDA exists to ensure the future of wild deer, wildlife habitat and hunting, and we couldn’t achieve any of the three without grasslands and sagebrush and the benefits they offer. Deer hunters know these landscapes offer incredibly productive deer habitat, producing huge volumes of outstanding forage and the cover necessary to evade predators and raise fawns.

Modeled after the highly effective North American Wetlands Conservation Act (NAWCA), this new concept would direct $350 million in funding to restore and conserve what remains of the most threatened ecosystem on the planet – the shrublands, sage steppe, savannahs, tallgrass prairies, and shortgrass prairies – while working with private landowners, whose farms and ranches are key to the success of North America’s grassland biome.

The North American Grasslands Conservation Act, led and championed by Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon, should soon be introduced in the United States Senate. If you love grasslands, sagebrush, and the deer and other wildlife that live in these ecosystems, please support this historic conservation effort. Learn more, watch the video and engage at www.ActForGrasslands.org.

Join NDA and support their mission today, or sign up for their free e-newsletter to receive the latest on deer hunting and management at DeerAssociation.com

About the National Deer Association

Formally launched on November 10, 2020, the National Deer Association is a non-profit deer conservation group that leads efforts to ensure the future of wild deer, wildlife habitat and hunting. Formed by combining the strengths of two long-serving, successful organizations, the National Deer Association has a combined 38 years of action that has changed deer management for the betterment of hunting and protected North America’s most vital and admired game species for future generations. Visit DeerAssociation.com or follow @deerassociation on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and YouTube.