NDA Premiers Ground-Breaking “Aging Deer in the Field" Video and Aging Quiz

September 1, 2022 – The National Deer Association is pleased to announce the premiere of a new educational video project, “Aging Deer in the Field,” produced in partnership with The Bearded Buck. The 31-minute video uses footage of dozens of live, wild whitetail bucks to teach the aging technique, followed by a test using 20 additional bucks.

“The team at The Bearded Buck gave us full access to their incredible collection of whitetail footage from years of their hunts, with bucks of all ages, and then offered to produce the final product,” said NDA’s Chief Conservation Officer and host of the video, Kip Adams. “The result is NDA’s most comprehensive and realistic look at how to age deer in the field.”

Estimating buck age in the field is an important skill for any hunter who wants to increase the number of adult bucks in the woods they hunt and help balance the buck:doe ratio for improved herd health. NDA teaches aging skills in numerous media, including Quality Whitetails magazine, educational posters, live seminars, and the book Observing & Evaluating Whitetails by Dave Richards. But the new “Aging Deer in the Field” video is unique because of the extensive live footage of wild bucks.

“Aging deer in the field is not an exact science,” said Adams. “It’s a personal skill that is improved through practice, experience and follow-through. Fortunately, just like humans, whitetails possess distinct body characteristics by age class, and with a little practice hunters can become proficient at estimating the ages of bucks in the field. This video serves to introduce the topic and highlight the differences for each age class from yearlings to mature animals. The 20-buck quiz then allows viewers to practice what they learned.”

To view the new video, visit NDA’s YouTube channel at YouTube.com/deerassociation.

“We are grateful to our partners at The Bearded Buck for their support with this project,” said NDA Chief Communications Officer Lindsay Thomas Jr. “Jerry Tibbott, founder of The Bearded Buck, is a longtime NDA member and supporter, and his team went out of their way to provide their incredible footage, to film Kip’s instruction, and to produce the final video. Nothing else of this quality is available out there on aging bucks.”

About the Bearded Buck

The Bearded Buck is an Outdoor Entertainment Company located in Western Pennsylvania. Founder of The Bearded Buck, Jerry Tibbott, is a longtime NDA member and supporter, and he has attained NDA Deer Steward Level 3, the top level. Jerry developed the idea as a practical joke between himself and one of his hunting buddies, but The Bearded Buck has transformed into an outdoor lifestyle brand dedicated to being deer, turkey and land stewards. thebeardedbuck.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, YouTube and TikTok.

NDA Welcomes Introduction of the North American Grasslands Conservation Act

July 28, 2022 – The National Deer Association (NDA), joined by a coalition of the nation’s leading conservation organizations, welcomes yesterday’s introduction of the largest grasslands legislative effort in history – The North American Grasslands Conservation Act (NAGCA) – by U.S. Senators Ron Wyden (D-OR), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Michael Bennet (D-CO). The NDA has been advocating for this effort on behalf of deer and other big game species since the fall of 2020.

“We’re incredibly proud and humbled to have worked with Senator Wyden and the nation’s top conservation partners to make the North American Grasslands Conservation Act a reality,” said Torin Miller, the NDA’s Director of Policy. “Native grassland and sagebrush ecosystems provide some of our nation’s most important deer habitat. Voluntary conservation programs, like those found in NAGCA, are uniquely American and highly effective. We’re looking forward to moving this bill towards passage, and ultimately, ensuring swift and efficient implementation.”

Undoubtedly, deer species across North America rely on healthy, intact grassland ecosystems. The 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 that these landscapes offer incredibly productive deer habitat, producing huge volumes of outstanding forage and the cover necessary to evade predators and raise fawns.

Alarmingly, since 2007, more than 50 million acres of grasslands have vanished. NAGCA aims to stop this decline. 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. There’s urgency right now to maintain these systems for agriculture, wildlife habitat, carbon sequestration, and for future generations while supporting ranchers, farmers, tribal nations, sportsmen and women, and rural communities.

If you love grasslands, sagebrush, and the deer and other wildlife that live in these ecosystems, please support this historic conservation effort. Learn more, engage and ask your Senators to co-sponsor the bill at www.ActForGrasslands.org.

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, YouTube and TikTok.

NDA Leads Custom Deer Steward Course for Arkansas Game & Fish Commission

July 20, 2022 – The National Deer Association (NDA) partnered with the Arkansas Game & Fish Commission (AGFC) to provide a customized three-day Deer Steward course for AGFC staff and leadership in mid-July. NDA has held custom Deer Steward courses for five other state wildlife agencies, but with 86 certified graduates, the Arkansas course was the largest agency class yet.

"NDA's Deer Steward course is a great opportunity for hunters and managers alike to learn more about the most recent deer and habitat research and how it directly applies to our management efforts here in Arkansas,” said Ralph Meeker, AGFC Deer Program Coordinator. “NDA did a great job communicating many of the individual components related to deer and habitat management and how they tie together.  This made it much easier for our staff to not only understand but will undoubtedly help them communicate those same ideas with our constituents."

“We had a mix of DMAP biologists, wildlife technicians, disease specialists, WMA managers, the state veterinarian, consulting foresters, and two AGFC commissioners,” said Ben Westfall, NDA’s Conservation Coordinator and one of the course instructors. “Most of them gathered in person at the University of Arkansas Cooperative Extension State Office in Little Rock, but we also streamed the course live for a group of staff who were unable to attend.”

Other course instructors included NDA’s Chief Conservation Officer Kip Adams, Director of Conservation Matt Ross, and Dr. Craig Harper of the University of Tennessee.

Course evaluations completed by attendees ask them to list the number of acres they are responsible for as managers. Westfall said evaluations from the Arkansas course total to more than 2.2 million acres impacted by course information.

Deer Steward is NDA’s popular, advanced training course that is available to hunters and landowners as an online or in-person experience and teaches key principles of deer and habitat biology, ecology, management and hunting. Staff members from over a dozen state wildlife agencies have attended the public Deer Steward courses in the past. However, by special request, NDA has also provided customized Deer Steward courses for wildlife agencies in six states: Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, Missouri, Ohio and Tennessee. The course has also been provided to land specialists with Whitetail Properties.

“Few college courses provide practical knowledge in the four cornerstones of Quality Deer Management,” said Westfall. “This is where some state wildlife agencies are finding our Deer Steward course to be beneficial for their staff biologists because it provides in-depth training on deer habitat, food plots and herd management.”

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, YouTube and TikTok.