You’ve heard about WildTail, the first white-tailed deer documentary of its kind. Here’s an opportunity to hear the stories from behind the scenes from Executive Producer Joe Clements and the star of the show, Moriah Murphy. Produced as part of the Southeast Deer Partnership, WildTail offers a candid and sometimes humorous look at how we interact with America’s 30 million white-tailed deer. Featuring interviews with scientists, elected officials, media personalities, and thought leaders,...

Are you a serious conservationist, deer hunter, or habitat manager and want to get more involved with the National Deer Association? If so, this is a can’t miss episode as Nick and The Doctor are joined by the NDA’s Grassroots Program team, Matt Wilkins, Jason Meekhof, and Megan Postol. The team talks about the importance of volunteers to the organization and describes the process for getting involved. Each Regional Director talks about their respective regions and shares what you need to...

Admittedly, it’s not a lot of fun to talk about chronic wasting disease (CWD) and its negative impact on deer populations, hunting, and overall wildlife conservation. That doesn’t mean there are no bright spots, however, and our guests on this episode provide some hope in the form of improved testing methodologies to detect the disease. Our hosts are joined by Dr. Michelle Gibison and Dr. Jennifer Hoy-Petersen from the Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine and the Wildlife Futures...

There are many effective ways to plant a food plot but two particular approaches, no-till planting and crimping, continue to gain popularity. In this episode, Paul Hollis, owner of PH Outdoors, joined Nick and The Doctor to talk about these techniques and their benefits. Paul also discussed in detail the no-till planters and crimpers his company manufactures, some of which can be pulled with a suitably sized ATV or side-by-side. Understanding the big picture of food plotting and the...

Matt Light played in the NFL for 11 years for the New England Patriots and while there won three Super Bowls, nine division championships, and five conference championships. He played left tackle and protected Tom Brady’s blind side for more than a decade after having done the same for Drew Brees while playing at Purdue in college. While his success on the gridiron is remarkable, he has always had a deep passion for the outdoors, conservation, and deer hunting largely driven by the long...

The attacks by anti-hunters and animal welfare groups against sportsmen are constant. While groups like the National Deer Association (NDA) and our many conservation partners are working daily to implement conservation measures and policies that benefit fish and wildlife, others are working directly against the effort to put an end to hunting, trapping, and fishing. If you think deer hunting is immune from these issues, think again! While NDA focuses primarily on policy that impacts deer,...

Did you know there are wildlife health professionals scattered across the country working day and night to keep animals and people safe from wildlife-borne diseases? These good people are truly working on the front lines of wildlife management and it’s likely most people have no idea that it’s happening. That’s why we invited Wildlife Health Technician, Ian Gereg, to join us on this episode to talk about the wide array of things he and his colleagues work on to keep us and wildlife healthy....

While assessing tooth replacement and tooth wear can be an effective way to age deer to a certain age, or at least get you close, there’s no more accurate way than having a tooth analyzed under a microscope using the cementum annuli technique. Our guest in this episode is Heather Stevens, owner of Wildlife Analytical Laboratories and founder of deerage.com. She shares with Nick and The Doctor how her business got started and how she wants to make it easier and more affordable than ever for...

It wasn’t long after Ohio hunter Jason Thomas walked up on his buck of a lifetime that word started getting out that a potential new Ohio typical record may have fallen. A few weeks later a MeatEater headline read, “Ohio Hunter Kills One of World’s Biggest Whitetails,” and Outdoor Life followed with “Ohio Crossbow Hunter Stalks into Position on a Bedded 200-Class Buck.” More would follow from other sources, but one thing was certain. The whitetail hunting world was now aware of Thomas’s...

The winter deer season is here! After weeks of being pursued by hunters, starting with archery equipment and eventually firearms, deer are more cautious than ever, making it even more challenging to get into shooting range. Difficult doesn’t mean impossible though, and in this episode, Nick and The Doctor invited Mark Kenyon of MeatEater and the Wired to Hunt podcast to talk about what it takes to fill tags after the holidays. The winter deer hunting season is unique and requires tactics...

Many people watch outdoors television and dream about working in the content creation side of the industry. It’s a question we’re asked about often, so we invited videographer and photographer Dylan Lenz to the podcast to talk about what it takes to be successful in outdoors television and content creation. Dylan’s primary project is creating content with Jeff Sturgis of Wildlife Habitat Solutions, but he also does a lot of freelance work for some of the biggest names and companies in the...

As if the time involved in being successful in the classroom and performing at the highest level of college football isn’t demanding enough, Cade Brock and a few of his teammates are making a difference by introducing non-hunting and fishing teammates to the outdoors. They founded DGD Outdoors, eventually incorporating it as a non-profit, and now they’re making a mark on people’s lives. DGD Outdoors is a player-run business connecting fans and athletes to the great outdoors. The organization...

The National Deer Association recently teamed up with Baptist Homes & Healthcare Ministries to put on some very special Field to Fork programs for the senior residents of the Baptist Home of Arcadia Valley in Ironton, Missouri and the Baptist Home Ozark in Ozark, Missouri. In Ironton, five “reactivated” hunters were given the opportunity to go out on the 160-acre campus property to try and harvest a deer with Mission Crossbows on opening day of Missouri’s archery season. The Ozark Senior...

It’s that magical time of year in the deer woods; the rut! For most hunters, this is the time of year that the day-to-day gets set aside for some time on the stand so in this episode we’re talking with outdoor communicator and veteran whitetail hunter Josh Honeycutt about strategies that we hope can help you be successful. Josh also shares the story of his early season Kentucky bruiser, “Big 12.” This is a buck he had a lot of history with and you’ll hear the story of how he was finally able...

After the excitement from the first few days of deer season wears off, many hunters get frustrated during the early part of the pre-rut for a number of reasons, ranging from lack of deer sightings to warm temperatures to the perception of an October lull. In this episode, Nick and The Doctor share their personal tactics for filling tags during the early part of the season. They discuss the best available science that supports many of their hunting decisions, and even tackle controversial...

When you ask most hunters who have successfully gotten close to mature deer what their number one priority is when heading to the woods, they’ll tell you scent control and hunting in the right wind conditions. You could be hunting the best spot in the country with mature bucks everywhere, but if you don’t control your scent, it won’t matter. A whitetail’s nose is its number one line of defense so if you’re serious about consistently achieving positive results, managing scent control should be...

If you’ve been hunting for more than a few years, you’ve undoubtedly shot a deer that didn’t go down immediately, necessitating a tracking endeavor. With any luck, the tracking job is short, and your deer is recovered quickly. In some cases, though, it may take longer than anticipated and in the worst cases, you find yourself scratching your head wondering what went wrong and what to do next. There are a lot of factors that go into tracking a hit deer, and some of them that can make it more...

Archery seasons are open in several states with many more to start within the next few weeks so now is the time to make sure all of your gear is in order. Often forgotten in the process of preparing for the season is making sure your broadheads are razor sharp. Being a consistently good sharpener is part skill and part science and expert sharpener Ron Swartz, inventor and owner of KME Sharpeners, joins the show to explain the process he uses and has taught others countless times. Next episode...

We are often contacted by deer hunters who own and manage land in states that allow hunting deer with the use of hounds about conflicts when hounds enter their private property. NDA does not have a policy opposing hunting deer with the use of hounds but instead relies on state wildlife management agencies to handle decisions related to method of pursuit or take. NDA strongly supports the rights of private landowners and fully understands the frustration of stationary deer hunters who have...

There are many benefits to shooting suppressed rifles on the range as well as in the deer woods, and the process for purchasing a suppressor isn’t as difficult as you might think. Silencer Central offers a one-stop shop for buying suppressors and painlessly going through the process of obtaining and legally owning one. Nick and The Doctor are joined on the show by company owner and CEO, Brandon Maddox, to discuss those topics and Nick’s personal experience of working with Silencer...

American Outdoor Brands is home to some of the most recognizable brands in the hunting industry, and among the most popular are BOG and Schrade. It’s getting to be that time of year when going over hunting gear and deciding what you’ll need for the coming season is important, so Nick and The Doctor invited Jason Nickerson and Zack Smith on the show to talk about tripods, backpacks, and knives. There are new products from AOB in all those categories, including an impressive replaceable blade...

The MeatEater Working for Wildlife Tour brings attention to the critical work hunters and anglers are doing to create, conserve, and restore wildlife habitat through volunteer on-the-ground projects. These events include everything from creating brush piles, wildlife openings and early successional habitat, to cleaning up debris on public lands, improving deer forage, collecting acorns for native reforestation, and invasive species removal. Project leader Mark Kenyon joins the show to talk...

Have you ever wondered how much leaving your deer’s gut pile behind benefits other wildlife, or how many different critters visit it for an opportunistic snack? The Offal Wildlife Watching Project was designed to answer those questions and much more. It is a research and citizen science project aimed at better understanding the scavenging of deer gut piles provided by hunters. Although it’s focused in Minnesota, hunters can participate nationwide. Dr. Ellen Candler is a Postdoctoral Associate...

The Coffee and Deer podcast has reached a milestone! Believe it or not, this is the 50thepisode and Nick and The Doctor are celebrating by talking with the show’s first-ever guest, Lindsay Thomas, Jr. Lindsay is NDA’s long-time Chief Communications Officer and was the one who originally conceived of the idea that NDA could have two podcasts. Now the Coffee and Deer and Deer Season 365 podcasts have released a combined 100 shows. It’s hard to believe how fast the time has gone, but the future...