Read, view, and listen to more wildlife management advice by clicking on the links below.

Habitat Management

General Habitat Planning and Management

Webpages

Introduction to Habitat Management

Storied Heritage: The North American Model of Wildlife Conservation

Videos

Habitat Management Definitions - Part 1

Habitat Management Definitions - Part 2

MDWFP's Private Lands Program

Produce Great Deer Forage and Cover Without a Food Plot

The Basketball Technique for Fawning Cover

The Basketball Technique 2.0

Better Deer, Better Hunting with Early Successional Cover

Improving Property Huntability

Podcasts

Offsetting the Cost of Conservation

Most common habitat management mistakes

Habitat management: The oldest job in the world

Is habitat management for deer and turkey the same?

Putting CRP to Work for Farmers, Ranchers, and Wildlife

The alphabet soup of Federal Farm Bill Programs

Habitat Master Class with Dr. Craig Harper

Articles

Evaluating Browsing Pressure by White-tailed Deer in Mississippi

Aldo Leopold’s 5 Essentials for Wildlife and Habitat Management

How to get paid to improve your hunting land

Managing Habitat: What to Do in the Spring and Summer 

Wildlife Management Success Stories: More Is Better

Food for Thought: Identifying Food Sources and Habitat for Game Animals

Managing Streamside Zones for Wildlife

Guide to Herbicide Terms

3 More Herbicides Every Deer Steward Should Know

Rights-of-Ways for Wildlife 

Conservation vs. Preservation: Why the NWTF Prefers the Former

Sanctuaries: Attract, Protect, Hold, Hunt

How to Build A Buck Bedding Area

Managing Native Vegetation Alongside Food Plots

Know Your Native Deer Foods

Know Your Deer Plants: Partridge Pea

Know Your Deer Plants: American Plum

Know Your Deer Plants: Pokeweed

Forestry and Timber Management

MDWFP 2-page Guides

Hack and Squirt

Quality Vegetation Management

Basal Area

Videos

Amazing Deer Forage and Cover Response From Forest Stand Improvement

Mineral Stumps

Best Herbicides for Forest Stand Improvement (FSI): Dr. Harper Cocktail

How To Kill a Tree | Hack and Squirt

Turning a Cedar Stand Into Amazing Whitetail Habitat

MSU Deer Lab's Timber Management Affects on Deer Habitat - Video Series

Importance of Forestry on Deer Management

Forest Management Impacts on Deer Habitat Quality

Site Preparation Treatments

Mid-rotation Management and Wildlife Benefits

Timing of Fire to Improve Deer Nutrition

Stump Sprouts to Create Localized Nutrient Pulses for Deer

Management Scenarios

Managing Native Forages vs. Food Plots

Webpages

Mississippi Timber Prices

Podcasts

Timber Harvesting and wildlife management - Part 1

Timber Harvesting and wildlife management - Part 2

Prescribed Burning and Forest Management

Estate Planning for Forestland

Site prep for forestland establishment

Forest taxes for the forest landowner

Forest Management for Food and Cover

Aldo's tools: Balancing on an axe blade

Casualty Loss and the Forest Landowner

Mineral Stumps

All about mineral stumps

Trees for Deer

Best Management Practices for Mississippi Forests

Objectives of Forestland Ownership

Forest Management Plans

Forest Carbon

Articles

Managing the Family Forest in Mississippi

Best Management Practices for Forestry in Mississippi

Forestry Terms for Mississippi Landowners

Managing for Timber and Wildlife Diversity

Quality Vegetation Management

An Introduction to Timber-Stand Improvement on Your Hunting Property

Intensively-Managed Pine Plantations: Barren Wastelands? or... Potential Deer Habitat? - Pine site-preparation

Are My Pine Trees Ready to Thin?

Planting Southern Pines

Keys to Successfully Planting and Establishing Longleaf Pine

The Economics of Longleaf Pine Management

The Pine That Fire Built

Bottomland Hardwood Management

Evaluating High-Graded Hardwood Stands

Wildlife Forestry in Bottomland Hardwoods

Pine Forestland Habitat Management for Wildlife

3 More Herbicides Every Deer Steward Should Know

Survey Acorns Now to Improve Productions

Hack-and-Squirt for Timber Stand Improvement

7 Steps to Stronger Acorn Production

5 Clues You Might Be Hinge-Cutting Too Much

Deer Habitat in a Squirt Bottle Part 1: Add Great Habitat By Subtracting

Deer Habitat in a Squirt Bottle Part 2: Tools, Teams, and Techniques

The Three Most Dangerous Hinge Cut Safety Mistakes

The Right and Wrong of Hinge Cutting for Deer Habitat

How to Safely Drop Large Trees with a Chainsaw

Prescribed Fire/Controlled Burning

Videos

Why is Prescribed Burning Important? 

Produce Deer Forage and Cover with Prescribed Fire

Bow Stand Burning

Webpages

Mississippi Prescribed Burning Short Course (MFC)

Podcasts

The benefits of prescribed fire

Forest Management and Prescribed Burning

Burning in upland hardwoods

Where to get information, experience and collaborators

Fire Ecology and History in the South

Patch-burn-grazing as a strategy to manage grasslands

The next generation of prescribed burning

Aldo's tools: Getting creative with prescribed fire

Tools and tips to getting started with prescribed fire

Planting the idea for more fire

The thumbnail history of fire on the planet

A conversation with fire experts from all over the U.S.

Timing of prescribed fire impacts on deer forage

The role of fire in perpetuating oak dominance

Fire and invasive species

Prescribed Fire for Bobwhite Quail

Burning while turkeys are nesting

Burning during nesting (Wild Turkey Science)

Burning outside the dormant season on pine survival and growth

The Benefits of Growing-Season Burns

Fire creates unique habitat features

Managing quail habitat using prescribed fire

Bow-range Burnin'

Small Scale, Bow-Range Burning for Better Deer Hunting

Using fire to manage for deer

What to do when you can't burn

Fall burning on oak regeneration

Ecosystem services of fire

Extensive New Fire Data with Dr. Craig Harper

Articles

Introduction to Prescribed Fire in Southern Ecosystems

Prescribed Burning in Southern Pine Forests: Fire Ecology, Techniques, and Uses for Wildlife Management

Legal Environment for Forestry Prescribed Burning in Mississippi

Food Plots, Feed, or Fire: The Real Costs per Pound of Deer Forage

Burn Outside the Box: Try Prescribed Fire at a New Time of Year

Field Management
Invasive Plant Management

Food Plots

General Food Plot Information

Webpages

General Food Plot Guidance in Mississippi

Videos

Pros and Cons of Supplemental Feeding

Balancing a Complete Food Plot Program

Food Plot Considerations and Techniques

Food Plot Principles Part 1 - The role in deer management

Food Plot Principles Part 2 - Deer foraging strategy

Food Plot Principles Part 3 - Location, size, shape, and other factors

Food Plot Principles Part 4 - Importance of soil testing

Food Plot Principles Part 5 - Planting methods

Food Plot Principles Part 6 - Inoculating legumes

Food Plot Principles Part 7 - Herbicides

Food Plot Principles Part 8 - Tips

Rain Infiltration Test - How Quickly Will the Soil Absorb a 2 Inch Rain?

What is the BEST food plot for deer?

The Importance of Food Plot Browse Exclosures

Whitetail Food Plot Tips: Plant Based On Conditions NOT the Calendar 

Adjust Your Disk Angle for Better Deer Food Plots

Podcasts

Deer Food Plot Forage Selection

The 12-month food plot system

A Food Plot Masterclass - Part 1

A Food Plot Masterclass - Part 2

Armyworms and food plots

The Power of Regenerative Wildlife Agriculture

Conventional vs Regenerative Discussion (Wild Turkey Science)

To Plow or Not to Plow

Seed Coating Explained

Articles

Supplemental Wildlife Food Planting Manual for the Southeast

Plan Ahead for Food Plot Success

Food Plots, Feed, or Fire: The Real Costs per Pound of Deer Forage

6 Ways Food Plots Are Not Baiting

8 Rules for a Successful Hunting Plot

5 Reasons Food Plots Fail

Troubleshooting 4 Common Food-Plot Problems

Successful Food Plot Seeding Rates

Which Food Plot Crops Do Deer Prefer, and Why?

Maintenance Tips for Food Plot Equipment

How to Build A Food Plot Browse Exclosure

Cultipackers for Food Plots

Army Worm Life Cycle

The Whitetail Manager's Guide to Regenerative Ag Food Plots

Creating Deer Food Plots with Minimal Equipment

Increasing Pine Plantation Wildlife Habitat and Recreation with Hub and Spokes

Winter Annuals
Perennials
Summer Annuals
Soil Testing
Herbicides
Supplemental Feeders

Big Game Management

Deer

Videos

MDWFP's Deer Management Assistance Program (DMAP)

DMAP Testimonial with Stephen Samson from La Jolla Farm

DMAP Testimonial with Bucky Murphy from Shadyside

The Deer Management Assistance Program (DMAP): What It Is and Why You Should Be Involved

The Deer Management Revolution with Stan Priest | MS Outdoors Podcast

Managing Whitetails and Dealing with Deer Management Fatigue

How Much Deer Eat Daily

Native Deer Forages

How Antlers Are Shed

From Nubs to Growing Antlers

Two Causes of a "Second Rut" – One Good, One Bad. How to Tell Which One You Are Seeing.

White-tailed Deer Fawns: Naturally Camouflaged and Protected

What Camera Surveys Reveal About Deer Populations

Conducting a Camera Survey for White-tailed Deer

EHD Virus in Deer: How to Detect and Report

Advanced Doe Management With Dr. Demarais

What's the Best Doe:Buck Ratio? Ask QDMA

At What Age Can A Fawn Survive Without Its Doe?

Checking a Doe's Lactation Status

Whitetail Bucks: Antler Size and Genetics, Fact or Fiction?

The Culling Effect

How female deer influence antler development.

Is there such thing as a "cull buck"?

Whitetail Deer Breeding Values

Buck Age Is Important in Quality Deer Management (QDM)

Aging and Judging Deer in the Field

How to Age Deer in the Field, plus 20-Buck Aging Test

Understanding The Whitetail Rut with Dr. Bronson Strickland

Cracked Deer Hooves Are Signs of a Fight with the EHD Virus

WildTail Documentary - America's Wildest Success Story

Antler Size and Genetics: Insights from MSU Deer Lab's Bronson Strickland

MSU Deer Lab's Nutrition and Life Stage Requirements - Video Series

Forage Preference

Foraging Efficiency

Forage Quality

Forage Quantity

Annual Food Habits

Nutrition and Antler Development

Regional Variation and Generational Improvement from Nutrition

Nutritional Requirements

Life History Stages

Seasonal Mismatched and Potential Bottlenecks

Habitat Management to Increase Native Forage and Deer Nutrition

MSU Deer Lab's Regional Variation in Body and Antler Sizes - Video Series

Part 1 - Natural Variation in Antler and Body Size

Part 2 - Antler Variation Associated with Soils, Plants, and Land Use

Part 3 - Research to Determine if Variation is Due to Nutrition or Genetics

Part 4 - Managing for Nutrition and Genetics for Deer

MSU Deer Lab's Reproductive Ecology - Video Series

Seasonal Breeding in Deer Populations

Factors Regulating Seasonal Breeding Patterns

Individual Regulation of Breeding Season

Male Reproductive Success

MSU Deer Lab's Deer Management Concepts - Video Series

Approaches That Dictate Management Actions/Intensity

Population Growth

Regulatory Factors

Applications to Management

MSU Deer Lab's Timber Management Affects on Deer Habitat - Video Series

Importance of Forestry on Deer Management

Forest Management Impacts on Deer Habitat Quality

Site Preparation Treatments

Mid-rotation Management and Wildlife Benefits

Timing of Fire to Improve Deer Nutrition

Stump Sprouts to Create Localized Nutrient Pulses for Deer

Management Scenarios

Managing Native Forages vs. Food Plots

Podcasts

History of White-tailed Deer Restoration in Mississippi

The Importance of Summer Nutrition for Deer

Deer Summer Nutrition

Deer nutritional demands during summer

You're Managing Deer Sanctuaries All Wrong

The value of co-ops: meeting management goals

Improve Your Deer Hunting By Starting a Wildlife Cooperative

Nutrition and Genetics - Part 1

Nutrition and Genetics - Part 2

Estimating Nutrient Requirements for Deer

Trees for Deer

Common Deer Diseases and Parasites

A Deep Dive Into EHD in White-tailed Deer

How Long is Venison Safe in Warm Weather?

The Fascinating World of Whitetail Research with Bronson Strickland

What deer eat and Why

When are Deer Attracted to Acorns?

Aldo's tools: Aiming high for habitat with the gun

Deer management advice from William McKinley

The science of harvesting deer

Harvesting does

Predicting antler size from doe body weight

Deer biology and behavior

Buck movement and hunting strategy

Buck Personalities: Sedentary vs. Mobile Bucks

Busting 11 Common Deer Hunting Myths

Culling Explained - Part 1

Culling Explained - Part 2

Culling to Improve Genetics - Fact or Fiction

When is it appropriate to cull? The purpose makes all the difference

Buck Habitat Selection During Hunting Season

Wait, so cull bucks do exist?

Does Culling Bucks Improve Antler Quality?

Aging Bucks on the Hoof with Wildlife Photographer Dave Richards

What We've Learned From Average Bucks and Outliers

Manage Your Hunting Property by Shooting the Right Number of Deer

Who's your daddy?

The effects of the rut on bucks

The Science of Antler Rattling

The Science of the Rut

Does choose bucks?

Buck Movement Patterns During the Rut

The Science of the Whitetail Rut

The Science Behind the South's Odd Rut

Newest Moon, Bedding, and Movement Research (2024)

Webpages

All about CWD in Mississippi

Peak Fawning Dates in Mississippi

Aging Bucks On-the-hoof

Articles

Deer Programs

Is Your Deer Program Working?

Three Deer Management Strategies

QDM vs Trophy and Traditional Deer Management

Keeping Harvest Records for Better Hunting

3 Ways to Track Fawn Recruitment

Managing For Whitetails: Love Thy Neighbor

How to Establish a QDM Cooperative

7 Steps to a Successful Cooperative

5 Easy Ways to Meet Your Deer-Hunting Neighbors

Herd Management

Evaluating Browsing Pressure by White-tailed Deer in Mississippi

The 10 Keys to Successful Deer Management

The Importance of Venison Donation

It’s Okay (and Sometimes Necessary) to Shoot Does with Fawns During Hunting Season

Understanding Wildlife Biology: Population Dynamics 101

Wildlife Population Dynamics

How Many Does Should You Harvest? Ask Yourself These 24 Questions.

How Many Does Can I Harvest?

Harvesting the Right Number of Deer

Bucks Are More Visible When Deer Hunters Harvest Does

The Dwindling Doe Harvest

Managing Antler Expectations this Deer Season

Managing Deer Herd Density

Guidelines for Managing Does

The Reality of Doe:Buck Ratios

Buck to Doe Ratio: Understanding the Balance

3 Benefits of Herd Management

3 Reasons Why You Should Practice Herd Management

Taking Does Can Actually Increase Fawn Production

Which Doe Should You Take?

At What Age Can A Fawn Survive Without Its Doe?

5 Reasons to Take Does Early

12 Signs You Should Harvest More Does

Nutrition

Deer Diet Breakdown: What Do Deer Eat?

A Birds-Eye View of Deer Habitat Quality - Landscape-scale look at deer habitat quality

Meeting A Deer's Summer Nutritional Demands

Deer Browse Favorites

Know Your Native Deer Foods

Know Your Deer Plants: Partridge Pea

Know Your Deer Plants: American Plum

Know Your Deer Plants: Pokeweed

Population Estimation

How to Run a Trail-Camera Survey

Buck to Doe Ratio - How To Calculate

Buck Management

Managing Antler Expectations this Deer Season

Aging Bucks on the Hoof

How Many Bucks Can I Harvest?

The Antler Growth Bell Curve

Why We Can't Manage Deer Genetics

Spike on One Side: Genetics or Injury?

QDM Works. Culling Doesn't.

4 Lessons About Antlers and Deer Age From a Simple Chart

Are You Hunting the Average Buck or a Rule-Breaker?

Biology and History

Deer Myths

The Oldest Deer On Earth

8 Ways Deer Are the Opposite of What Many Hunters Think

The Biology of Bachelor Groups

Do Big Bucks Father More Big Bucks?

Help Deer Refuel After the Rut

What Triggers the Whitetail Rut?

10 Things We Know About Mature Buck Movements

No Link Between Moon Phase and Rut Peak

Will the Rut Be Early This Year?

Diseases

All about CWD in Mississippi (information links on webpage)

Cracked Deer Hooves Are Signs of a Fight with the EHD Virus

Know the Signs of HD: Hemorrhagic Disease

EHD in Deer: Here's What You Need to Know

10 Weird Parasites That Live Inside Deer

So Your Deer Has Warts. Should You Eat It?

5 Things Deer Hunters Should Know About Deer Warts

Fawns

The Magic and Myths of Fawns

Born With One Hoof in the Grave? Fawns Die Even Without Predators

The Importance of Good Fawning Cover

Improving A Fawn's Survival Chances

The Science of Fawn Survival: Leave It Where You Found It

When Do Fawns Begin Eating Natural Forage?

How Often do Whitetails Give Birth to Triplet and Quadruplet Fawns, or More?

Turkey

Videos

Turkey Nesting and Brood Habitat

Wild Turkey Ecology and Management

How many eggs do turkeys lay?

Hen Nesting Habitat

How long do poults stay with hens?

Mississippi’s Turkey Heritage: Conservation and Management with Adam Butler

Webpages

Turkey Ecology and Life History

Don't Blame Predators for Poor Turkey Habitat

Podcasts

Turkey habitat timeline

The landowner's role in managing for wild turkey

Creating turkey management prescriptions

Managing turkeys with fire

Food plotting for turkeys

Wild Turkey Population dynamics and study of season dates in Mississippi

Burning while turkeys are nesting

Burning during nesting (Wild Turkey Science)

Has Turkey Habitat Changed?

What's changed in MS?

Which vital rates are most important to turkey populations?

Promoting the poults: how to create high-quality brooding cover

Density-dependence in upland game birds

A different perspective on density dependence

Season timing doesn't affect reproduction

Wild Turkey History

Does water on a hen make it more susceptible to predation?

Managing pout habitat and monitoring success

How do I get bugs?

A Turkey Habitat Blue Print - Areas of focus for habitat & connectivity

Articles

A Science to Private Land Management for Turkeys

How Many Gobblers Should I Take?

Hardwoods and Wild Turkeys

Forest Management for Wild Turkeys

Sculpting the Ideal Turkey Woods

Chufa

Turkeys and Fire: A Strategy for the Future

4 Great Wild Turkey Habitats

Wild Turkey Lifestyle and Breeding

How Turkeys Perceive Their Environment

Behind the Bird: History and Conservation of the Eastern Wild Turkey

Life of a Longbeard

Conservation vs. Preservation: Why the NWTF Prefers the Former

To Hear More Gobblers, Stop the Squeal

Wild Turkeys and Pollinators

Habitat for Late Summer Survival

Packin' It On

What do turkeys eat?

Small Game Management

Quail

Videos

Good and Bad Quail Habitat

What happened to the quail in Mississippi?

The Plight of the Bobwhite Quail

Webpage

Quail Population Trends in Mississippi

Podcasts

Putting CRP to Work for Farmers, Ranchers, and Wildlife

Prescribed Fire for Bobwhite Quail

Food plots for upland birds

Farm bill biologist & beyond: Quail Forever Private Land Conservation

Creating Quail Habitat ad Saving Monarch Butterflies

Bobwhite Quail Habitat Through Southeastern Grasslands Initiative

Managing quail habitat using prescribed fire

Cows and Quail: Grazing for Gamebirds

Creating Habitat in the Margins

A Bobwhite Quail Success Story in Missouri

Bobwhite Quail Science with MSU's Dr. Mark McConnell

Articles

Light Strip Disking to Enhance Early Successional Habitat in Grasslands and Oldfields

Ecology and Management of the Northern Bobwhite

Strip Disking and Other Valuable Bobwhite Quail Management Techniques

Conservation Reserve Program, CP33 - Habitat Buffers for Upland Birds

Controlling Non-Native Grasses to Enhance Wildlife Habitat

Squirrels
Rabbits

Migratory Bird Management

Nuisance Species Management

Wild Hog Management
Predator Management