For 50 years the Mississippi State University (MSU) Deer Lab—a partnership between the university’s Forest and Wildlife Research Center (FWRC) and MSU Extension Service in Starkville, Miss.—has delivered nationally recognized research on deer biology, habitat management and land stewardship. The research completed and information provided has benefitted hunters, landowners and wildlife professionals across the Magnolia State.
Deer hunting alone generates more than $1 billion in economic activity for Mississippi each year. The staggering figure underscores the importance of whitetail deer management and their pursuit in the state.
The research program at MSU’s Deer Ecology and Management Lab began in the 1970s when Harry Jacobson launched what would become one of the Southeast’s premier deer research programs. One of his early graduate students included Steve Demarais, who returned to MSU in 1997 and spent the next three decades shaping the program. Demarais mentored hundreds of students throughout his career, including Bronson Strickland, who joined the faculty in 2006 and—along with Demarais—built the lab’s identity through applied research tied directly to real-world management.
Today, Eric Michel and Jacob Dykes, both assistant professors in the Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Aquaculture and MSU alumni who trained under Demarais and Strickland, are carrying the program forward by expanding applied research, strengthening outreach and training the next generation of wildlife professionals.
“The lab was built on conducting research that informs conservation management practices,” Michel said. “Since we are the research arm for the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks, they entrust us to answer many of the questions they have about deer management. They are a huge reason for the lab’s success.”
Over five decades, FWRC scientists have produced some of the nation’s most influential deer research. The lab pioneered the Deer Management Assistance Program, now a national model helping landowners manage for healthier habitat and deer. Its researchers have helped define how genetics, nutrition, age and habitat interact to influence antler development, showing improved nutrition and habitat quality are more effective than selective harvest. Long-term studies have reshaped understanding of deer behavior, documenting how body size influences dominance in does, how females select mates and how some bucks shift between two distinct home ranges annually. Researchers also uncovered complex breeding patterns such as widespread multiple paternity in litters.
The lab has been equally influential in chronic wasting disease research, helping pioneer environmental sampling techniques that detect prions in high-use areas. Recent findings show feeders in CWD-positive regions can become contaminated within weeks and deer interactions at feeders occur far more frequently than at natural foraging sites, underscoring the importance of early detection and reducing unnatural congregation.
The lab’s education and outreach efforts are equally significant. Its social media, videos, website and podcast reach millions each year, consistently ranking among the strongest in all wildlife and outdoor education.
“Our research is driven by the needs of landowners, land managers and hunters,” Dykes said. “Our work is full circle: identifying an issue, doing the research to understand how to improve it and delivering the outreach that brings it all together. I knew MSU had a strong wildlife program, but once I got here, I realized just how special it really is. It pushed me to grow and showed me there are real opportunities in deer research and management to have a career that makes an impact.”
The Deer Lab’s next chapter will include an update to the 1970s-era facility. Funded through an appropriation by Mississippi legislators and private gifts, updated deer pens with improved handling systems and expanded research capacity will support work in genetics, herd health, disease management, environmental interactions, foraging, reproduction and technology-driven wildlife monitoring.
“This is exactly what prepares students to walk into real wildlife jobs,” Dykes said. “The new facility will expand hands-on work in genetics, herd health, habitat work and technology like GPS collars. It is the kind of training that sets MSU apart.”
