The Auburn University College of Forestry, Wildlife and Environment (CFWE) offers many opportunities for students to gain hands-on experience in their respective fields. One such opportunity is with the College’s whitetail Deer Lab – a facility that not only studies the characteristics and breeding patterns of deer but also raises conservational awareness for wild animals.
Founded in 2007 near Camp Hill, Alabama, the facility spans nearly 430 acres. Surrounded by an eight-foot-tall fence, the Deer Lab is home to around 100 adult deer at any one time.
“We constructed it with the intent of trying to understand reproductive success in whitetail deer,” said Dr. Stephen Ditchkoff, wildlife professor and director of the Deer Lab. “It’s a big part of Auburn’s wildlife research program, as well as other research programs across the Southeast and across the country.”
In addition to the research staff, Ditchkoff explained that 20 to 30 undergraduate students who also do field work at the lab, while around four graduate students focus on researching the native deer population. While working in the field, these students form crews that enter the grounds at night, tranquilize the deer with darts and collect various measurements for data analysis.
“The crew leads are the graduate students that are utilizing the data collected from these various projects within the deer facility,” said Tristan Swartout, a graduate student in wildlife sciences. “[The undergrads] help me or the other [graduate students] collect the data, ranging from getting body measurements, using flexible measuring tape, to measuring and scoring.”
This field experience, open to both undergraduate and graduate students, involves everything from going out at night with a darting crew to finding deer with piloted drones.
“Having that kind of all-encompassing research approach is really important to not only just understanding this animal but understanding how we could better manage them,” said Monet Gomes-Goethlich, a PhD student in wildlife sciences.
These “darting trips,” as Gomes-Goethlich calls them, don’t require any previous experience with dart guns or firearms.
“We teach [the students] how to use the dart guns, teach them about safety measures that need to be in place while we’re handling the animals and handling firearms,” Gomes-Goethlich said.
The deer are darted for various measurements and tissue samples. Researchers can then use these to compare and contrast the deer’s breeding patterns, study the deer’s genetics and plot out the deer’s “family tree.”
“[The deer] are the same deer, or descendants of the same deer, that were enclosed when the fence was installed,” Swartout explained.
Aside from research, the CFWE’s Deer Lab is also heavily invested in the conservational issues facing whitetail deer, such as over-hunting or habitat loss. In particular, the Pittman-Robertson Act serves as a major source of funds for conservation studies by states and state-associated universities. Established in 1937, the Act puts an 11% tax on all firearms, ammunition and archery equipment.
“That money goes to the states for conservation of mammals and birds,” Ditchkoff said. “Most people are aware that hunting gets a really bad rap, but the Act is actually the source of revenue for conservation of most of our mammals and birds across the United States.”
Through their extensive research of whitetail deer, the Deer Lab staff and students continue to further the main missions of Auburn's CWFE: to better understand animals and to preserve them for generations to come.
“We're able to look at some really unique data and some unique biological phenomena that are going on in this animal that we all care about,” Gomes-Goethlich said.
To learn more about the deer lab, visit deerlab.auburn.edu.
Do you like this story? The Plainsman doesn't accept money from tuition or student fees, and we don't charge a subscription fee. But you can donate to support The Plainsman.
Laura Newman, junior majoring in nutrition and dietetics, is from Decatur, Alabama. She has been with The Auburn Plainsman since the fall of 2025.
