Quality Deer Management?

[pintail_drake2004]

Howdy yall, as a forester i manage several parcels of land for both timber and wildlife, and the most frequent request i get is to help the landowner get bigger deer. Why not, Illinois is the home of the giants! there is alot of money in leasing hunts, esp. if you have large bucks.
On the lands we manage we set a min. 13" inside antler spread and at least 4 points on one side. I encourage the landowner/farmers to abide by the QDM regulations. we also require that 2 does to every buck be taken. this helps with the herd population problem.
How many of you follow the QDM guidelines when you head to the woods with your trad gear? I understand it is difficult to harvest a deer with trad gear because of the limited shots available. But maybe this is a good thing, allowing hunters to focus on a good buck instead of taking anything that walks by.? and possibly taking that extra doe.

[Izzy]

With trad gear any deer other than a button buck or spike is fair game to me but with firearms I practice doe or a buck of either 6 points or 14" spread.I have noticed a difference in buck quality on the 275 acres I hunt since I started this 4 years ago and theres not much hunting on it or the surrounding state and private land.The rutting activity is tremendous there even though it may only be a spike or a fork horn but its cool to watch those little fellows and sooner or later big daddy will be hot on the trail of a doe.I can also see myself adopting those limits with trad gear in a few more years.

[Brad_Gentry]

allowing hunters to focus on a good buck instead of taking anything that walks by.  

You're assuming that big antlers are important to everybody. Personally, and as a fellow Illinoisan, I think the hunting opportunities would be much better for the average hunter here if our bucks weren't so darn big!

Brad

[Pat B]

I have been a member of QDMA since in begun in 1988. Joe Hamilton, the founder of QDMA, was a state biologist in coastal SC where I lived and hunted and got us into it.
  At our club in GA we have practiced QDM for about 8 years now. During bow season any buck 4 points or better can be taken. During gun season, 15" inside spread, at least 4 points on one side or at least 3 1/2 years old. We can take as many does as the law allows(in GA that is 10).
  We started practicing QDM to get members to study the deer before they shot. We tried to impress that we had too many does that needed thinning and that too many young bucks(1 1/2to 2 1/2yo) were being shot before they reached their potential. In the last 6 or so years we have seen more and bigger bucks, more 1 1/2 ans 2 1/2 yo bucks with good potential and there are still plenty of does for the freezer.  
  I agree that any deer with trad equipment is a trophy but with as many deer as there are in our woods, there is no reason to take small bucks plus for us it has really improved the herd in our area.
  Our club is only 250 ac but we have convinced our neighbor that owns the 2500 ac surrounding us to require QDM for anyone that leases his farm for hunting or who is invited to hunt it for a sit or 2.      Pat

[John Scifres]

How many of you follow the QDM guidelines when you head to the woods with your trad gear?  

I don't.

 

But maybe this is a good thing, allowing hunters to focus on a good buck instead of taking anything that walks by.?

I'm not sure if this is a question or a statement but I'll answer anyway.  I think the focus on racks as defining a good buck is counterproductive and mostly a result of marketing and our desire to shoot something bigger than the other guy.  Isn't it silly to measure bucks today against bucks of the past when most of the really big-racked deer are a result of what is almost animal husbandry?  Call it "Q"DM, call it trophy hunting, call it wildlife management...but the bottom line is most guys want a big deer so they can brag to their friends.

Don't get me wrong, shoot what you want.  But don't judge someone else when they shoot what they want.

Respectfully yours,

John

[tomh]

I hunt for the joy of it and for the meat. So mostly does is what I try to take. I could care less about getting a big rack. Not that I would pass it up, but it is not my goal. I dont judge people for passing on the little ones.
I dont think traditional bowhunters as a whole would make that much of a dent in overall deer populations, so I have no problem taking what is presented.
With some areas being so overpopulated with deer, I would think just the general thinning of the herd is needed, so as not to exceed the carrying capacity of the land.

I agree with John
"Don't get me wrong, shoot what you want. But don't judge someone else when they shoot what they want."

And I did take a nice tasty doe off an overpopulated Indiana farm last year. Yum!

[Tom Mussatto]

Don't get me wrong, shoot what you want.  But don't judge someone else when they shoot what they want. [/QB]

I agree. It should be a hunters choice when he buys his license what animal he does or does not wish to take, as long as it is legal, and it should be nobody else's business.

My beef is when public ground is designated as "trophy" areas with the restrictions put in place necessary to make it so.

Keep the point restrictions, spread limits, doe before a buck, and all the other QDM tools now being used confined to private property where it belongs. QDH (quality deer hunting) does not equate to QDM for everybody.

[vermonster13]

What gets lost and twisted in so much of these QDM discussions is the original goal was to promote better herd health for all the animals. Having a good buck/doe ratio and mature animals takes a lot of stress off of the herd. Larger racks are a byproduct of such management but wasn't the main focus. Unfortunately for many it has become the only goal and in many cases so that larger dollars can be charged for hunting access.

[wapiti792]

It comes down to choice. I practice QDM, not to enhance the deer herd as much to enhance my hunting experience. I respectfully disagree that it is some bragging board driven philosophy. I just like hunting mature deer. Try shooting a 6 year old doe...she's as wary as any Booner.

I think it's an evolution for some. I started out in Tennessee when I was 10 shooting deer with rifles. I'm now 37 and have taken a dump truck full of deer in my life. I just now choose to hunt mature bucks with trad gear, passing on anything I won't put on the wall, and shooting at least 2 does a year. I have no problem with what others do, I just choose to hunt nothing but big bucks, not because I want to brag, but because it's what flips my switch. Nothing is more fun than the dance with a mature deer! Besides if you shoot the first forky that comes along you're not going to have a chance at that monster waiting in the thicket to see if the sentry made it.

[Inhimwelive]

I live in Pennsyltucky where QDM is a law.. Do I see bigger bucks? Nope I see bucks that are just legal.. I think qdm may work well in a enclosed area but in the real world I think it just gives the poachers a nicer deer... I cant tell you how many gunshots I heard opening day of archery season..