QDM- huntings future or demise?

[Briman]

http://www.jsonline.com/outdoors/nov05/370207.asp

Trophies roam in Buffalo County
Reputation for big bucks is nationwide
By TIM EISELE
Special to the Journal Sentinel
Posted: Nov. 13, 2005
Buffalo County is reputed to be a top trophy white-tailed deer hunting county in the nation.



According to the Boone and Crockett Club, which records trophy deer and other big game animals, it is the nation's top trophy antler-producing county when you combine typical antlers, which are symmetrical, and non-typical antlers, which are more irregularly shaped.
As its reputation for deer hunting has blossomed over the years, deer hunting patterns in the county have changed dramatically.
Mark Noll, a dairy farmer from Alma and co-chairman of the Wisconsin Conservation Congress Big Game Study Committee, has long been a part of the county's deer hunting heritage, and an observer of its changes. His great grandfather moved to Buffalo County in 1891, with Noll being the third-generation owner and hunter of his dairy farm.
"We've always been known for large deer, partially due to habitat and genetics," Noll said. "Another reason is that animals could get away from hunters with the rugged terrain."
The biggest change he's seen is in property ownership. In the past, farmers owned the land, but now many farms have been split up as recreational buyers or outfitters buy property. Some marginal farms may not have been profitable, but outside buyers have paid prices that farmers couldn't otherwise get, and now the landowner is no longer a part of the local community.
As a result, some local residents no longer have a place to hunt, since there is little public land in the county. It is difficult for new hunters to find a place to hunt just as it is for new farmers to find a place to start farming.
"It's gotten to a point where you have to be a very, very good friend or relative of the landowner, or have enough money to buy or lease your own property," Noll said. "Woodland now sells for $3,500 an acre, and I think back to 1985 when they sold woodland on the courthouse steps for $63 per acre."
Changes in land ownership have brought changes in hunting. Noll said that, although there is hunting pressure throughout the bow season, there are fewer hunters on the opening day of the gun season.
"It used to be that every farm had a family group of hunters and they started walking and driving deer on opening morning," he said. "It sounded like the opening day of duck hunting season. Now, a lot of those groups are gone and people don't drive deer anymore. They like to sit for the first day or two, but so many recreational buyers just use a stand or build a tower and sit there and they don't move."
Consequently, the deer aren't pushed and they hide in valleys and may never get shot at.
"People also are so afraid that they will push that big monster buck onto the neighbor's place and the neighbor will then shoot it," Noll said. "Even though this is a free-roaming animal, when it's on their property people somehow feel it is theirs and don't want the neighbor to get it."
Feeding and baiting also change deer movements, Noll said.
"Deer don't have to move now with people feeding and baiting, even though there is a 2-gallon limit," Noll said. "I would like to see that changed primarily from the disease part of it. We are the only CWD state or province that hasn't outlawed all feeding and baiting and, as a dairy farmer, I am concerned that deer might get diseases that could be spread into domestic livestock."
Noll said feeding and baiting is also used "defensively," partly to keep deer from going onto a neighbor's land. And the extra nutrients keep the populations higher, which has a negative impact on oak regeneration.
Another trend is the emphasis on quality deer management, which is supposed to include additional harvest pressure on antlerless deer. Noll said somehow people don't want to shoot the antlerless deer.
"I would really like to see people have fun again when they are hunting," Noll said. "This competition for the big buck causes people to be frustrated at small deer and, in the past, it used to be a holiday, with family and friends getting together and having fun. Who got the big buck wasn't the important thing."

[Briman]

I've been skeptical about QDM for a long time not because it isn't biologically sound- it seems to make perfect sense, but because of human nature. I think it would work great if practiced, but everyone I personally know who is a QDM fanatic pretty much fits the description of the hunters and land owners in the above article. They certainly pass up a lot 2.5 yo bucks that I wouldn't hesitate to shoot, but at the same time are reluctant to shoot does.

The emphasis on trophy deer has caused numerous problems: in my state, people practicing only the harvesting of the big buck side of QDM in large areas and also growing bigger breeding stock on game farms are pretty much the cause of my state's CWD problem. Another problem is it has driven up the cost of hunting. People who used to have their land open to the public or to friends and family members now close it off and manage it to grow and retain big bucks for themselves or to command expensive leases for hunters. I'm a bit torn on this one I'll admit, because I believe a person has a right first and foremost to do as they wish with their own land, but at the same time can price most people out of a decent hunting experience.

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[logs]

This article is not really about quality management. It is about the change of a community and culture as a result of trophy hunting.
Individuals with the financial resources come into a desirable area and buy up the land at inflated prices so they have a private place to hunt.
Buffalo Co is located along the western edge of WI. It is very hilly terrain and has a mix of farm and wood lots. Some areas are impossible to plow (slope and rock out crops) and therefore have remained excellent habitat for deer. It is beautiful and as the article states a difficult area to hunt. Some of the land is in the flood plane of the Mississippi River and then climbs into steep and rolling hills.
Most of the Co is covered by GMU 61 and the northern section covered by 59A. Both of these units are Zone Ts which means you can harvest at least two deer, of which only onecan be a Buck. This applies to both firearm and bow. Meaning that a person that bowhunts and gun hunts could go there and take four deer. Two bucks, one each with firearm and bow and two doe or any combination of Buck and Doe not to exceed two Bucks.
The problem here is the new landowners are not practicing quality deer management. They are there for one thing, to kill trophy deer.

I believe that QDM when practiced as it was intended is a good thing. I believe that means maintaining a balanced herd, proper ratios of bucks and does and ensuring that the herd does not over populate the ability for the area to support its numbers.
Trophy hunting can be part of that if it is none with the entire goal of QDM in mind.
The sad part of the article is how the desire to kill trophy animals is changing the area.
I hunted turkeys in that area 10 years ago and never had a problem getting permission to hunt. I don"™t even go there any longer because I can not get on most of the land.

[Sylvan]

Good post Briman! IMO QDM, though it has its good points, is a net negative to the sport and tradition of hunting. I've made my opinion pretty clear on this subject in several other threads. So much emphasis on the big buck isbad forthe sport. Guys like to say QDM is not trophy management but it seems that in practice it is almost always implemented that way.

[bawanajim]

If you read some of the posts on the bowhunting forum you will be scared at what some of these people will do to get a shot at a big buck.Tresspassing , removing others stands,posting property that they do not own.
Ethics is the first thing to go when a trophy buck is all that matters.These guys arn't ashamed at all about taking bad shots,baiting their method of kill means nothing as long as they get their buck.There are guys posting about shooting a deer in the head with a bow is a good idea.W.T.F.

This sport is going to hell fast!

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[BenGarrett]

QDM, in relation to the overall health of the deer herd, is a good thing.

QDM, in relation to how hunting is becoming a high-dollar business, is a terrible thing and will ultimately lead to hunting's demise.

QDM and the perverse greed for trophy deer are two separate things and perhaps it is unfair to QDM to lump the two together. But, like it or not, the two are helplessly entangled now. The thing that disappoints me the most about hunting is the mindset of a lot of hunters today in regards to their need to satisfy their ego with a monster rack. I'm not faulting them for passing small bucks and shooting big bucks; I am not shooting anything less than 3.5 years myself right now.

However, I can remember a time not too long ago (maybe 15 years ago at the most) when fellas in plaid flannel shirts and orange vests would be gathered around a pickup truck congratulating a successful hunter. And when you ventured over to that truck to have a look for yourself, there was just as good a chance that there was a small yearling buck laying in the bed of it as there was a "wall-hanger." Today, a lot of those same hunters would thumb their nose at a hunter who pulled into the gas station with a yearling buck in the bed of his truck. You hear all sorts of generalizations ("if it's brown its down," "whack 'em and stack 'em") used in a derogoratory nature towards those hunters. If we can't be happy for a hunter who is hunting legally and taking the trophy of his choice, regardless of our own standards, then shame on us. Unfortunately, that's the way hunting has gone. And a lot of that is our own fault; we've been spoiled by our own success. Through our contributions "” voluntary financial contributions and involuntary taxed contributions through Pittman-Robertson "” deer populations have exploded. In Tennessee, as recently as 1980, it was a rarity to see a deer in my home county. Now, there are some parts of Tennessee with a three-doe-per-day limit.

And then there's the aspect of how the quest for a trophy has turned hunting into a business. Hunters are willing to spend big bucks to secure large tracts of land, much larger than what they would ordinarily need to hunt on, in hopes that they can "grow" trophy deer. The result is what has already been talked about here: Farms that used to be open to any hunter respectful of the land are now leased because the farmer saw dollar signs. You can't blame the farmer; he had an opportunity to have his property taxes paid and perhaps make a little money on the side through his farm's wildlife. Not only does private land being scooped up by the thousands of acres by hunting clubs force the ordinary hunter onto heavily-hunted public property, but the need for more and the best results in a bidding war between the clubs and individuals who are leasing property. Ten years ago, the average lease in Tennessee was $4 per acre. Today, leases in the best areas of the state will go at least $10 per acre. Land in some areas is going for up to $18 per acre.

The result, IMHO, will see hunting in America go the way of hunting in Britain, where hunting is a rich man's sport. We won't see it on that scale here, because we simply have too much public land. But what we will see is the little man, who can't afford the high-dollar lease and is fed up with hunting crowded public land, hang up his gun for good. And when we lose our numbers, we lose our political muscle that has proven itself in recent elections to be so vital to the protection of our interests in Washington. And when we lose that, we lose, period. Think it can't happen? It happened in Britain. And when it happens here, it isn't going to matter if we have 4,000 acres of prime real estate with the best soil for producing big antlers underfoot. It's hard to hunt when you're harnessed by strict regulations.

As I said at the top, none of this really has anything to do with the concept of QDM, but it is what QDM has become.

[stork]

I'm begining to think that QDM is just a fantasy. I have read about it and talked to people about it and it sounds good. Talking to people that tell me that they practice QDM gives me an insite on what is really happening. I have yet to meet anyone that actualy practices QDM. What they are doing is practicing TBM (Trouphy Buck Management).

My hunting has changed over the years as I'm sure that a lot of you hunting has changed. My party use to sit 2 hours then start driving deer. We had a lot of fun and could count on getting anywhere from 10 to 15 deer every year. The best year I remember was 22 deer out of 23 hunters. Those were the years when you only got one buck tag.

Now therehas beena split of the family. The larger group still hunts the same way. Our smaller group sits all day for the first two days. Then we make silent drives. Sort of like still hunting. After the first couple of years of this we realized how many bucks there are and how many bigger ones there are also. The number of deer I see in a 9 day season has at least doubled. What happened next was kind of human nature. We started not shoting the first buck we saw and waiting for a little bigger one because it was almost a shoe in to see a bigger one. First one person then another and now we are all doing it to some degree. Are we practicing QDM? NO WAY! We do shoot does. Only because we want more meat. In our general area it would take 20 years of all the hunters shooting nothing but does to get the buck to doe ratio in order.

My season starts on Saturday morning and I will probly not shoot a buck untill Tuesday or Wednesday. I will see about 60 or 70 deer opening day though. Mid week is about the time we start seeing most of the bigger bucks. No QDM here. Not TBM either. Just having fun with my dad and brothers. Last year I didn't get a deer with the gun, but that is ok with me. I still had just as much fun as the year before.

My neighbors can live in there fantasy QDM world.

[Charlie P]

QDM is te spawn of satan and is the reason for the recent natural disasters.

Seriously, I believe the more the emphasis becomes killing large racked deer ie growing deer the more it hurts our sport.