Thanks for the replies so far, I find it interseting the
weights in different areas.
Like I indicated earlier, the weights seem a little down for our bucks anyway. 4 of the bucks taken were 2-1/2 (one is questionable?) and one of them only weighed 115lbs dressed.
Our QDM goal is a little different than some. Our goal for our 7 hunters is to increase the number of 2-1/2 yr old bucks for harvest. At the same time, we hope to harvest a 3-1/2yr old each year (none this year - a couple were seen). We keep records of different buck sightings during the hunting season, and had 27 different buck sightings this year. We try to omit duplicate counts, but its not always possible - I'm sure we double counted a couple spikes. Of the 27 seen, 7 were harvested, 13 were passed, and the others were out of range, missed (1 deer missed), or an obstruction prevented a shot. We did not count sightings from a vehicle, at over 100 yds, or at night.
I realize that 7 bucks harvested seems like alot, and it is 3 more than our 10 year average, but as I said before, I wouldn't begrudge a single hunter in our group the deer that were taken. This year we had a 1st bowkill for one hunter, and a 1st blackpowder kill for another, both were 1-1/2yr olds, and true trophys for them.
Our biggest obstacle is the doe numbers, and deer numbers overall. You know the saying "plant it and they will come?, well they did, and stayed. We donated a couple this year, and that was OK, but a little against our normal way, but may be our best bet going forward, if we wish to harvest more does. We also plan to invite friends to come and "doe hunt", but have avoided it thus far, as most people we know would not understand not being allowed to take a buck, and freindships can get strained if it happens. How do you guys handle taking more deer than you can eat? - We had a few tags left over, but all but 1 were bow or blackpowder only.
The best part about the QDM we've initiated, is that we see more deer, more bucks, and some of the guys are just now getting used to "passing them up", I fall into that category as well. We hope to get a couple of the neighbors on board, but so far thats proved to be a tough nut to crack.
