ORIGINAL: Beagle001
Don't get me wrong, I love hunting just for even the chance of seeing nice buck and am even thankful for just the being out there. Any close encounter is special.
BigJ... didnt mean to step on your toes there, I guess im maybe a bit misunderstood... not exactly sure what u were saying on your soap box. We have actually for our area, as far as doe population, a fairly healthy herd. Our area just has trouble allowing bucks get older than 2. Its hard to explain it on screen. I dont want to sound like an antler addict who doesnt care about anything but big bucks. "it's not the size of the deer but the size of the hunt"
It wouldnt bother me if only 1 or two young bucks were shot but when they stack up five or six year after year or shoot one little one then shoot another and use someone elses tag, i get angry, because obviously they are out just to say they are killing bucks.
Beagle001,
You're not "stepping on my toes" it's all good....
I just wanted to point out what I've heard for the last few years and that's people talking about QDM when
all they are after is trying to boost the amount of large antlered deer on the property they hunt. If that's what is wanted I say go for it. It's not what I would do but I have no problem with it. But call it for what it is TDM and not QDM.
If your herd is healthy then I can almost gaurantee you have big mature bucks there, they may not be as numbered as you like but they are there. I feel it would be far more satisfying and rewarding to actually find, hunt and killthe ones that
are there than to try to produce more.
If there are truely none to be found (there are some placeslike this) then that area is indeed in need of QDM. Passing on the younger bucks and taking doesin order to boost the overallpopulation of bucks will as a by-product produce more big antlered deer as time goes by,but more importantly, more bucks in general creating a balanced and healthy herd. Maybe you will get more headway telling the others you hunt with that?
Some states implement thiswith antler restrictions or "earn a buck" programs. The programs help toboost the overall male deer populations and bring down the doe populations (where needed) yet without forcing hunters to shoot only 140inand larger deer.
There is a piece of property I have hunted for many years that is just crawling with deer. I will take an average of 3-5 does out each year and usually only kill one buck. I ask the same for the others who hunt there. This helps with the over population problem we face. I do not on the other hand ever tell them what size buck to shoot as I could care less. If it makes them happy, then I'm happy.
Afterall that's what it's all about isn't it?