ORIGINAL: GMMAT
QDM is NOT about deer it's about hunters shooting big bucks.
Call me naive, John (and I certainly....for the most part don't disagree with your overall assessment).....but I think the latter can be a side effect of the former.
I take MOSTLY what I've learned about QDM with a grain of salt. I truly want whats best for the herd I hunt (and I've changed the way I'll hunt fora couple of years to try to help the herd)......and if that means I'll have a better chance at a larger buck.....then so be it. Honestly, though.....it's not the number 1 reason I've chosen my approach.
Whether anyone believes this or not......I have no control over. I'm not hunting for "them". I'm actually not hunting, this year, for ME. I'm not hunting the way I WANT to hunt. I'm hunting the way "I" think I NEED to hunt.
Good luck to all.
I agree Jeff....don't get me wrong, I like to hunt big bucks. What I'm trying to say is.......Ok let's just say hypothetically there was no hunting at all....none.Deer herds across the country (for the most part) would boom and there would soon be an overpopulation problem, agree?
So, what do you think would be done to HELP the deer herds? Do you think anyone who was assigned the task (DNR or whatever)would be passing on 1.5 year old bucks?? That's my point, the younger deer wouldn't get a free pass, the overall numbers would be reduced period. I know this to be true because this very thing is practiced in the Forest Preserves here in Illinois where hunting is not allowed. The DNR (or whoever it is) comes in and thins out the herds and their not selective on what they shoot.The result? a healthier herd.
QDM is about growing better bucks for HUNTERS to shoot. Does it help the herds in the process? Yes it does because you are still reducing the overall numbers where it needs to be, but you have the by-product backward.
You want what's best for your herd
as a hunter and you have stated that the overall numbers need to be brought down so you have decided to shoot a lot of does this year if possible and I think that's great, it's what I do here too. What I won't do is make it easier for me to see (and therefore kill) bigger bucks, I'll let Mother Nature decide that.
My area is a perfect scenario to expose QDM (as we know it today) for what it really is. Where I hunt there are plenty of deer and plenty of bucks. The only thing it could use is a slightly reduced overall number but it's not bad. I guarantee you though the QDM folks would still tell me to pass on younger bucks, put in food plots, etc........Why?