Steve863 -
Your dead wrong about your assumption about QDMA promoting Trophy racks.
You need to open up your mind a bit - and look at for what it is.
Even the QDMA Definition as proof you posted makes absolutey no mention of managing to increase antler size. You think it so much that you read it....... when its not even there!
Quality Deer Management (QDM) is a management philosophy/practice that unites landowners, hunters, and managers in a common goal of producing biologically and socially balanced deer herds within existing environmental, social, and legal constraints. This approach typically involves the protection of young bucks (yearlings and some 2.5 year-olds) combined with an adequate harvest of female deer to maintain a healthy population in balance with existing habitat conditions and landowner desires. This level of deer management involves the production of quality deer (bucks, does, and fawns), quality habitat, quality hunting experiences, and, most importantly, quality hunters.
The "Healthy Deer" notation - is a general term for a "Healthy Herd" - with good population dynamics and, as was stated by tsoc & Jf5, a good representaions of many age classes.
Personally I don't belong to QDMA. Though I do support many of their veiws and practice similar management as discussed by the organization.
Our hunting parcel is small - and we have several hunters - My goal is to take a 2.5 year old buck or better(regardless of point count) or buck of at least 6 points each year. While this is MY GOAL - I hunt with guys that will take the first buck that walks by, they are OK with that - and because its legal - I am too.I try to lead by example, and over time, our hunting group has become much better at passing up small bucks, and taking does.The quality of the deer we see has improved over the last 10 years. Not too many years ago - if we passed up a buck on opening day - wemight never see another. - Its not that way anymore.
FH