Drew307

Buckhunter14,

I 100% support a1 buck limit in Michigan. In some parts of the U.P. I would recommend a closed season for two yearsto try and let the buckto doe ratio reach a better balance. The MI DNR is the most f***ed up government agency we have. If we could follow WI, or OH management philosophy we would be better off. When you mention that the deer would never live another year, you have to change that mentality! About 15 years ago I started hunting in Washtenaw and Jackson counties in lower michigan. These counties are in the top five counties for pope and young whitetails entered throughout the state. When I started hunting these parcels, I couldn't beleive the size of the bucks I would see. I was sixteen and held out for a true trophy. At the age of nineteen and many does later I harvested my first buck, a 4.5 old 10 point that scored 153". I was hooked, all I thought about was hunting mature bucks! Back then the land owner where I huntedwould shoot any buck he saw and tell me if I don't shoot it the neighbor will. Well that's the most common misconception hunter's argue. I went to each landowner around the farms I hunted and talked with them about deer management. Their reply, we thought if we didn't shoot the smaller bucks you would. After a few conversations and literature from QDM Iconviced the land owners that we needto implement a management system. I showed them a little fork horn rack and a nice 8 point rack, and asked them which one would you want to shoot, and all of them said the big rack. It was very difficult at first for a teenager to advise old timers on deer management, they thought I waswet behind the ears but they were intrigued that someone so young showed so much initiative tomake a change.With all the landownerswe had about 700 acres of land where all 1.5 old bucks were protected and you couldn't shoot a buck with less than 8 points and a 16" spread. Also, everyone had to harvest at leastone doe throughout the season. Well, let me tell you those first two years were hard for alot, but that third year 5 bucks were harvested that scored over 125". The landowners couldn't beleive the results of only a couple years. By letting the smaller bucks grow theywere in fact creating a bigger pool of mature bucks to harvest. The meat hunters had no problem shooting does and the trophy hunters are seeing alot more bucks. QDM isn't just trophy management, its overall herd management. As of last year in the last 9 years I harvested 6 bucks that all scored over 125", thats a 67% success rate. Not too bad! QDM works best when everyone around you follows some regulations!