ORIGINAL: Rob/PA Bowyer
QDM (not antler management) in it's true form is about the animal/species. It may or may not be what hunters want but it's not about hunters. Hunting is all about deer management, we are managers, we manage the herd through hunting licensing and filling tags. Why not manage for a quality herd?
Rob, you're exactly correct......but........I don't feel there is a true and pure form of QDM anymore. QDM is antler management, and that's the way it is. Yes, I understand that a by product of QDM will be larger racked bucks.....But it's no longer a by product, it'sa goal. The end result of that is money.
I want to be perfectly clear in saying that what someone does w/ their own land is their business, and I'm behind them 100%. But outfitters are making TONS of money on what? Shooting does?? Hell no, and that's a HUGE part of QDM. BIG RACKS is what they're making money on. I've seen trophy fees up to $400 an INCH over 140".........OMG......shoot a 170" deer, and you've spent $12000 on trophy fees alone. That's not including the 4 or 5 grand you spent on the hunt. States are making a pile of money as well, raising out of state permit costs. This is all "hidden" under the QDM blanket. QDM is about money. In it's pure and truest form, it's about a healthy deer herd. With large racks being a by product.
Anymore, I think it's about large racks w/ a healty deer herd as a by product. I'm all for a healthy deer herd, and if that means antler restrictions, well......so be it. BUT, what really ticks me off is legislation telling me it's about the deer......Sorry, but I gotta call bluff on that one. That's just how they market it. I know it sounds like I am against QDM, and I'm not. I just wish they would call it what it is.