Just wanted to comment on 2 areas.

1st, in town here, we average 15' of snow, which translates into around a 3' snow base mid-winter to late winter. On an average winter, we lose 50% of our fawns. Actually, 180" is not that bad for our deer herd. 15 miles NE we average close to 25' , and the deer leave entirely to the south. The deer simply can' t survive. At my house, 16 miles south, we average aroun 10' , with around a 30" snowbase. The deer still leave, but don' t experience a significat loss unless the winter is over 2.5 to 3 months(meaning the time the deer are in the yards), with total snowfall and temps being the deciding factor of time in the yards. So in a nutshell, unless you get over 10' of snow, and experience a significant snowbase with coresponding temps for over 2.5 to 3 months, winter kill isn' t that bad, especially in Canada. I' m sure this would vary with a herd in Georgia.

2nd.

QDM is, and only is:
1.Adequate buck age structure

2.Populations maintained at or below the carrying capacity of the land

3.Adequate sex ratios

Those are the 3 founding biologically proven principles of health in a deer herd(also, not coincidently, in elk, moose, most big game, fish, etc.). Why should it matter if you are on private or public land? Shouldn' t ALL herds be managed for overall health of the habitat and herd? That' s all QDM is. Are we saying we should expect less, just because it' s public land?

Jeff...U.P. of Michigan