Do you guys realize that there is an actual QDM organization, and they are the ones that started the QDM movement?

It's at www.qdma.com

Their principles and beliefs are the ones that are being used in PA, as well as over 20 other states. QDM is not new, and there is only 1 set of QDM guidelines and beliefs, that are founded on 1 basic principle: Use only sound scientific research for management. What the herd dictates and needs in your area, to produce the healthiest, natural herd, is QDM. What the deer need will be different in all areas of the country, but the same biological needs apply. There are areas by my house similair to areas Maine in that there are less than 5 deer per square mile, with population densities controlled by the severe winters. These areas need no doe permits. But then you go less than 100 miles away to Menominee county, and there are between 90 and 100 deer per square mile. People continue to under harvest deer in that county, and consequently the deer are 1/2 the body weight of their northern cousins, malnourished, and stunted.

Those two counties have very different needs, but QDM recognizes this, and different sets of harvest strategies are needed for both. That's QDM.

The basic proven principles that apply to all areas of the country to produce healthy deer, are: The correct carrying capacity of the land, age structure, and sex ratios.

For example, for MI, the southern 1/2 of the lower Peninsula needs a 4 point on a side rule to protects at least 85% of the yearling bucks, and many does need to be harvested because of overpopulated habitat. In the Norther Upper Peninsula, along the Lake Superior shoreline, only a 3 point on a side rule is needed to protect 85% of the yearlings, and no does need to be shot. The population in the north is controlled by the severe winters, and the spring/summer/fall habitat is actually underutalized. Those are both examples of QDM methods of harvest-taking into account local needs to produce the healthiest herd within the area. In Georgia they need a 15" minimum spread to protect the majority of the yearlings, and other states need different rules.

The bottom line is, QDM is not 1 set of regulations for every area, only one set of bioligically proven principles, used to determine needs in a given area. The various rules or regulations, dictated by local herd dynamics, take off from there.

To say QDM means this to this person, or that to that person, is partly true, depending on the area, but the same biolical principles apply to both. That's QDM.

You can't say QDM will not work in your area, that's like saying in one area we don't need healthy deer, but in another area we do. QDM is about producing quality, healthy, animals, through sound, scientificly proven, management tactics, influenced by your particular area.

Healthy, quality animals can only be produced in certain areas??????

Jeff...U.P. of Michigan.