kevin...the main gist of my post is to point out to folks who stick the first thing they see that they probably are missing out on incredible hunts like the one I experienced yesterday. Someone not cognizant of QDM and it's principles and practices who cares less about the size or sex of a deer they remove from the herd and the ramifications of such removal on the health of the herd would likely have arrowed an immature deer and called it a good year and be done. How many guys do you hear say they have never heard a buck grunt, or heard a buck snort-wheeze, or seen a buck make a scrape, or seen a buck make a rub, or heard a doe bleat, or seen bucks fight, or seen deer mate. If you shoot the first thing you see which is likely an unsuspecting young buck, then it's likely you'll never experience those things.

In summary, if you practice QDM and harvest does and mature bucks, it is quite likely you are going to have to invest some serious time in the woods and it is then that you will have the opportunity to observe all of the intricacies of deer behavior.

The land I hunt is not officially mandated a QDM property but I've hunted it for 13 years now and from day one I've passed up young deer and taken out a doe or two. This year I'm actually seeing a few more bucks than does from the stand. I did pass on the shot at the doe at that time only because she was the bait that brought all the bucks in and I kept hoping daddy rabbit would come in but he never did.[&:]