You never hear anyone say......."I want a shot at a 200" deer instead of a 160" deer so we need QDM to have that chance. You always hear the same broken record about how they just want to hunt MATURE deer and with QDM there will be more MATURE deer around for them to go after........in other words it will be easier then it is right now
This is just one big trend of hunters taking the easy way out............it's nothing more then growing deer to be killed. Hunting bruisers is too hard because they are few and far between in most places so the sure way to fix that is just grow them bigger in your backyard. Requires no skill, or hard work..........just patience.
Talk about flawed logic. More mature deer doesn't equate less pressured deer. You are trying to make two circumstances that are unrelated the same. Just because the median age of deer has been raised doesn't mean that the number of hunters in the woods has lessened and that the deer don't become less wary. It just means the average deer taken will increase in size, body mass or antler. The older bucks will have had close encounters and will be just as elusive as it's younger cousin in non QDM zones.
I know a guy that has about 1,500 acres of land that really only him and a couple other guys hunt. They shoot nothing but MONSTERS.........but they are home grown monsters. They just let them eat and eat off the food plots until they feel like they are big enough to go on the wall.......then they whack 'em. These deer aren't magically wise just because they are a few years older.......they can't be too smart because each guy kills an absolute brute every year. Hunting pressure+age is what makes a deer crafty..........not just age. Anyways......these are some of the nicest deer I have ever seen but IMO they are easier to kill then a 1 1/2-2 1/2 yr old that has been pushed all over the county by hunters and has manaed to escape and is now wise to humans.......and how to avoid them.
I agree. But QDM does not reduce the number of hunters in the woods or pressure on the deer. If you can't shoot a deer until he's 2 1/2 yrs old (for sake of example) then you will have a bunch of 2 1/2 yr old deer that are tame (your claim) but after that they become a target, so any deer over 2 1/2 will have been shot at and will be just as alert and wary as any deer hunted. All QDM does is raise the average ages across the board.
Now most people would say that this guy I know has the PERFECT QDM setup..........with his food plots, mature bucks and does under control........yet it offers no greater challenge, it requires no greater skill........just a lot of patience. Any person on this forum could go sit in one of his stands for a couple days and tag a very nice buck.........now if that is not easier then most people's current situations......I don't know what is.
"Perfect" is a subjective term. He does have a well mangaged herd. Whether it is a more challenging hunt, I doubt it. But maybe challenge isn't his desire. As I mentioned earlier, I only want a moderate challenge. I want more, better quality, deer. Which would you rather catch all day: a boat load of 1 lb. bass or a boat load of 3 lb bass? The fish all taste the same but if you can catch bigger ones, why not? If I could raise the median size of deer (antler wise) from 85" class to 125" class I'd probably shoot quite a few 125" deer with the occassional higher class. Eventually I will stop shooting even the 125" and start shooting higher class exclusively just for a higher level of challenge.
I just find it ammusing that many advocates try say its for the benefit of the deer when its benefit is clearly for the hunter.
Actually I have done studies of hunting pressure on deer herds during my undergrad for Biology and a good culling plan for mature does does have a positive impact on herd health. As far as bucks, it does have an impact but it's more a population dynamic than pure health.
Does anybody think it makes a difference to the deer if the average age in there population is 2 1/2 or 4 1/2.
To the 1 1/2 year old deer that isn't shot it does.
Can't a population of deer where 80% of the buck are 1 1/2 year olds all be healthy and strong well fed and of good weight for their age?
Not entirely. Young does 1 1/2 years old or younger, that breed don't have as high a fawn survival rate as does in the 2 1/2 to 4 1/2 range and don't have as many twins. So you do set up a population decline syndrome. True QDM takes the doe population into consideration, not just the buck population that everyone focuses on.
. I would also ask you to consider the idea that too much emphasis on killing a big rack can be bad thing.
I agree. It lessens the value of deer hunting as a whole.
No one has answered my question yet: What is wrong with having more deer, and bigger body mass, and older age structure? Who doesn't want that? Who wants deer that are a rarity and scrawny and small? Who wants a forest full of only fawns and button bucks? Given the choice, which would you prefer, honestly? It makes no sense to defend a practice that has given you a set of woods that only offers a prayer at sighting a deer and a small one at that? Again, I'm not advocating legislation but self restraint. Nothing smug, just an invitation to something better.