A buck is considered mature at 4.5. Also, QDMA does not suggest waiting til a buck is mature to harvest him. They promote the protection of all yearlings and 2.5 if possible. At that point, some of the bucks will make it to 3.5, 4.5, and 5.5 because they have the ability to evade hunters. Thus, at that point we will have accomplished the 2nd primary goal of QDM, a herd containing bucks in all age classes. (first goal being to balance the deer herd with the existing habitat).

1) Last time I checked, this was called a discussion forum.

2) I'm not telling you (or anyone else for that matter) what to do. I want to kill mature bucks, so I'm willing to let the little ones walk. You want to kill whatever. That's great. Go for it.

3) QDM is not some kind of conspiracy to make you feel inferior. It's just another way to look at deer management. If want to shoot little bucks, that's your business, brother.

deer management should be about the deer population is there enough food to support the deer in that area.

i have no problems with Cornfed he is very passionate about hunting and as far as i no practices his style of hunting that he preaches,but i dont care for the way he tries to get his point across,dont know him but him sure i wouldnt dislike him if i meet him.

his area is different from mine i hunt public land and probably always will i see plenty of deer on it so i go out looking for does,i get the same feeling taking a doe as i do a buck,but i will take a young buck if i have that feeling and he looks good,if we get look down upon for taking young stupid bucks then we should stop taking stupid rutting bucks.or check their iq before we shoot them or just yell at them and see if they run.

i to dont believe in the well if i pass it up then someone else will get it, big deal but you passed it up in hopes to see it get bigger, but it will never get there unless you let it go,

i helped a hunter drag two spikes out in the first month(oct) of bow season years ago. i said well your buck season is over,does only until(jan)he said he has a friend he hunts with that he can use his tag but thats all he said he sees is spikes and forks and does i said yes cause you wont pass them up,thats the only guy i ever said that to. all because of him saying thats all he sees,

of course you cant tell anyone what to do, and maybe you dont even suggest what others shoot, I didnt even read your other posts , Im talking in general about these lame QDM threads where people always make the same hackneyed commnets about shooting does instead of small bucks for meat, or QDM being the right thing to do, and then say "oh were just having a QDM disscussion, were not putting anyone down", OH YEAH, YOU ARE and you all should at least be honest about it.

I want to start by saying I hope my message can be conveyed in a way that does not polarize, or demean anyone's views. I was fortunate this summer to work directly under the founder of the PA state chapter of QDMA. I learned a lot during my internship, and I simply want to pass this knowledge along to anyone who will listen.

First and foremost, the QDMA operates on two basic premises: harvesting enough female deer to balance the herd with the existing habitat, and passing yearling bucks to promote a herd with bucks in all age classes.

It should be noted that QDMA does NOT, always support harvesting female deer. In some areas, the herd will be below the biological carrying capacity of the habitat. In this and similar cases, QDMA would reccomend that few, and possibly no female deer be harvested.

I believe QDM is a good management practice because of the benefits it brings to a plethora of stakeholders. I will elaborate using an example from my hometown, a suburban area with a very high abundance of deer. By reducing deer density and passing yearling bucks the following will benefit: forest ecosystem including plants and wildlife, land owners, public, hunters, and the deer herd itself.

The forest ecosystem will benefit through incresead forest regeneration. This will provide habitat for several species of small mammals, as well as neo-tropical migratory birds. Deer evolved eating native plant species. Therefore, when deer herds are detrimentially high, the native species are first to be extripated. Subsequently, invasive species begin to flourish because of the light browsing pressure they receive. I acknowledge that some would argue for the benefits of invasive species; however, it is widely accepted that such as scenario is not biologically favorable.

Land owners benefit through the increased biological diveristy present on their land. With increased forest regeneration, revenue from timber harvest will increase. Also, agricultural production will increase on their land because deer willl have a lesser impact on crop damage.

The public benefit from QDM because of the reduced incidence of deer and human conflicts. Limes disease, damage to ornamental plantings, and deer/vehicle collisions are all expected to decrese with a reduction in deer density.

Hunters benefit immensly from QDM. The main way hunters benefit is through the incresead likelihood of encountering a mature buck (4.5+). Also, when a hunter passes a yearling buck, he gains the opportunity to witness deer behaviors that he would not have. Calling tactics such as rattling and grunting will also become more effective under QDM. For elaboration, consider this hypothetical example: 1 herd has a ratio of 10 doe per buck, and the other has 1 doe per buck. Under which scenario do we expect to see a response to calling...probably the second, why? If you were the buck in the 10 to 1 herd, and you heard two bucks fighting over the hill, would you risk injury to investigate? Probably not, because there is no competition for breeding rights (theres 10 doe per buck). In the other scenario 1 to 1, however, there is intense competition for breeding rights. Under such conditions a buck is certainly more likely to investigate calling. Another thing that goes hand in hand with balancing the sex ratio is a shorter more intense rut. A shorter rut will have several effects, namely, less breeding related stress on the male segment of the population, and less fawns conceived during the 2nd rut (thus, more fawns will be born at the optimum time corresponding to spring green up).

QDMA is often misrepresented with suggestions that all the organization cares about is bigger bucks. Yes, bigger antlers and higher body weights may result, but only as a by producted of managing the deer herd on a biological basis. I hope that those reading come to understand that QDM is not only about bigger bucks, it's much more than that.

We seek to balance the herd with the available habitat, and balance the buck age structure. By doing so, we are mimicing the conditions present in the herds prior to European settlement.

Education is another pillar of the QDM philosophy. I've read here that it has been referred to as preaching. I'm not trying to preach. I'm simply trying to educate the public, hunters, and land owners on alternative management practices, and the benefits that come hand in hand.

I've set a personal goal to not harvest a buck less than 3.5 yrs of age. I did so to increase the challenge of the sport I love. However, I truly believe that every individual has the right to harvest a buck of any age, and I would never look down on someone for harvesting a yearling buck.

GOOD POINT!!! Its amazing how such a simple point can make so much sense, i salute you buck i , i think that people get so caught up in whether an animal or hunting style is hard enough, we forget that were out there hunting wild animals, its all hard, but each has a weakness to be exploited too, so why hold anyone animal or style above another?? Lets just celebrate deer hunting in general

"check their IQ" ha priceless

LOL.......Great post buck-i, I read every post on this thread and this is by far my favorite line. . I've seen some pretty big bucks do some really dumb things during the rut. To sum it up fellas, don't judge a buck's IQ by the size of his antlers....

You may be right, however, I urge you to take the time to read my post (right below yours). I worry the actual QDM message is being clouded, and that we are reverting to personal attacks instead of having an educated discussion.

I think a ton of people have made some fantastic points.. I think my favorite was the comment by buck-i about the IQ's of different age groups of bucks.. I also think that the point has been made to individuals like "CORNFED" that they need to start respecting hunters for what they are hunters.. If you notice I did not say trophy hunters or meat hunters or even yearling hunters.. I said HUNTERS, because that is exactly what we all are no matter if we kill trophies, yearling bucks, and or does it still comes down to getting involved in the outdoors... It shouldn't matter whether someone practices QDM or not because its their choice, bottom line..

Which only works on a local, micro level.

The problems occur when some want to take 1 or 2 facets of true QDM, apply them statewide on a mandatory level, and call it QDM and claim it's only for herd health they advocate it.

While encountering a true mature buck is truly exciting and special, it is only a benefit to a hunter if that is their goal. And if you mandate limitations on all else that brings them to the woods, there is no benefit at all to many.