DO YOU PERFORM QDM?
07-07-2009, 02:59 AM
#21
Typical Buck
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: grottoes,va.
Posts: 764
RE: DO YOU PERFORM QDM?
where i hunt is a long ridge that is 4 miles long and 2 miles wide. the whole area is wooded and has farm land on all 4 sides. there is alfalfa,corn,soybeans and water in every direction. why would i need to feed them at all
07-07-2009, 05:32 AM
#22
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: Camden,MO
Posts: 2,546
RE: DO YOU PERFORM QDM?
ORIGINAL: kevin1
Indiana has poor soil fertility compared to Wisconsin, but an abundance of corn and soy, so we have fairly large deer. According to our DNR's most recent report we now have very close to the magic 1:1 sex ratio, yet Indiana doesn't have near the "quality" of bucks(*cough* Huge antlers*cough) that surrounding states do because the minerals that promote them aren't there. Deer roam over square miles, not square yards, and it's a sucker bet that most of your neighbors aren't as picky as you are. Anyone even remotely conversant in actual QDM will verify that attempting it on less than 1,500 acres is a usually waste of time, trying it on 50 is wishful thinking at best, and in a state like yours that has a huge number of hunters it's just not gonna happen. Bottom line: Unless you're absolutely controlling 1,500+ acres, or have a captive herd behind a high fence with controlled nutrition, there's extremely little you can do to "improve" your local herd. If your state, with it's well trained wildlife biologists and much greater resources, can't consistantly do it then it's a pretty damned good bet that you can't either. Sorry to pop your bubble.
ORIGINAL: appleater25
It's not fair to say you have to control thousands of acres for you to practice QDM with any purpose. You might not run the whole show, but depending on what's going on around you there is certainly reason to practice it.
For example: here in southern Wisconsin we have(in reality had or were believed to have) an overpopulation problem. Once this coupled with the supposed CWD crisis we all had to spend our seasons having to earn bucks by shooting does. Everyone for hundreds of miles around had to shoot does.
The does have been thinned and we happen to have some of the most premium soil in the country to provide tons of natural graze to complement all the crops. Since everyone has had to shoot does the biggest bucks that have ever been shot in these parts are getting harvested.
It may not be worth it if everyone around practices QDM really poorly, but if you have even 50 acres and half your surrounding area practices a couple aspects, you will likely see some results. Just because you can't hunt everywhere doesn't mean you can't contribute.
It's not fair to say you have to control thousands of acres for you to practice QDM with any purpose. You might not run the whole show, but depending on what's going on around you there is certainly reason to practice it.
For example: here in southern Wisconsin we have(in reality had or were believed to have) an overpopulation problem. Once this coupled with the supposed CWD crisis we all had to spend our seasons having to earn bucks by shooting does. Everyone for hundreds of miles around had to shoot does.
The does have been thinned and we happen to have some of the most premium soil in the country to provide tons of natural graze to complement all the crops. Since everyone has had to shoot does the biggest bucks that have ever been shot in these parts are getting harvested.
It may not be worth it if everyone around practices QDM really poorly, but if you have even 50 acres and half your surrounding area practices a couple aspects, you will likely see some results. Just because you can't hunt everywhere doesn't mean you can't contribute.
I love the way MDC manages missouri. each county is controled and managed on an individual basis. thats why there are currently only 56 out of the hundred some odd counties that have antler restriction. they very simply said that the southern counties couldn't handle it. im glad my county is in it cause now it forces the neighbors to pass smaller deer even if they dont want to.
