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GBhunter 12-15-2003 06:13 PM

QDM
 
From what it sounds like many of you practice QDM and have great success with it. heres the scenario. my family owns 80 acres west of elcho in northcentral WI and that land is surrounded by some private land owned by some acquantences(sp) and mostly public land that doesn't get taken advantage of because it is hard to get to. we are thinking of setting up some QDM for our area because we know our camp will be willing and are pretty sure our "neighbors" will too. this year we took a 7 pt, 9pt, 4 pt, spike and nub. along with 3 does. to say the least we had a good year. i was just looking at some pictures from the past of out deer pole and it seems we are not letting anything go, no matter the size. this is a new generation and i think something has to be done or we will never get any trophies. i was wondering what methods of QDM do you use (point restrictions, only older bucks, dont shoot does Etc.) and how has it worked for you. not sure about the dont shoot does one, i thought you were supposed to shoot the does to control the population. any thoughts? Thanks

The Champ 12-15-2003 07:05 PM

RE: QDM
 
Shooting does does help out there. You also reduce the risk of shooting a button buck.

Georgetownboys 12-16-2003 06:58 AM

RE: QDM
 
A lot will depend on current population and how many the land around you can carry. It will be key to have support of your neighbors (sp?). Where I hunt we have started using a few basic rules and in the 3 years we have done this we have more and bigger bucks now. I hunt 300 acres and know that one aross the road shoots lesser animals. The guy behind and south me does not hunt, Thank you lord and the other side shows good restraint.

Nothing less than 8, Must be outside the ears, cull bucks OK ie spikes and other geneticly challenged racks, and yes take some does.

The only time we have broken these rules was when my boys took there first bucks, 8pt. each but not as big as they could have been. Their next bucks must meet ranch rules.:D:D

Stump_MN_Hunter 12-16-2003 07:17 AM

RE: QDM
 
Assuming you being from Sconny...you have plenty of deer in pure #'s. IMO....#1...try and get the doe to buck ratio close to or around 2 maybe 3 to 1. That will allow the deer that use your land and the adjoining the opportunity to stay there more and longer because of food. less deer=more food. #2...set your standards to what bucks your want to shoot and don't want to shoot. Our restrictions are....nothing less than a "good" 8 and outside the ears. Probably a 2 1/2. By allowing bucks to get bigger....the more mature bucks will do the majority of the breed because there are less doe to manage. #3...Take out any inferior bucks that might have an opportunity to breed. Don't really want or need those bucks passing on their genes. We have done this to our property and property around and it doesn't take long at all. I guarantee that in no more than 3 years, the amount of bucks and the quality of bucks you will be seeing will increase dramatically!! A word of advise though....watch the herd while your doing this. Over those 3-4 years, we have taken out so many doe that we now probably have a 2-3 doe to buck ratio, but our age structure is a little messed up. There aren't enough mature doe out there. The doe that are the strongest and will give you the best offspring. This year we only shot doe fawns. We needed to let the mature doe go, so the age structure evens out a bit. QDM is much more than growing "big bucks". It's keeping the herd in check in respects to health as well. Everything that I've said is what I think QDM is. I might be wrong about some things. Good luck. You will really like the rewards if you can restrain from shooting the little ones.

trophyhuntr 12-16-2003 12:09 PM

RE: QDM
 
Well this will get some negative vive but let me tell you what i do, also i do undrerstand that our deer population is alot different than yours, shoot only large bodied mature bucks and if you have alot of does like we do kill all the does you can, less does the more the bucks have to move. People say dont kill does due to deer population, wrong if you want big bucks do you see them where deer populations are very high or medium to low. Bigger bucks are usually where deer # are smaller. Let me say this i have no idea what your deer pop. is so this might not work for you

skeeter 7MM 12-16-2003 02:38 PM

RE: QDM
 
First of all get the total numbers to within the land carrying capacity. Get your buck and doe ratio in check aim for a realistic number which maybe 2:1 or 3:1, etc for the given property/area. Finally limit your buck harvest to mature bucks vs rack size, you may have a min standard of 8 points but that doesn't always equal good management. As you may have a 2 year old sporting a better rack than a 4 year old, one is mature and the other is immature. By harvesting the lesser rack but mature deer your providing a better gene pool for the area and also ensuring next year you'll have a mature deer with even larger horns. Don't think if I don't take him I will never see him, as long as he survives/breeds he is doing more in the herd than out at this point. Maturity is the key, always nipping off the 2-3 year olds will never get you to where you want to be. Taking a lesser rack may be part of the parcel but in a year or 2 it will be the norm to take a good quality mature racked animal, which will lead to more trophy class animals.

It ain't easy let me tell you I have let a lot of 31/2 year old bucks walk that meet my min in score but lack the maturity, only to end up taking a old deer on the downslide or a mature doe but if your after QDM this is what it takes. BTW I hunt on public land, so it is never an assurance that the deer I passed will ever make it to next year or it's full potential but if he breeds a few does his genes will be passed on and I feel that is solid QDM for my area;).

thelastboyscout 12-16-2003 03:07 PM

RE: QDM
 
actually i would call it "wildlife management". i think you need to control the population of everything that lives on your land, including the type of vegetation that grows. i would first start by select cutting some of the trees. this will serve two purposes, open up the canapy to allow new generations of plants to grow and fund a large portion of the cost to plant food plots. control rodent populations right down to the chimpmunks (which are illegal to shoot in PA), this will allow better and more food supply for your deer herd. i would gather all of the brush throughout your property and stack it around the border lines. let the thickets grow tall and cut "logging trails" throughtout them linking them all to the center where a food plot such as corn or clover can be planted. if you have any natural springs or streams running through the property, i would have a small lake dug (you have the money from the select cutting), this would give you a place to do a little fishing or duck hunting and also give the deer a place to come and relax to get a drink. while doing all of this, let the little guys grow and shoot a doe.

GBhunter 12-16-2003 06:20 PM

RE: QDM
 
thnx TLBS,
should have mentioned this earlier, but here it goes. last year and we had some of the property select cut and some of it clear cut. it is some awesome habitat. there are some clear areas and some dense areas where the deer can hide. there are also some thick swamps around for added protection. there is also a swamp and part of the Prarie River running through our property. so there is ample water and bedding areas. the problem is the land that got clear-cut was public so we didn't get any money from it but we did get our roads fixed. the money from the select cut was used to buy a new honda generator and for renovations. we would have a hard time planting anything because the land is so rocky. there are logging trails all over the place and the deer use them as trails. when i was a kid (8&9) i would go out in the woods with my red rider BB gun and hunt for red squirrels and chipmunks, may have been unethical, but it was fun and helped me practice gun safety so there are not too many of those critters running around. so, we have the potential for holding some good deer, but not without QDM. We only hunt up there during the 9 day gun season so it doesn't get a whole lot of pressure, although i may bowhunt it next year. Thnx for the input everyone.

Stump_MN_Hunter 12-17-2003 06:08 AM

RE: QDM
 
Great post boyscout!! Your right....one thing about QDM that is never really stated is turning your land into a deer "friendly" place. Insuring that the deer have enough food, bedding areas, water and cover. If a person's land allowed for all of that....the deer wouldn't really have a reason to leave other than natural migration/relocation or pressure. GBHunter...if you need some help with the doe population, I'm sure I could hop across the border with my bow. :D


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