wi buck hunter

I was wondering whether it would pay to try qdm on 40 acres? I have been thinking about trying it.

gamespooker

are you surrounded by other rural properties?

Uddeholm

It cant hurt to try, maybe talk to your neighbors too.

timbercruiser

Unless a LOT of your neighbors are into the "grow big buck" theory then you are peeing in the wind, unless it is high fenced..

JIMRABY

well.... 40 acres is Impossible to manage, unless its high fence.
but then, a 40 acre high fence area, would NOT be "HUNTING"
it would be like slaughtering Livestock.
its impossible, because each deer you see.. are most likely spending 90% of its life ON OTHER PROPERTYS and NOT YOURS.

I do Hunt a 35 acre spot that is only 45 minutes from my house, so i spend more time in that Blind than i do at any other Ranch i Hunt on.
i cannot manage it, because i dont know what the surrounding ranches are killing.
i am Fortunate that the large ranch next door, is only hunted by 3-4 people for 1 or 2 weekends out of the year.
but most likely since they dont make it out too often, most people will shoot the 1st regular buck they see.

IT DOES NOT HURT TO TRY.. even though i know i cannot make a Difference if i Pass on a Young 8 Point buck, so he can live another year.
it doesnt help when he travels a few hundred yards and gets shot on another property.
but i still keep a "managment Mind" when passing on bucks.
just because its near impossible to manage small acreage... should not be an excuse to kill any young buck you see.

I hunt Several LARGE Acreage Ranches. 2,000 - 5,000 acres.
with strict managment and Very, very Large Bucks.
the Average 3 yr old bucks.. scoring 130.
and easily140 - 160 at 5 yrs old.

But Very Few people have access to places like this.
i get to go to some places like this, but i do not have full access to hunt every weekend on them.

JIMRABY

put it this way... if you TRY to manage small acreage and its only 5% effective..
its better than not managing at all.

timbercruiser

IMHO it depends on what your objective of hunting is. If it is a major objective to shoot only 150+ class deer then go out there and enjoy it. A problem with this is that in many parts of the country you have a better chance of winning the lottery than shooting a deer like that cause you don't have the genetics or nutrition that will make that possible. Go out there and have a good time hunting and quit worrying about leaving "potential giant bucks" in the woods. There is a good chance that you will never see most of them again.

JIMRABY

what i meant by "leaving potential bucks"
are 2 1/2 year old ... Small Rack .. 8 point bucks.
yes, a buck can be 8 points at 2 yrs old.
if you see an 8pt buck.. thats very young and small.
with a rack that only scores 90 b/c ...
WHY SHOOT HIM??

this isnt the 1800's where we die, if we dont killour food.
sure, you might never see him again...
but on the other hand.. you Might see him again.. at age 3 or 4 or 5yrs old.
99.9 % of the time, a Small 8 point rack.. and 2 yrs old.. will be a NICE TROPHY at 4 yrs old.
and defintly the type of buck that SHOULD live to be at least3 or 4 yrs old.

as i said, one of the places i hunt is only 35 acres.
and i pass up on Small and/or Average, young 8 pointers all the time.
Sure, i do worry about never seeing them again.
i worry that some other hunter in the area will shoot these young deer.

By Not shooting him, there is a Chance you will never see him alive again.
By Shooting him... you are GUARANTEED to never see him alive again.

I am More DISAPPOINTED w/ MYSELF .. when i shoot an 8 point that i thought was older.. then when you walk up to it in the grass... I find that it is younger than i thought. well, then im just not too proud of the kill because it was a deer i should have never killed in the 1st place.
this happened last year with the buck below...
he had the sunlight on him, and i thought he was an older deer.
was not happy w/ my choice to shoot at all... but i learned my lesson and Know to be more carefull next time.
sometimes a mistake is what it takes to learn. as w/ any situation.

IN MY OPINION.. i dont think ANYONE should ever shoot a Deer LESS than 3 years old.. for any reason.
unless it obviously has a Deformation to the antler growth.

IL-Cornfed

Part of ALL QDM programs is the proper management of both the critters and the HABITAT. IF you provide everything the der need on your 40 acre tract then that property ca ad WILL become a "quality" property. After that it's simply up to YOU to NOT shoot and kill you immature animals. Provide safety for these immature animals and they'll be there for the next season. I've hunted and managed small properties for many years and the majority of these tracts are anywhere from 40 to 100 acres and most all have hunting pressures from non-managers on their borders. Make your goals and stick with 'em and you'll be surprised of the good things that can happen. Good luck

BigRack23

Sure you can be successful with QDM on a small acreage...might take a little bit more work and patience. Your first - and most important - step is to create a sanctuary where deer have security cover, food and water source nearby,AND is off limits to people during 98% of the year. This, I feel, is much more important than any food plot, although plots are a piece of the puzzle as well. If you give deer a place where they are undisturbed, they will stay.