Who here practices QDM on private land?

[woodsnwater]

Just curious how many people on here (who are fortunate enough to have the resources and opportunity) practice some measure of QDM on their property. What are some of the better practices you've found?

[Rob]

I purchased a farm just over a year ago & am trying to implement QDM as follows:

1. Appropriate harvest of antlerless deer. Based on the habitat & herd numbers, I hope to harvest about 10 doe. I have taken one & folks who hunt with me have sworn to do likewise. Based on my limited experience, this is the single most difficult part of QDM. Lots of folks say they will harvest does but most "wait on a buck" &, once the buck is harvested, they don't have time to hunt. Oh, we encourage folks to take antlerless deer only when there is a group of same & then to take the largest to minimize the harvest of button bucks. This has worked well so far.

2. Passing on yearling bucks. It's pretty easy to learn to distinguish yearling bucks. We ask folks who hunt on our farm to make an honest effort. Those unwilling to do so are not invited back. Kids & hunters who have never harvested a buck get to shoot any buck as their first buck although we strongly encourage them to harvest does also. We ask older hunters to harvest only a big, mature buck or a buck bigger than their biggest so far.

3. Establishing habitat to hold deer on our land. Our farm is only 232 acres, although I hope to acquire more land, if it becomes available. Currently, we have two 15-20 acre "sanctuaries" where nobody is allowed go until after the season is over. One is near the interior of the property & one abuts the state line, so intruders haven't been an issue. We hunt only the margins of these sactuaries.

4. Insure good nutrition. We are preparing a couple of large food plots, near the sanctuaries, also on the interior of the property, in order to help the deer thru the winter months when there is less to eat. This year, we will be planting wheat, oats, clover, & turnips.

How well is it working? Well, this morning, I saw 8 bucks. Seven were yearlings & one was a good 2 1/2 year old that will be a fine deer in a couple of years. He has a pretty good chance, too, since most of our neighbors are on board with QDM. On opening morning last year, my nephew, who had never deer hunted alone or shot a deer before, saw 22 does & 15 bucks. He harvested the largest buck, a decent 2 1/2 year old, which we had mounted for him. He is planning to hold out for a mature buck this year.

Our biggest challenge remains primarily acheiving adequate doe harvest &, to a lesser degree, changing the mindset of older hunters from "If I don't shoot him, someone else will." to the QDM way of thinking. I simply ask them if they would marry a woman they didn't really want to marry just to keep some else from marrying her. Most quickly see that, if they burn their buck tag on a deer they don't want, they won't have a buck tag when the buck of a lifetime walks out. And, because to the situation we have structured, we have that happen often enough to keep things pretty interesting.

[jpd2atl]

I try and practice my own form of QDM. I onlytake bucks I am willing to mount and take young does when every I can. All of this on only 42acres wooded. I maintain a 3 acre clover foodplot 2 supplemental feeders and 2 year roubd mineral licks. I am trying to talk my two neiighbors into the same 40 Acres & 27 Acres.

:confused: :confused: :confused:

[woodsnwater]

Awesome! Thanks for the response guys! Anyone else?

[woodsnwater]

1. Appropriate harvest of antlerless deer. Based on the habitat & herd numbers, I hope to harvest about 10 doe. I have taken one & folks who hunt with me have sworn to do likewise. Based on my limited experience, this is the single most difficult part of QDM. Lots of folks say they will harvest does but most "wait on a buck" &, once the buck is harvested, they don't have time to hunt. Oh, we encourage folks to take antlerless deer only when there is a group of same & then to take the largest to minimize the harvest of button bucks. This has worked well so far.


If you need help with your doe harvest, I'd be glad to lend a hand.;)

There are several landowners in Calloway that practice some QDM, which is great. I've heard that times have been tough this year in the southeast part of the county. Sounds like your numbers are doing well though. Congrats on a good program.

[skin_dog1]

lay off the young bucks and shoot more does than bucks. My idea of a young buck is 2 1/2 or younger. 3 y/o's on the places I hunt are in trouble....

[bigpuddin43]

we started our plan about 3 years ago with aggressive doe harvest. and allowing young bucks to walk. The plan was to let anything less than 3 1/2 walk. We have several acres of food plots this past winter I started a clear cut in the woods of about 1/2 an acre that i will let grow up into a thicket to provide heavy cover for the bucks. I plan on adding a 1/2 acre each year for the next 4 years then when it starts to thin out will start back over with the first 1/2 acre. we have about a 5 to 10 acre sanctuary in the interior of our property that is never hunted period except by the occasional coon hound that people around us hunt. the santuary is rarely ever even gone into except usually one time in the spring to shed hunt but only one visit a year.

where has this gotten us. well last year we harvested 2 good bucks. this year and last we have observed and been confirmed by our trail cam pics of a 1:1 buck doe ratio. I harvested my first deer with a bow a 3 1/2 year old buck grossing out at 139 and an exceptional weight of 200 lbs dressed.

Where to go from here next year we will bump the age of harvestable bucks up to 4 1/2. Many people complain about not being able to do this because they will be shot on the adjoining properties but the property we hunt most of our deer bed on the neighbors property that i have seen shoot 1 1/2 yr old bucks. yet our herd continues to improve so i think QDM works to some extent on any land.

sorry it was so long but i am a firm believer in it.

[woodsnwater]

sorry it was so long but i am a firm believer in it.

No need to apologize...I think most of us who have worked with QDM are firm believers in the practices.

BTW, good luck with the outfitting and consultation service (web page looks good).

Looks like you learned something from our friends at MSU after all....;)

Congrats on the program and your work.

Jeremy Teague

[str8 shot]

weve been trying for the past 5 years to only take mature deer and let little ones walk....usually take about 10 does off our 300 acres too...since we have did this allready this year weve had 3 nice deer taken and in the previous years usually on 1 or 2 was taken...but we still need to shot alot more does imo

[woodsnwater]

3 y/o's on the places I hunt are in trouble....

You're not alone.... There's been harvest data over the years showing a crazy high percentage of bucks harvested are yearlings in most areas.

[jpd2atl]

Several years ago the state of Georgia ran a study and found out that the average age of the harvested buck was 1.5 yrs old. They changed their requirement of any 2 bucks to one has to have at least 4 points on one side. In addition, at least 8 counties went to a 15 inch inside spread requirement on their own.

[headoftheholler]

QDM is just a fancy word for trophy hunting.

[woodsnwater]

Actually, QDM is an acronym. It stands for Quality Deer Management, which refers to the entire herd. It's a management program that uses tools to attempt to balance the age structure and sex ratio of the herd (like it would be in a truly natural environment). A proportion of mature bucks is a by-product of the system. With a natural population structure, hunting gets better. The rut is very intense and the resulting fawning season is compact, allowing most of the fawns to be born before spring green-up so they don't fall behind nutritionally.

Just some highlights, I could go on for a while. I'd be glad to teach you about the program and practices sometime. Thanks for posting.

[slickhead slayer]

QDM is just a fancy word for trophy hunting.
The only people who say that are people who don't know what QDM entails.
TDM is trophy deer management, and is more in line with what your saying.
QDM is a practice that improves the overall deer herd on ones property.It includes the whole herd, and things such as more bedding, more doe harvest,more browse and an older age structure.

[bigpuddin43]

QDM is just a fancy word for trophy hunting.

the major difference is in a trophy management situation you hold the deer herd below carrying capacity to ensure your bucks get more than enough nutrients to meet their full potential where as in a QDM situation you hold the herd at carrying capacity to hold the deer at a more natural level. there are major differences in the two management options

[EKY.MTN.HUNTER]

Can someone shed a little light on what you guys mean by a natural level. Not so much what a natural level is but because you all keep refering to it, that imply's were at an un-natural capacity level. What causes an un-natural level? Why does your property if not QDM'd have an un-natural level? Thanks guys. Im interested in learning more QDM.

[hannibal]

my wife's grandfather has around 700 acres of tree farm in southwest tn. right now he has it leased to a hunting club but there's a chance the club will stop leasing in the next few years. in tn with a high clay content what should i do for qdm. i'm eager to get a hold of this land, but i know it's all woods. some pine, some hardwood, some softwood etc. i know there aren't too many hunters on it right now and have no clue where they are hunting or what they are taking out of there. i've briefly looked over qdm, but i'm lost. it's something i've never really thought about cause i never even dreamed of having a place big enough to manage that way.

[longhollowhunter]

we have 288 acres and although i have been interested in qdm for 2 years, this upcoming year is going to see some major improvements!

[WBBP]

QDM recommends that you keep the herd at 50% of the carrying capacity of the land. If the deer are at 100% of the carrying capacity of the land, it hurts other wildlife, plus there is no room for error.

[jpd2atl]

In addition, the mistake we made years ago, was having Buck only seasons as many states, including Kentucky, had. The result is that many states, including Kentucky, now have a doe/buck ratio of 20-25/1.:eek: This is an unnatural ratio, as a natural occurance is closer to 2/1.:rolleyes:

[smoke-pole]

If it aint 130"+++++++ LET IT WALK.