PreacherTony

Just a question ......... I was reading an older Deer & Deer Hunting magazine and got to thinking .... the number of deer killed to maintain a healthy herd would NEVER be done by bowhunters alone ....... ESPECIALLY those that will only shoot older deer ...... the success rate is just too low, and the targets to few.... the populations would get out of control and disease would run rampant .....


So..... you trophy hunters that bowhunt only ..... or anyone else for that matter that ONLY bowhunts....... thoughts?????

Those that gunhunt as well as bowhunt ....... your thoughts???

TexasBowHunter

I agree 100% with what you are saying, I just got ranch where they are seriously practicing QDMA andI am still learning a lot about it but we had a biologist come and do a survey. His recommendations are as follows, Take 30+ does off 1300 acreseach year and only take 4 1/2 year old bucks or older. If all I am going to harvest is Trophy bucks then yes the herd will grow even larger in numbers (there were too many to start with as per the biologist).

To add: It is not disease that is the enemy where we are located, it is the land, we don't have goodvegitation amd crop land to support the deer. With thelarge numbers of deer in that region of Texas you wind up having land that can't supportthe number of wildlife residing onsaid land and the end result is thedeer do not reach full potential body size or antler size.

kickin_buck

IMO there is a big difference between a trophy hunter and a person who is practicing QDM. If the hunter is shots nothing but trophy deer, that is not QDM, but if they are managing their land (food, habitat, buck-to-doe ratio) then they are getting into the QDM.

bawanajim

I really believe that many of you that believe you can in some way manage the herd are being misled. If you don't have a fence around your area then you have little to no control.
QDM and many other feel good groups exist for no other reason than to make money.Not that thats a bad thing.[:-]
Cars kill more deer in this country than all hunters combined. Cars are not selective, they don't have shooting hours or seasons.That 2.5 year old eight point that you let walk is Buick bait in a heart beat.[:@]
If you really feel the need to send money to some one so that they can tell you what you need to shoot,send it to me,and I will give you my recommendations
Spendmore time in the woods & enjoy your tree time and then you might see what a truly small roll we play in mother natures world.

PreacherTony

So Jim, you don't think that hunters play a part in deer management at all??????

_Dan

Jimmyyyyyyy Jimmyyyyyyy Jimmyyyyyy.......I'm not going to get in a discussion about QDM, I've learnd from the past. BUT, I'd like to see where you came up with that little tidbit of info? A couple years ago, in WI, there were about 60,000 deer killed by cars and around 300,000 killed by hunters......

bawanajim

Hunters as a group ,of course.

Hunters as individuals , not even in the picture.

Hunters can have an impact on over all deer numbers ,as has been seen in PA ,after 8 years of doe slaughter our numbers are down . Are buck to doe ratios any better ? ...........................last years buck kill down 19 %.

I feel our sport would really benefit from people forgetting about the biological aspects of hunting and start enjoying hunting more as a family past time than the competition it has become.

bawanajim

We're talking ten states here.[:-]
And these are the reported ones,how many do the big trucks take out that just leave a fifty foot blood splatter down the road?[:@]

Pennsylvania ranks first among the top ten worst states for vehicle-deer collisions, according to an insurance survey published Thursday.
Citing claim statistics, auto insurer State Farm said that drivers in Pennsylvania experienced more deer collisions than any other state between July 1, 2004 and June 30, 2005.




State Farm estimates that 1.5 million vehicles collide with deer every year, resulting in 150 motorists deaths and $1.1 billion in vehicle damages.

Schultzy

I consider myself a so called trophy hunter I guess. I only shoot bucks that meet my limitations (130+ and up) or I'll shoot an older buck that has no decent looking genetics. Its not to often I get my buck I'm after and usually I'll shoot a doe or doe fawn in its place but not a young buck.

How is this not QDM? I've taken 4 times the doe's then bucks!

PreacherTony

you contradicted yourself there .....

100% agree!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!! Can I use that in my sig?