So Who Practices Voluntary QDMA

Allright guys i was wandering who out there practices there own Quality Deer Management. I know this might give a slight mis-representation in that people on this sight maybe hunt more than the “average” person but who out there practices QDMA and what are your standards. Personally i hunt in area 249 west of mille lacs lake at my grandparents, and we havent shot a buck in the last three years. To say its working would be an understatement. I have seen more bucks this year than ever. So far either have pics or personally seen 14 different bucks throughout the property, with two definate shooters, and lots of basket 2.5 year old eights.
Currently we said a deer has to have at least eight points or better and be over 125″ but i think this year for rifle season the stakes might be upped a little bit. Our neighbors are pretty decent and we have talked to them about passing little guys, and i would say half of them agree with QDMA. The other half are still in the “brown its down mentality” but i still hope. The Dnr made it a little more difficult this year, in that they moved us to a lottery zone which i don’t agree with, but whatever. In my opinion this is gonna make it tougher for some of the neighbors to pass on a deer if they don’t have a doe tag. Time will tell.
So what is everybodies standards, and i by no means am trying to put down anybody who takes a smaller buck because every deer is a trophy in someones eyes and that is the way it should be.

I rifle hunt in the Itasca State Park – they’ve had antler restriction in that park for, I dunno, 5 or 6 years now. A buck must have at least 3 points on one side to be shot. I’ve hunted the park for over 20 years, and I can testify that we are seeing bigger deer. Undoubtedly due to the wolf population, we are seeing fewer deer, but we are seeing bigger bucks.

Lots of wolves though, like I said. Not uncommon to see more wolves than deer in a season.

Forgive me for introducing a different subject into this thread – My intention is not to shift this conversation to wolves.

I’m pro QDM. (And I’m not anti-wolf)

We hunt just south of Verndale..which is 5 miles east of Wadena. We have been practicing QDM for quite some time. Our land is about 2/3 willow swamp, that the deer love. All of the neighbors hunt their fields that are adjacent to this swamp. Anyway, it seem that most of them are on board, other than one group. They shoot ANYTHING, and I mean ANYTHING!! We have noticed MORE bucks, but not so sure we have noticed any bigger bucks in the last few years. I have let small 10 pointers go, only to be shot on the field. ALthough, it was a nice deer and the guys daughter shot it on the field and it was her first deer, so that was pretty cool. Our problem, no one shoots does in our group. We talk about it every year, we see plenty, but no one takes any out very often. This year may change…we may implement our own “earn a buck” program.

If you kill a buck it has 0% chance of getting bigger. If you let it walk, it has a much better chance of getting bigger. No matter how many neighbors you have that shoot anything, you are still better off letting the small ones walk. Deer have an amazing ability to surive.

We have been letting the little ones walk for about 5 years. In that time, we have made a few mistakes, but they are rare. We take some Does, and let all the fawns and small bucks go. Now we see a ton of bucks, but it still takes some luck and smarts to encounter one of the big boys. Let um grow, it pays dividends

I have been following QDM for about ten years. The proof speaks for itself. We don’t shoot any buck, unless it is a mature whitetail. If you see enough of them, it is really easy to pick out the mature vs, 1.5-3.5 year old bucks.

With that in mind everybody makes mistakes, and I am as guilty as the next of shooting, and having ground shrinkage. And like Scott said, if you shoot it, it has 0% of getting bigger. I don’t like the argument, “if I don’t shoot it, somebody else will…”

I guess if you are hunting to strictly put food on the table, shoot whatever your tastebuds prefer. I shoot the young does for my table fare.

Im the same way, I know its from living around here where theres been more big bucks to see. After you see a few that are between 160″ and 200″ it changed my mind. Don across the alley from me is the same way, he won’t take one unless its really big eigther. If I shoot a buck early season my seasons over and I like setting in my stand and waiting for a really nice buck to come by, what a way to relax, its also fun trying to figure them out from mid season on until it closes Janurary 10th. To be honest I want to shoot a world class buck if not a new worlds record and thier out there and I just have to find him. I know some guys don’t have a choice but shooting a small buck and he won’t get big. I’ll take any doe or fawn without spots for the table and I leave the bucks go.

I have been practicing Selective Harvest for a few years now and yes I have been seeing bigger bucks. Even if you have not been practicing Selective Harvest or QDM your odds will go up for seeing bigger bucks the first year you start because you will not shoot the fist buck that walks by. You will never see bigger bucks if you always kill the first one you see. On the property that my group shot gun hunts our rule is if you are not going to put the buck on the wall you let him walk, the exception to the rule would be for the women and kids who have not yet shot a deer they can shoot anything for there fist deer. Some of the neighbors are on board with us some are not it is a work in progress. I have set the bar a little higher for myself, my best buck to date scored 130 so my next shot gun buck needs make B&C. I have not killed a buck with my bow yet but I will still hold out for a P&Y.

I practice QDM or what ever you want to call it. 140″ is kinda the minimum I look for. But there again if I know there is a bigger one nearby and is killable I’ll hold for it.

Sounds like everyone posting is doing pretty much the same thing and has the same “neighbor” issues. We also do the “if it’s not going on the wall, then don’t shoot it”. Within the next couple of years soem of the kids will be old enough to hunt, so that will change when they come aboard. All you can do is try, and like what has been stated a few times….if you kill it, it has zero chance of getting bigger.

QDM standards vary tremendously from area to area. I hunt in Buffalo Cty, WI and will not harvest any buck that I do not intend to mount on the wall. It would just be foolish because there are always a couple of shooters running around.

Like Walleyefisher87, I also hunt west of Mille Lacs and my standards are not as high. Last year I killed a buck that was really heavy but only 15 inches wide. He also weighed 198 lbs dressed. I just didn’t think he was going to improve much more than what he already was. It was a good buck to cull out which is important if you are practicing QDM.

My father is 70 now and it’s kind of hard for me to preach QDM to him. He passes on 1.5 year olds, but will most likely shoot 2.5 year olds. He really doesn’t care about racks either. He just loves to hunt. I’ve tried over and over to get him to pass on 2.5 year olds, but he always ends up saying, I thought it was a lot bigger. However, I understand that his time is going to be limited moving forward and when it’s all over and done, the memories we have together hunting will certainly outweigh the trophies on the wall.