What dont some people get about QDM

[JPH]

dxthunter57, I'm glad that you are showing concern for conservation/management and that puts you way ahead of many hunters, let alone teenagers. But I am picking up on a few things in your posts that deserve attention. I hope you take this the right way.
 
First of all, you need to accept that QDM takes a long time to get going. You are not going to do this in one season.
 
Secondly, your focus seems to be on holding out for big bucks and planting food plots. While this may be what we see on TV, it is only a piece of the puzzle. Do a little more  doe control, habitat management, education and herd monitoring. Let the buck restrictions take their time setting in.
 
Lastly, and this is the tough one, you are 17. If a 17 year old came to visit me on my property (the one that my wife and I work our tails off to pay for) and asked me to get on board with their managment program, I would pat them on their head and tell them to run along. You are going to have to win people over by setting an example and respecting their choices on their own land.

[northernVT]

Man. I have been reading a lot of disagreement about QDM on this thread. Maybe I am confused and it is just friendly debating, but either way. A lot of people have to understand that QDM is not a set standard. In most cases with QDM and what the QDMA preeches is that something is better than nothing. QDM has many guidelines and facets, but that is just what they are, "guidelines". It all goes back to something is better than nothing. If people want to regulate their QDM by antler restriction, that will work. It may not be the most effective way to do it, but it will work. The same goes with habitat management, doe harvest and age restrictions. As long as you are doing something, you are helping.
As JPH has said, "this should be fun". It is not for everybody, because not everybody believes in it, but that is their decision and we shouldn't be forcing our beliefs on others who don't wish to do it. QDMA has many education programs that are out there. If people really want it, they will go.
 
As far as me. I have been practicing it for the past 5 years on my property and have increased my standards over the years. I only have 132 acres and have seen a difference by just adding what the deer want and need. Food (variety), water and cover.  I am the president of the only QDMA branch in VT and have worked with a bunch of people about it. I love it, so I do it.
 
That is just my 2 cents. Enjoyed the reading though. Keep it up.

[speakerboxx]

I wanted to get the experience and get one under my belt.

 
 
Thats important. I shot my first buck this year and it wasn't anything like what my father has hanging on the wall, but for me it's the one I'll never forget. I know very little about deer management. I hunt mostly public land. I do think think it's important to keep people interested in hunting, if the numbers keep dwindling, the land I hunt will end up as a wal-mart or strip mall. I know people have certain goals for their own land and by all means do you. I just wouldn't get too excited over a person, esp. a new hunter taking any kind of game, trophy buck to chipmunk, keep folks excited about hunting and just being outdoors. Cabelas big game hunts on playstation just wouldn't do it for me lol.

[cdn1]

QDM is about doing something positive, to inhance the experience for your self which inturn benifits the overall deer herd. The hunters that are happy with their experiences won't bother with QDM. We can only hope that if
a hunter isn't happy with their "experience" they will make some kind of attempt at QDM to inhance it for the future. CDN1 

[ranwin33]

ORIGINAL: JPH
I had held to a 3.5 minimum for 5 seasons on my own property. This year i allowed myself to take a 2.5 and loved it. What do you have to say about that? Do I need to turn in my card?

Yes, I'm sending the QDM police by to pick it up in the morning.

[JPH]

ORIGINAL: ranwin33

ORIGINAL: JPH
I had held to a 3.5 minimum for 5 seasons on my own property. This year i allowed myself to take a 2.5 and loved it. What do you have to say about that? Do I need to turn in my card?

Yes, I'm sending the QDM police by to pick it up in the morning.

[ranwin33]

ORIGINAL: dxthunter57

this is what is happening up here
im 17 and have watched my dad and the other people complain for years that there are no big deer around here
but every person has shot at least one buck if not 2 in one year so he has had good seasons every year
this yeare i went up to everyone and asked that we start a QDM every person i talked to said yes lets do that...and the summer came along and people made food plots
but as opening day of season came 2 yearling deer were shot by the same guy
one in the morning and one in the afternoon

ORIGINAL: dxthunter57
we made restrictions that it had to be at least 3.5 years of age
if it was past its ears and very tall and just a big deer
than yes age didnt matter
the 8 pointer was a yearling deer with great genetics he was inside his ears by about 2 inches
we weighed in it 140 pounds
the 3 point was just tiny it weighed in at 108 pounds

I completely understand your frustration - and thinking back to when I was 17 I would say I too mostly likely would have been totally p1$$ed off about the situation.  But what I've come to learn over all these years is that you cannot always take people at their word and sometimes what a person thinks today isn't what that same person thinks a week later.  People like everything else are imperfect, so it  is not worth my time to become angry over things I cannot not change.  Life is too short.
 
My advice would be to bring up the QDM next year, and the year after that, and the year after that.  You might also think about getting together at the end of this season with everyone and asking how the QDM went.  It will give you a better idea of who is serious about it, and who is just giving you lip service.

[ranwin33]

ORIGINAL: JPH

ORIGINAL: ranwin33

ORIGINAL: JPH
I had held to a 3.5 minimum for 5 seasons on my own property. This year i allowed myself to take a 2.5 and loved it. What do you have to say about that? Do I need to turn in my card?

Yes, I'm sending the QDM police by to pick it up in the morning.

Very good.
 
Hey - three more to go and you'll have post number 1000.
 
Congratulations.

[JPH]

ORIGINAL: ranwin33

Hey - three more to go and you'll have post number 1000.

 
Sad isn't it?

[ranwin33]

ORIGINAL: JPH

ORIGINAL: ranwin33

Hey - three more to go and you'll have post number 1000.

Sad isn't it?

I'm figuring it must be a good thing for the people of Des Moines because it means your not out fighting fires.