2008 Harvest Goals?

[buckhunter21]

JPH, you couldn't have said it any better!  My father and I have 70 acres on one property and 80 on another.  As far as actual woods, the 70 acres has 40 acres of woods and the 80 has about 10.  The rest is tillable, mostly in hay and soybeans this year.  The one good thing is that both of these pieces bump up against some very good woods on most of the sides.  Last fall we had our 70 acres (40 acres of woods) selectively harvested, and all this past spring and summer we've been cutting the down wood in there, making brush piles, etc to make it a better hunting area.  Also, this is our first year of putting out food plots.  We never did it before since we've always had alfalfa, soybeans, corn, etc. planted....I tell you what though it was def. a learning experience this year.  We've learned that the plots need a little more 'love' you could say than the regular farm plots.  You could say they didn't grow the way we've wanted them...We planted some Biologic Maximumm, and then some Whitetail Institute Alpha Rack Plus.  Learning experience I guess and next year we will know better on what to do to make them more productive!
 
So anyways, yes, we have prob. more acres than some, less acres than some, and the hunters around us I know for a fact don't practice QDM, but we do what we can.  Shooting does and passing up bucks 2 1/2 or younger.  Maybe that 1 1/2 or 2 1/2 year old that you pass up goes on the neighbor's land and they shoot it, but that's the chance that you have to take.  Unless you own thousands of acres, there really is no way to control that.  Deer have a pretty decent sized range when depending on the season.  Just do what you can....that's all you can do.  Most importantly, enjoy your time out there!!!!!  [:D]

[Goose]

I hunt a 260 acre farm that is qdm for the most part, 48 acres where 2 out of 4 people will pass up bucks, and 10 acres that Ill be happy taking a doe or 2 on. I personally plan on taking 3 does and if Im blessed enough a 120 inch buck or better. Well be shooting does as soon as we can and get it out of the way! It is nice to be able to release an arrow early and get it out of my system. I must say I still get shook up thwacking a doe.

[msbadger]

Well I'm planning on taking my doe at camp It's totally wild ...no farm lands and steep hills and valleys....oaks...beech and iron wood with  old apple orchards...doe permits have been limited for the past 5yrs ...until this year....went turkey hunting down there and the first morning in the blind 35 deer walked past.....besides will go down for bear and if nothin happens I'll take a deer....at home sign has me saying no to hunting doe...that may change if by BK powder season if I'm seeing doe but thats doubtful.....I do plan on taking a buck during bow season here at home.....

[JPH]

he was 2.5 not what we wanted as far as age but nobody is perfect and I misjudged him, LIVE AND LEARN.

 
Hey, I've done the same thing myself....okay, I've done it twice....and while I'm spilling my guts, I've also wacked a couple of button bucks in my zeal to thin does.
 
This is why I dislike the term "management" (though I use it reluctantly). To me, farmers manage, we hunt. Human error, emotion, and the whim of nature should always be a part of the experience. I like to think of QDM as nothing more than doing your best, warts and all, for nature. I think we used to call it "conservation".
 
My real concern is the protection of yearling bucks. I kind of figure anything past 2.5 is gravy. I choose to target 3.5's because one, I have been lucky and two, I know I wont accidentally shoot a yearling that way.
 
I will be placing some heavy restrictions on myself to avoid buck fawns this season. I will only shoot does in groups and only after glassing them.

[passin through]

I'd like to shoot 3-4 does for every buck I harvest.  Bucks--- I'd like to harvest 3.5 or older but if a 2.5 bigger than anything I've ever shot ambles by he'll probably get stuck.  Really and truly, I'd like to kill a buck I like  (if that makes any sense)  Last year my buck was a 2.5 year old 7 point that was a above average deer but I shot him because I liked him, and it was 20 years and one day since I had shot my first deer ( I was hunting on the ground again and using the same shotgun)  My grandmother taught me how to still hunt and she helped me kill my first deer and I kinda felt like that seven point was an anniversary present from her.

[JPH]

ORIGINAL: passin through

  Really and truly, I'd like to kill a buck I like  (if that makes any sense) 

 
Makes perfect sense. I think we all understand that one. Sometimes you just feel it in your gut.

[Goose]

Passing through, that says it best! Every hunter should feel good and not be harrassed if they are happy with their deer regardless of what it is. For that person it means just as much to them as it does for somebody passing on smaller bucks and finally getting what they want. We cant get to wrapped up in inches and age lets remember where we came from and how fortunate we are to be able to go out in Gods wonderfull creation and harvest any deer at all. Not everybody gets the chance or oppurtunity to do that!

[djohns13]

My goal on my Indiana hunting land is 4 does (between me and my daughter) and one good buck.  What is a good buck?  Well, my pie in the sky goal would be a 150+ buck as there are a few on the property.  But actually, any buck that I have a good shot at that is mature and interesting to me is fair game; might be 150, might be 120 but either way I will be very happy.
 
Good shooting.

[PrairieShadow]

I dont own the land that i hunt each year so my QDM efforts are some what restricted to what the owner wants, will let me do.
 
Another land owner who is about a mile away from the land i hunt practices QDM to the fullest extent and is about 98% responisble for me being able to at least see 150+ inch deer each year. I usually check with him to see what his goals are for the year and adjust mine accordingly and try to help him reach his goals. He probably takes 8-10 bucks off his land each year that are 130+ inches so i feel he knows what he is doing.
 
 

[JPH]

ORIGINAL: PrairieShadow

I dont own the land that i hunt each year so my QDM efforts are some what restricted to what the owner wants, will let me do.

Another land owner who is about a mile away from the land i hunt practices QDM to the fullest extent and is about 98% responisble for me being able to at least see 150+ inch deer each year. I usually check with him to see what his goals are for the year and adjust mine accordingly and try to help him reach his goals. He probably takes 8-10 bucks off his land each year that are 130+ inches so i feel he knows what he is doing.

 
Sounds like the makings of a QDM Coop. Plus, being open to what the big QDM landowners are doing in the area just might open some future hunting oppertunities.