Do You Think the QDM Bubble has Burst?

[Ben Sobieck]

The June 2010 issue of Deer & Deer Hunting looks at whether QDM's time has passed. Charles Alsheimer breaks down the reasons it might be over (burnout, money, unrealistic expectations, etc.). He also talks about why it could stick around – after all, it's revolutionized modern deer hunting.

Let's hear your thoughts. Has QDM gone the way of the Dot Com Boom and sub-prime mortgages? Has its bubble burst?

[msbadger]

QDM is a bust in my opinion ...that being said the QLM that is a by product is up and running strong...I believe that one can try to "manage" their "local" herd but with out truly setting out and getting all the information needed for say a 2mile radius...they miss the mark....unless you are fortunate enough to have several hundred acres to manage....most of us have relatively small parcels...the best we can do is make our property the best habitat around and hope those around us aren't taking out the wrong age class of doe and buck...bottom line enjoy what ever efforts you make... 

[gunther89]

I agree with msbadger that many people are doing the best they can with what they have for land.  I know in Wisconsin we were stuck with Earn A Buck for many years and some areas still have it.  Although the goal of EAB is to reduce the deer population it helped alot of young bucks survive.  I believe that Wisconsin is producing bigger, older and healthier bucks now because of EAB.  Also it has reduced our doe herd alot too.  

[IsitInTREES]

Undecided.
 
I think a lot of it breaks down to time and money and of-course more property control.

[redwing]

IF QDM hasn,t burst yet,here,s hoping it comes quickly.To deny any hunter,whether they,re 12 or 60 years old and new to hunting to shoot a spike is simply hunting snobbery.A buck is a buck.

[Woods Walker]

The concept of QDM is good...balanced sex ratios achieved through antlerless deer harvests as well as bucks.

But when it gets co-opted by the antler Nazis, then it's demise can't come too soon for me.

[Nubs]

In my neck of the woods (Northwest Wisconsin) I believe QDM is just starting to take hold and catch on!  Hunting tradition runs deep around here and it seems that the mind frame of "if it is brown it is down" is present in a lot of hunters.  However there is a solid group of hunters who are dedicated to managing the deer herd and the other hunters are seeing our success.  More and more people are starting to let younger deer go so they can grow and every year there are more and more older more mature deer being harvested.  I would say my neck of the woods is a little behind the time when it comes to certain hunting practices. However more and more hunters are starting to give QDM a try around here and it is starting to show! 

[JPH]

Great topic!

I guess I can see where QDM is slightly past its prime. We may see that label fade from popular use over the next decade. Who knows, it may go faster than that (anyone remember myspace?)

That being said, I think the legacy of QDM is well established. Today's whitetail hunter is far more educated regarding herd and habitat than his predecessors. He is also far more likely to shoot a doe and allow a yearling buck to walk away. Today's hunter has more desire to steward and less desire to consume. Say what you will about QDM, but these changes are positive and I believe that they will endure no matter what label we assign to them.

As for me? I am way past labels. The QDM articles and literature have been a big help to me, but I'm now on a program that is self-sustaining and does not need an association or window decal to work. Some of the QDM ideas have taken off for me and some of them have been a bust. I will continue to take does over young bucks. I will continue to tweak habitat and offer food. I will no longer ask anything of neighboring hunters except respect for the law and my boundaries. I will no longer be so hung hung up on sanctuaries that I don't let my wife or kids hike in the timber.

I don't know if it has burst or just settled into something more realistic. Either way, it has changed hunting in a mostly positive way.  

[Swandog09]

JPH...Great post.  I think you hit the nail on the head.  I feel that most people who start QDM programs intend to follow every letter of the script.  But soon find out that not everything works for their area.
 
And eventually change or modify it to work for there individual goals.

[buckhunter21]

In my neck of the woods here in west-central, WI, I haven't really seen an increase or decrease in the amount of QDM that hunters and land owners are participating in.  I think, as has been said, people are doing what they can with what they have.  Also, a lot of hunters and landowners around here do not even touch any of the basis that QDM revolves around.  They shoot till they have their 10 deer each and then complain about not seeing any deer the next year, all this with no land improvement.  But, it is their land and they are allowed to do what they want....
 
Myself personally, I have been 'practicing' as many of the principles of QDM as I can, and this has gone on for the last 5-7 years or so that I've really dug my heels in and put a lot of work into it.  This is out of 20 years of hunting, so not even half of my hunting life have I been doing it.  The reason being I think is because I was uneducated, and I was just doing what everyone else was doing.