Minnesota QDMI Promotes:
- Education of hunters, landowners and non-hunters regarding the latest in deer and habitat management that is biologically sound.
- Protection of young bucks
- Adequate harvest of adult does.
- Habitat improvement that maximizes potential.
- Increased hunting opportunities for our youth.
Even though most hunters start their management program with planting food plots and passing up young bucks, we have learned that the initial element for success needs to be meeting harvest goals in your area. This needs to be done on a neighborhood basis.
Quality Deer Management on a volunteer basis can work for you. Talk to your hunting group and neighboring hunters. As a group effort you will see the results in just a couple of years. How do you do this?
- Do not harvest young bucks. As a group set minimum requirements. This could be one or all of the following; 4 or more points on one side, medium mass and a width out to the ear tips, or a gross score of 140 inches. Basically this is a heavy 8 pointer. This would protect all yearlings and most 2 year olds. Width of rack is important because some yearlings and small 2-year-olds will have 4 points or more on a side but be much narrower than the ears. This also happens a lot in areas with good genetics and /or nutrition. It would be wise to raise the bar to 5 points within a year or two after hunters get used to the idea of selective harvest, to prevent high-grading. Using multiple methods will also let you gauge the deer from any angle, for example 4 or more points on a side or wider than the ears. This will let you gauge the deer at any angle to prevent frustration.
- Harvest an adequate number of does every year. This does two important things, it keeps the herd in check when needed and puts meat in the freezer. It is also best to take a mature doe versus a fawn, you will get more meat and ½ of the fawns are button bucks, the futures mature bucks. We now have the extra Doe tags available to do this.
- Apply for extra doe/management tags when available if you like to eat venison. This will free up your buck tag to be used for a QDM buck only. Consider letting the kids fill the doe tags.
- Consider limiting buck harvest to one per hunter per year in rifle season. A second buck may be taken in a few counties in NW Minn with a bow. This will not deplete the herd. Any additional deer should be does. Party hunting can be very hard on the buck population, and we don't know any hunters who like to put their buck tag on someone else's deer.
- In just two to three years you will be seeing a significant change in your deer herd. The deer herd will be more balanced within itself, as well as the environment. More mature bucks because they have had a chance to grow up. This = more exciting hunting!! Now try grunting and rattling!!!
- Doing QDM takes hunters from simply being customers to managers. This is legal and ethical hunting, and allows your group to gain control of the deer harvest in your area by raising the standards above the current level. Again it is very important to practice QDM on a neighborhood level to see results. Here in Minnesota our rifle season coincides with the rut, and during this time the bucks are on the move. During this process they will cross property lines several times a day. This is the main reason why its difficult to practice QDM by yourself. Questions on QDM? Call Clyde Stephens President of . Minnesota QDMI 218-782-2881.
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