Larry

Could QDM be a prime factor in the lower number of deer sightings? We all heard it at the end of deer season on wed sites or in publications from other hunters; I hunted all season and only saw 6 deer all season. Then we start looking for someone or something to blame. We blame the DEC because we think the herd size estimates are wrong, we blame coyotes, to many nuisance permits being given out and even cars. All these are factors and there are more one of the biggest factors is hardly mentioned and that’s “US” myself included. When we all first started to hear about QDM and its management style; we were told if we wanted to see bigger bucks we needed to let small bucks walk, manage does (kill more does) this is not the same as antlerless. We were told the buck to doe ratio was way off and needed to be 1 to 1 this ratio is not correct. The harvesting of doe’s makes scents; to control a population you need to add or subtract females. We were also told that if we killed Does we would see more bucks. I do not think that is necessarily true and I can prove it. When I say doe’s I mean females 1.5 years old and older not antlerless. Because at any time before the deer season ½ to 2/3’s of the antlerless population on a piece of land are fawns. If on your land you have 15 doe’s and 5 bucks (1.5 years and older) and you kill 10 doe’s and no bucks you still only have 5 bucks. What you have done is reduced the number of doe’s by 2/3’s. What you will see are more buck sightings per doe sighting and you will see fewer fawns the next year. Another example is in Allegany County a farmer started a QDM program on his 1700 acres. He went out at night spot lighting to see what kind of deer he had and he saw lots of antlerless deer. For 3 years they took over 40 doe’s a year using DMP’s and DMAP’s. He would let you hunt there but you had to kill doe’s no bucks. They would kill a few big bucks. Then in years 4-6 they started to kill fewer and fewer doe’s by year 6 they killed less than 10 doe’s and no bucks, saw plenty of bucks before the season but killed none. Funny thing started to happen, his neighbors started to kill big bucks. They were not killing off their doe’s so the bucks were moving to where the does are. What I believe he did was not only destroy his doe population he also destroyed the age structure of his doe herd. This is what I believe we are doing under the miss guided concept of killing doe’s gives you more bucks and the myth of the 1 to 1 buck to doe ratio. If anyone can show me how killing doe’s can give you more bucks that’s a trick I would like to see. With a birth rate at 50/50 bucks to doe’s I am not advocating not shooting doe’s; what I am advocating is be careful on how many and where in the age structure you harvest the doe’s from.

the camp i hunt out of has no alcohol in camp that dosn't mean we don't have a beer or 2 at dinner when we go out. but we are at camp to hunt not party

thanks not going out till next week my wifes sister passed away at 49

remember on some of the hunting shows he is a cull only 8pt's just ask lee & tiffiny

IS THIS MY GOOD SIDE

OMG IT'S A REAL BIGFOOT!!!

try this take a 22 or 17 if you have one so you can shoot some squirrles they are good practice

First thing we don’t use iron in gun barrels we use something called barrel steel there is a difference between iron and steel. Shotgun barrel mostly have a twist rate of 1 in 35 or 36 there a few with 1 in 28 rates. What this mean if you have a rate of 1/35 the rifling makes 1 full turn in 35 inches as compared to a rifle that could have a rate of 1/9. Also the rifling on a shotgun isn’t as deep. Now for the slug has “rifling” this so called rifling primary use is to help with barrel fit, not to put a spin on the slug. It may or may not in part a spin on the slug though air going what’s left of the rifling in while in flight. What keep a rifle slug going straight is it weight forward design. When going through a rifled barrel the barrel will put rifling on the slug only where there is contact between the barrel and the slug it will still put a spin on the slug.

just to let you know you can use rifled slugs in a rifled barrel. you have Soft lead in a steel barrel the worst that can happen is the rifling will get full of lead and make it a bitch to clean.Buck hammer and most brenneke’s are lead

I hunted bear once and caught pneumonia and almost got arrested me hunting bear is not something you want to see in the woods

they say moose were made from left over parts

checked the trail cam's this weekend. here is some of whats on them

by time they see the barrel you should of put them on the ground. You’re over analyzing.

my son got a 9p

the 17 is good on squirrels as long as you are not eatting them it tares them up

What do you consider to be poor genetics? Is it rack size because if that is what you use to determine genetic quality, then there’s a good chance you are shooting good deer there are many other factors that come into play in determining rack size. I’ll give you two examples; where I hunt I have seen 1 spike in the last 7 or 8 years is it better genetics or better habitat or some other factor. I shot a 6pt 2 years ago it was 31/2 years old it dressed at 193lb is that poor genetics? The deer was healthy it just didn’t have any G1’s and if it was poor genes where did they come from the mother or the father. The bottom line is hunting is suppose to be fun. Don’t make it so much like work.

both shots were about 20 yd's head shots one shot one kill

all i can say is they B fast and i B slow

I have only tried this once. I killed a deer in the afternoon gutted by my stand took the deer home got my 17 HMR went back to my stand and hunted to 10pm and killed 2 coyotes, Out of my stand.

the last 3d i shot, i shot 293. shooting 1 tomarrow

Oh man I just blew chunks all over my computer.

This bill is not even out of committee it more than likely will die there remember DEC wants 150 foot rule for bow

Could it be Epizootic Hemorrhagic Disease (EHD) ? it is transmitted by insect bites.

This will work get out and hunt as often as you from November 1st to the start of gun season

It’s hard to tell while he is in velvet but I do know in most qdm places or on TV he would be a management buck you know a cull.