QDMA - New Regional Director
Minnesota
I'm a long time poster here on bowsite (mostly on the Wisconsin page) and thought I would share some good news with you. I'm the new Regional Director in WI, MN, ND and SD for the Quality Deer Management Association. I've been at it about 3 weeks and love it!
My job duties are:
Work closely with QDMA Branches to plan, organize, and conduct successful fundraising and educational events
Increase the number of QDMA members and Branches in the region
Promote QDMA programs and facilitate involvement by QDMA Branches and members
(Although not on my actual list of job duties) Help QDMA members start QDM Cooperatives and compile a list of active QDM Coops already operating within the region
Currently in Minnesota we only have 4 active QDMA Branches, we need more. Right now I am working with people in two new areas for potential Branches. If you have any interest in starting a Branch in your area please let me know.
Attached is my 2015 bow buck, my largest I've taken on our family farm in Monroe County, Wisconsin. I started a QDM Coop in our area in 2014. It already seems to be working.
All for now!
BC aka James Lanier
Thanks for the info. I know QDMA hates the parallel but why all the pictures of big bucks if that 's not the core of QDMA?
Many folks still think there is nothing wrong with the opportunity of taking does, forkies and yes smaller bucks(w/o point restrictions) if that is what presents itself. Especially with a bow or as a hunter first develops their passion.
No skin in the game either way but from what I see it is about big bucks along with the other benefits QDMA promotes. Is that necessarily bad?
Sorry for the super slow reply, I haven't been back. I hang out on the Wisconsin page.
Why the photos of big bucks? Because that is why most hunters become interested in QDMA. Once they become members, read Quality Whitetails magazine, get the email newsletters, pour through the vast amount of info on our website they begin to see the big picture - QDMA is much more than big bucks! It's only one benefit of following the QDMA lifestyle.
I agree, there is nothing wrong with taking does, in fact QDMA encourages it if the herd can handle it. We also encourage letting young/first time/older/challenged hunters take what they can. It's all part of QDMA.
Shooting "forkies and yes smaller bucks" isn't part of QDMA. Having said that, shoot what makes you happy. I will be the last person on earth that will ever tell you what you can and can't shoot.
QDMA is a science/research based way of managing deer. It's opened up the door to better deer and better deer hunting.
Thanks for listening. BC
Yeah but the state IS telling people what they can and cannot shoot, three or four points on a side, etc.
I doubt anyone would say this buck isn't a trophy but in some parts of the state(including public land) would be illegal as if someone can regulate to the hunter a trophy buck that THEY want. That came from pressure on the DNR, by local surveys and groups such a QDMA, Bluffland Whitetails, etc.
"letting young/first time/older/challenged hunters take what they can.." Why not let all hunters decide what they want to take given the opportunity?? Many will self-regulate, we have too much govt rules as it is.
Used to be any deer with a bow was a trophy, to many it still is...
You are talking about Antler Point Restrictions (APRs), QDMA is a lot more than that. QDMA is a better way of managing deer base on science. Sometimes what's better for the herd may not be what you consider better for you. Please check out our website: www.qdma.com for much more information about what QDMA is and isn't.
You maybe interested in knowing that hunter satisfaction has increased in most if not all areas of APRs - Pennsylvania, Michigan, Missouri, etc. My guess is that the same results will play out in Minnesota.
BC
I'd rather not be fined for shooting someone's limited definition of a what a trophy is based on a guess of whether satisfaction will occur or not.
Through education and voluntary action hunters can make a difference. They don't need to be regulated further by a MN DNR especially since they are currently being audited...
If QDMA is as good as you say it is people will get it. If there is a hidden agenda, folks will figure that out too. You shouldn't need the law to push folks into a corner in case they disagree on the "science."
Thanks I will keep looking at the site.
Interesting comment below:
Isn't that related to APR?? If you shoot the first 3-4 points on a side then how can you ever get the bigger buck antler structure everyone is talking about for successful APR implementation??? One of the other studies on the site indicate it takes years for recreational selective harvesting to make a difference, by then you may have lost a lot of the hunter base supporting it.
Any thoughts???
Bow Crazy, better deer management in this state can't come fast enough IMO. Good luck to you and your organization. All you have to do is go to a neighboring state in any direction to see better hunting way beyond what we have here in MN. We have amazing potential here for sure but it will be a tough sell. Too many people afraid of change and an agency that wants them all dead. Like you said, most people want what you are trying to preach, they just don't know they want it.
QDMA magazine and website has a lot of good info for land owners wanting to improve their land for whitetails. They aren't all about APR.
Com'n now you starting to sound like the Democrat platform, folks are too dumb to know what they need or want?? APR is a push for bigger bucks and everyone knows it.
I'd like to keep management on private lands private, don't commercialize public land for private interests. Again the DNR is being audited, don't need more APR regs at this point.
Mille Lacs lake management , do I need to say more???
Yeah, nobody wants more bigger bucks out there. LOL. Honestly, surveys show that support for APR increases after they've been put in place. So I stand by my statement. People are just afraid of change, especially in this state. In a few years you'd still be shooting the same number of deer and bucks, they'd just be bigger. And IMO, it isn't more gov't control, it is different gov't control. You currently must abide by certain rules. They would just be changed is all.
12yards, can you tell me where to find these surveys? I personally know many people in the APR area that would like them rescinded.
http://www.pgc.pa.gov/Wildlife/WildlifeSpecies/White-tailedDeer/Pages/AntlerRestrictionsAreTheyWorking.aspx#.VxUnCebciuU
http://mdc.mo.gov/conmag/2008/09/experimental-antler-point-restriction?page=0,2
http://www.startribune.com/dnr-fields-comments-on-antler-point-restrictions-in-southeast/193422251/
https://bigwhitetail.wordpress.com/2011/09/07/antler-restrictions-2/
Thanks, I doubt anything in these articles will change the minds of any body I've talked to. Especially the older hunters who can't see as well anymore. Maybe 60 and older should be exempt like the youth are.
Thanks, I doubt anything in these articles will change the minds of any body I've talked to. Especially the older hunters who can't see as well anymore. Maybe 60 and older should be exempt like the youth are.
Yeah cause 60 is a disability so they all need crossbows is the current argument. ;)
I know plenty of people who don't like APRs in areas where they currently are regulated. I don't hunt there anymore.
RD, you won't change anyone's mind before they are put on. Minds only change when it's been put on and they see the positive results it produces. IMO, people can't see past that first year or two. They think they'll forever be limited and shoot far fewer deer. Fact is, in a year or two, there's just as many or more bucks, they're just bigger (which 99.9% of hunters prefer). Youth are exempt. The deer hunting experience could be so much better in this state. People just fear change to there hunting traditions. It would only take a little tweaking to produce amazing results.
They all don't need crossbows, just the ones that want too. We are free to choose, how nice it is.
12 yards, I would agree with you but it's been how many 5-6 years now and I personally haven't seen the change you're talking about. Each fall there's a bunch of yearly forkhorns and six pointers and I think just wait until next year when they'll be nice 8's and 10's and it never happens. again there's a bunch of yearlings, my wife hasn't shot a buck since APR's and many people agree it's really tough to determine brow tines in late afternoons. Positive results, none, in the area we hunt. RODB We're both in our late sixties and don't need xguns! We still bowhunt.
RD, great to hear that both of you still shoot bows. So do I but if there are some that are less fortunate healthwise they can still enjoy.
On the APR thing, I see and get pictures of nice bucks every year and I keep telling my self "wait till next year" well guess what, I never see them again and I don't hunt in an area that has APR. Sounds like you need to attract some girls.
We used to wait for the bucks to become bigger bucks in the area I hunt No of metro and Central MN. Seems like every time they get to that respectable 4 1/2 yrs old etc. they cross the highway just before the rut starts and get nailed by a vehicle. Either that or poached. Frustrating as all get out to let one get that big then in goes to DNR or some unfortunate person who hits em on the highway.
In the deep brush, farther North parts of the state you have a really hard time seeing the points to prepare for the shot just due to the type of cover you are usually hunting. The cars, wolves and poachers get'um up there.
