Too many variable (outside of a high fence) to call qdm deer farming. QDM is based on keeping deer healthy utilizing adequate doe harvest, selective buck harvest, habitat management....you know the 2 things hunters have a little control over: age and nutrition. Genetics = nobody can control that in free-range whitetails. Almost impossible in high fence also.

Personally, I approach feeding/food plots as a way for me to give back to the deer...instead of always just taking from that resource.

What do public land hunters do to give back to the game? Other than buy a license or permit? Btw..that license money is paying for those CIA tactics...lol...

Savell, I’ve never looked at it that way. Yeah, I feed year round, but you do realize this isn’t the only food on the property. This is there if they want it. Supplemental feeding. Look at my pics…every feed spot is under acorn producing trees with browse they eat in close proximity.

As far as names, yeah other than the deer I got a couple years ago, their names are based on their antlers. The Split G2, the Broke 9, the Tight 8. Names are so others know which deer were talking about.

We aren’t high fenced. Heck, most of the property has firebreaks and trees with signs designating the boundary. We’ve had buck’s pictures that were killed as far away as 5.2 miles as the crow flies. And that particular deer turned out to be over 200”

Heck, I don’t care what people shoot. Maybe it’s the adrenal rush I seek when targeting mature deer. I’ve really learned more skills from trapping than anything else. I guess it’s being in the woods over 300 days a year that’s turned me on to the knowledge of mature deer. You tend to notice things more when trapping. Trail cameras are used for everything I do, whether it’s trying to find predators, deer, turkeys, or even just curious about a certain den or hole in a tree.

You look at it as husbandry. I look at it as trying to better the herd. We have folks on here who trap and only take a certain amount of critters off each property. They’ll leave some and say it’s for seed. Not much difference, except we can choose what we take. I trap for different reasons, I trap to eliminate every predator there is on a particular property, but I have a soft spot for Red Fox. We don’t have many so IF I catch one it gets released. Sorta crazy for someone that wants to eliminate predators don’t you think? Let me start catching as many Reds as I do Greys in a season and I’ll change my mind. Once those numbers build then we’ll manage them. I’m lucky enough that my landowners understand from the very first time on their property that releases are at my discretion.
We do the same thing with deer. We manage the herd.

Your cattle ever ignore the feed? When the natural browse and acorns are around that feed will rot. These deer are wild and not caged up where you apparently trap, lol. Think you’re thinking deer farms where they have tags in their ears. Not quite that easy, lol. Notice I have trail cam pics and not phone pics…there’s a reason for that. Maybe we make it look easy to you because of the work we put in finding these deer, but trust me, it’s not go sit in a stand and they come running in. If you only knew the hours in a stand I put in to kill my deer you’d laugh. If you knew how many times I had to move the stand you’d laugh even harder.

If it was only as easy as cattle I’d be killing trophies every year. Doubt that would be much fun though, I’d miss the adrenaline rush of finding them and pursuing them.

I keep up with some gee-whiz numbers each deer season. This season went a little faster than some past seasons when it comes to killing a mature buck. Took 6 days and 37.5 hrs to kill what I consider a mature/shooter buck. Usually takes 10 or more days and 60 plus hrs in a stand or blind. This is all private land hunting, except for 1 day....

.....the two 1.5 year old bucks listed as killed were taken on a 1-day public land (NWR waterfowl refuge) hunt. No selective harvest there.

I haven't hunted since November 17, 2023 (the NWR hunt.)

Georgia has a 2 buck (one with antler restrictions) and 10 doe limit per season. The NWR hunt was a bonus tag hunt.

We have openings in the next college-level course, iffin' you need some more deer hunting education.

If I was making the argument that QDM and Spy cams ruined deer hunting I would make the argument that it has 600,000 (WI numbers) people sitting in a tree alone all saying this is my space no one else may look at it , this is my deer no one else may look at it

opposed to 600,000 people working together in small teams sharing comradery and pushing a deer woods , covering ground , talking with neighbors

sharing in the harvest , sharing in the work , sharing meals when the sun has set

kids learning to make a plan and execute a plan working with a compass and a watch , learning a woods , learning miles of area land.

working with their mentors

Here's what you get when you only kill mature bucks. These guys breed too. Don't tell me you trophy hunters would kill them because you won't cause you don't want to waste a tag. I waste my tags when I see them.

The million dollar question is how easy can we make hunting before the fun of the challenge is Lost. Unless you just hunt for bragging rights and attention. Should add for food also

I started feeding some about 5 years ago because my one boy is in a wheelchair and that makes it plenty of challenging unto itself. With that said between me and my boys we've only killed one buck at a feeder. This year I only put one out at a very margin piece of property we hunt.

I do like running cams just to see what's out there.

For last 6 years I've preferred to go out west and hunt muleys on public land, all spot and stock because of the challenge of it and my oldest is getting to be the same way.

I personally don't like as a whole what deer hunting has become and where it's going. I like hunting big bucks for the challenge of it. Big antlers are cool but not the end game. I am fortunate to live were there are big deer. But I'd rather hunting be more like it was 30 years ago when a 120 inch deer with a bow was pretty special that what is today.

If you don't hunt, fish, trap cook or whatever the way I like to do it you're doing it wrong! LOL. Kids these days.

That does happen. Even family will get mad with each other over antlers...crazy crap. I dont take it that far.

Had a neighbor that decided he was going to deer hunt for the first time last year. Owns a little ground beside a place I hunt. Since he's not much of a hunter he's been letting his step brother hunt the place. There was several really nice bucks in the area that his brother had got on camera and I'd got also. When he decided he was going to buy a tag to hunt on his own ground his brother told him that's fine but not to shoot any of "his" bucks.

Yep still searching

My brother would be finding a new place to hunt!

What was worse was his brother had already filled his tag for the year

I still think a 120” deer with a bow is a big deal, lol. I just like them to be 4.5 before I take them.

And whoever posted a pic of the funky antlered deer…you’d lose a bet with me and my son. We’d send an arrow in a heartbeat on both of those deer as soon as they got to 4.5 and be dang proud of it. Just because a deer has a messed up rack doesn’t mean it genetics, most likely an injury caused that. If he breeds he doesn’t pass on his injury. If you think management is only shooting high scoring bucks, then you don’t know much about management. Management for us is taking out as many does as we can and letting bucks live until 4.5 to see what their potential looks like. Do you really think all these deer posted will stick around? I hope so, but years of doing this proves it doesn’t always happen. Heck, they could be hit by a vehicle, die of old age, or even move miles off the property. It’s all a gamble we’re willing to take. We don’t wait until opening day to throw up a stand and go sit thinking we’ll shoot a trophy that day. Our prep work starts in July for our September archery season. You first have to see what you got that year. Decide which deer you’d like to devote your time to, then put in the work.

My son didn’t have a buck that he really wanted to kill this year so he picked one for next year and has devoted this season to tracking that particular buck from his Summer range to his wintering area. In the process he found the buck his coworker was after and they teamed up locating it and getting stands set. His buddy finally shot it…a 154” 9pt. In that time he also located a couple other bucks that needed killing and put people on those. He also located a buck that had eluded everyone on the property. This buck is guessed at 9yrs old. A wide 10pt. They figured they’d leave him be to die a natural death whenever that may be. 4.5yr old 8’s are encouraged if they are just average deer. See the 120” comment at the beginning of this.

If you want to discuss meat…we’re allowed 10 does each. So just my household alone could take 30 does. Get my other son to get his 10 and we’re up to 40. My other son and his wife would add another 20, so now we’re up to 60 total deer for the freezer. Why would I waste a tag on a 2.5 year old buck for meat? Why would I eat a rutted up stinking buck when I can eat does?

Deer management isn’t just shooting “trophy” deer. Trophy deer are a result of deer management. Trapping is a part of deer management. Not so much to keep predators from killing deer, but to keep predators from stressing deer. Healthier deer tend to be bigger deer. We all know what bigger deer mean…

Oh yeah…on our “trophy” managed property this year…a first for all these young men.
They were told they could shoot anything from a fawn with spots to a 200” deer.





Part of deer management is also encouraging kids to experience the great outdoors.

WB says "Deer management isn't just shooting trophy deer. Trophy deer are the result of deer management."

YEP ^^^^^

And I'll add that the deer management is the easy part. It's the people management that is difficult...sometimes.


But, neophyte kids have a green light to shoot whatever deer they want to shoot. See the pic I posted on page1 of this thread. That young lady had the go-ahead to shoot any deer, but two 3.5 years olds happened to cross that farm lane that morning....boom...boom!

This thread turned into a crapshow!

Killing deer is quite easy for me and I enjoy deer hunting. I'd rather hunt 20 days in cold weather targeting an older buck and not get one then sitting the first time and killing a squirt buck and be done.

We all hunt for different reasons. I'm fine with all of them.

First 2.5 days gun season no cameras. No food plots but a lot of grown up thick cover in areas done on purpose to hold deer

Good Lawd! How many acres? That’s a pile of bucks.