Book Review - Deer Management 101

[Bob S]

I have the new book by Dr. Grant Woods but I haven`t read it yet. Mobucks posted a review on the QDMA forum. I posted it below for anyone who might be interested.

"I'm not even all the way through this book yet, but it's already well worth the price.

This book is pretty much brand-new (published in February), written by Dr. Grant Woods. It is available from his website, www.deermanagement.net. I would hope that the QDMA has this book in their library very soon.

As the name implies - Deer Management 101 - Dr. Woods takes the basics of whitetail deer biology and breaks it down into basic principles that are easy to understand, yet still very thought-provoking. He also uses his vast amount of scientific research to back up his claims, and adds just a touch of conjecture. This books serves as a reminder of what QDM is all about. Even if you don't like the subject matter, the full-color pictures will keep you drooling.

By the way, I'm not being compensated for this endorsement. I just feel that strongly that everyone should own this book because we're all striving for the same thing this book has to offer."

[farmlegend]

Wow, how did this one slip by me? Thanks, Bob - I ordered mine!

[Bob S]

Farmlegend, I saw it for the first time last weekend in Lansing at the Deer and Turkey Spectacular. Ed Spin had a supply of them. The Mid-Michigan Branch is now selling them.

[BSK]

Bob S,

Thanks for the kind book review. We are very excited about finally getting our book put together (we've been working on it, off and on, for a couple years).

I hope you find the book interesting as well as educational.

Bryan Kinkel
Wildlife and GIS/GPS Specialist
Woods and Associates, Inc.

[Luv2hunteup]

Bryan

Welcome to the site. Please stop by and share your wisdom. Inquiring minds want to know.

[BSK]

Inquiring minds want to know.

Trust me Luv2hunteup, no you don't! I'm a bit radical in my management philosophies!

...at least for private-land management. State-wide management is another matter.

[Luv2hunteup]

BSK

.

I'm a bit radical in my management philosophies!

Actually yes I do. I'm always willing to listen and learn from experiences of others. You never know, that one tidbit of info you share may make a world of difference for someone on this forum.

[Bob S]

Welcome to the site Bryan. I got to the middle of chapter 5 at breakfast Wednesday morning. So far a very good read.

I`m with Luv2hunteup. We need some radical ideas here in Michigan. Of course you have to remember, to many non-QDM Michigan hunters, shooting a doe is a radical idea.

[BSK]

Well Bob S, you're about to hit the hard part. Chapter 6 is the hairiest of the chapters. Explaining the herd density to herd quality relationship is very difficult. Only once the "big picture" is understood does the relationship make sense.


Luv2hunteup,

Always willing to share my opinions and experiences. QDM certainly isn't for everybody, and that's why I'm not a huge fan of "mandated" QDM--bag limits and regulations that force QDM-type compliance. There are too many hunters out there that still just want to see a lot of deer, and serious QDM practices do tend to drive down deer (primarily doe) sightings. Suddenly does that had walked around in daylight with impunty, once they start getting shot at, start acting like bucks and keep a low daylight profile, driving down doe sighting rates.

But when it comes to private property, I say have at it. All I hope state wildlife agencies do is provide bag limits and seasons that allow the practice of QDM on private properties. Of course, the state encouraging QDM is also healpful.

It all depends on what type of hunting experience you as a hunter want. If you want to see a more "natural" deer herd, with more and older bucks, and are willing to give up high total deer sightings, then QDM is probably right for you. If seeing a lot of deer while hunting--even if most of them are does or fawns--is of primary importance, then QDM probably isn't for you.

[Letmgro]

If seeing a lot of deer while hunting--even if most of them are does or fawns--is of primary importance, then QDM probably isn't for you.

How do you keep these areas from suffering the consequences that then will result from higher deer densities?

[Luv2hunteup]

I guess I'm going to have to buy the book so I can live happily ever after.

I would much rather be part of the solution than part of the problem. I've already found out how improved habitat can greatly improve recruitment rates while taking more deer than ever before but I feel I'm still missing a piece of the puzzle.

Very little information exists for us guys near the northern extreme of the whitetails range. I would much rather do what's best the deer than the most popular, which is high deer numbers on poor winter habitat.

[BSK]

Letmgro wrote:
How do you keep these areas from suffering the consequences that then will result from higher deer densities?

Unfortunately, you don't. But have you ever tried telling that type of hunter their area has too many deer? It is like talking to a brick wall. You will not be able to convince them their deer herd is unhealthy or too dense for the habitat to support, or that the deer population is damaging the habitat for themselves and other species.

I'm a firm believer that QDM harvest guidelines are the best way to manage a deer herd, but there are going to be those hunters that won't like the results, and they are going to scream bloody murder when their deer sightings decline. Just look at what is going on in states that either have mandated QDM (PA and for awhile AR) or QDM-friendly bag limits like KY and GA. There are hunters in those states that are going ballistic over the reduced deer sightings. Although KY and GA have done great jobs of allowing while not forcing QDM, the liberal doe harvest policies are making some hunters freak-out. And those hunters are going to scream long and loud to the game agencies. I just hope those state's agencies don't buckle under the pressure.

[BSK]

Luv2hunteup,

I feel the same way. But currently my "mission" is to educate. I would much prefer hunters understand how QDM works and voluntarily begin to practice it on their hunting lands.

Yes, areas that experience significant winter-kill make specialized management more difficult. But we have successfully managed herds in those environments. Hunters just have to realize they can't "stockpile" older bucks forever. Eventually a severe winter will come along and cut back the herd, including some of those older bucks the hunters have been producing.

But as you mentioned, good habitat management can reduce the affects of a severe winter. Where this has been done, we find we can carry a substantial number of fawns through a severe winter, instead of lossing the majority of that year's fawn crop as happens in most areas of the far north. Give deer top-quality food resources during the spring and summer, and those deer have a much better chance of surviving a severe winter.

[Letmgro]

Thanks for your insight BSK!

Your deer management philosophies will certainly be another added bonus to this forum!

[farmlegend]

Hey BSK, happy to see you posting here. Please feel welcome to stick around.

Originally posted by BSK
I'm not a huge fan of "mandated" QDM--bag limits and regulations that force QDM-type compliance.

But when it comes to private property, I say have at it.

I can appreciate where you're coming from. My point of view differs a bit, largely from my parochial Michigan experience. Here, I believe if we do nothing to change regs to get some sort of protection on yearling bucks, and rely solely on hunter "education" and voluntary QDM participation, that any sort of measureable improvement in our poor doe:buck ratio and near-complete lack of buck age structure will finally occur, oh, in about 100 years.

Here's some of our barriers to seeing an improvement in our herd dynamics from voluntary measures alone:

- Unlike the southern USA, parcel sizes here tend to be much smaller. Lots of 60's, 40's, 20's, and even 10's in southern lower Michigan, where more than half our deer herd now resides. If you hunt in such an area, you can pass on yearling bucks for your whole lifetime and not see an improvement, unless you can sell neighboring hunters on going with the program. One of the many things that make it such a tough "sell" is the perception that their restraint will be ineffectual, since others very nearby will never be selective voluntarily.

- Hunter "education" may eventually have a measureable impact, but it may take generations. Your can only educate those that want to be educated, and, based on my observations, such hunters represent a minority of the deer hunting population. Most Michigan hunters already think they've already swallowed the brains when it comes to their knowledge of deer hunting, and either don't believe there's much to learn, or are blindly tradition-bound, or reluctant to listen to anything challenging their hunting M.O., or are just plain suspicious of "book learnin'" of any type. And by gosh, they've got to get their buck. I know those are common attributes of hunters in many states, but it's harder to educate by example when average land parcel sizes are relatively small.

My own personal example may be slightly extreme. I don't mean to complain, but simply illustrate a point. I've hunted a piece of ground of at least 220 acres in size for the last 8 seasons. Habitat is heavily managed - multiple well-maintained and fertilized food plots, water holes, prairie grasses, woodlot thinnings, sanctuary zones, located in an agriculturally rich area. Killed my last buck in '97. Since then, we've probably harvested nearly 50 does off my property, and, off the top of my head, about 3 bucks. I don't believe I've laid eyes on a buck which was older than 2.5 years old in any of the last 4 seasons. Over the last two seasons, my hunting logs reveal the sighting of an antlered buck for every 25 antlerless deer. Only one of the surrounding parcels is hunted by a landowner, and the rest are privately owned lands for which hunting permission is generously granted, and the cast of characters varies substantially from one season to the next.

For reasons to lengthy to get into, efforts to discuss management changes with nearby hunters have not been fruitful. Hence, my admittedly pessimistic 100 year estimate.

Again, welcome to our board.