Why QDM


QDM - Science and Spirit

Since adopting a Quality Deer Management (QDM) approach to hunting, I have had some of the most satisfying outdoor experiences of my life. This has led me to ponder what it is about QDM that is so fulfilling to a person that, to be honest, was slowly losing interest in deer hunting. [Read More]

QDM - The New Philosophy

Increasingly, landowners, hunters, and wildlife managers across North America are embracing the QDM philosophy. This is evidenced by the increasing voluntary and regulatory implementation of QDM practices on private and public lands. Hunters are rethinking what constitutes a "quality" hunt and how they can make a positive contribution to the future of the deer herds they hunt. [Read More]

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QDM - The New Philosophy

Increasingly, landowners, hunters, and wildlife managers across North America are embracing the QDM philosophy. This is evidenced by the increasing voluntary and regulatory implementation of QDM practices on private and public lands. Hunters are rethinking what constitutes a "quality" hunt and how they can make a positive contribution to the future of the deer herds they hunt.

Another benefit of QDM is increased hunter safety. By taking the time to positively identify each deer by sex and age, the likelihood of accidental shootings is even more remote than under current management methods. Hunters participating in QDM enjoy both the tangible and intangible benefits of this approach. Pleasure can be derived from each hunting experience regardless if a shot is fired or an animal is harvested.

What is important is the chance to interact with a well-managed deer herd that is in balance with its habitat. A side benefit is the knowledge that mature bucks are present in the herd - something lacking on many areas under traditional deer management. When a quality buck is taken on a QDM area, all property hunters can share the pride because they helped produce it by allowing it to pass as a younger animal.

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QDM - Science and Spirit
By: Philip D. Freshley

Since adopting a Quality Deer Management (QDM) approach to hunting, I have had some of the most satisfying outdoor experiences of my life. This has led me to ponder what it is about QDM that is so fulfilling to a person that, to be honest, was slowly losing interest in deer hunting. Do not get me wrong. As someone who chose an outdoor career, I have always had a yearning to be in the field regardless of the reason. However, I had lost that strong urge and fascination with deer hunting that I had as younger hunter. Maybe it was the commercialization of hunting, or the seemingly competitive nature the "sport" had taken on. I did not like what deer hunting was becoming or how it was perceived. In our affluent country where food procurement was the least of our worries, was this just recreation? Many folks think so. For me, though, hunting never felt like sport or recreation. Hunting was more a natural way of being, a topic difficult to explain. Anyway, mixed emotions and confusion can take the passion out of you in a hurry. Fortunately, all this changed when I adopted the QDM "attitude."

After lengthy musing, I concluded that the difference for me was the rebirth and enhancement of the spiritual component of hunting. This "new spirit" developed naturally when I adopted and practiced the hunting behavior required by QDM. It was a maturing process that clarified my perspective on nature by reminding me of who and what I am.

Like most modern endeavors, QDM is a wonderful mix of science and spirit. We rarely consider a wildlife management technique as having a spiritual component. However, like most of man's modern endeavors, we mix science (knowledge we have methodically verified) with spiritual knowledge, intuition, and wisdom.

QDM is a product of modern wildlife management science, for sure, but with an element of individual responsibility and reverence lacking in many modern hunting behaviors. It is part of the evolution of our interaction with wildlife, from a crude animal husbandry to a more mutually beneficial coexistence. Many mistakenly think that QDM is about deer. QDM is only in part about deer. QDM is more about humans and their values.

Time and time again, I see the words of Aldo Leopold quoted in conservation and sporting literature - and for good reason. To many, particularly those in conservation careers, he is our "spiritual father." His wisdom has stood the test of time. Born in the late 1800s and armed with only a fraction of the scientific information about the natural world available today, he formed concepts of human-nature interaction that still guide and benefit. Leopold loved the land and its inhabitants in a totally selfless way. This was, in my opinion, the inspiration for his wisdom and the foundation of his "land ethic." Leopold's philosophy included introducing younger generations to nature through the hunting experience. However, Leopold's perception of hunting was different than the public's. For Leopold, hunting was a search to fully understand nature, recognizing that humans are an integral part and have a legitimate role. More importantly, he recognized we are users of nature's products with tremendous power and equal responsibility. A responsibility that can only be fulfilled with knowledge and reverence for the source of our sustenance. QDM is a product of this philosophy - applied science guided by love.

For decades we treated deer management with the clinical eye of the technician and with specific objectives - re-stock populations, maximize harvests, produce trophies, control deer movements, etc. These objectives had mostly to do with our wants and needs: The need of meat, the want of trophies, and the instinct to immerse ourselves in a natural world disappearing from our lifestyles.

Our tool was the scientific method, and we gained tremendous insights into deer biology, ecology behavior, and population dynamics. The work was funded by the public and implemented by state agencies. Like most government programs, these programs were geared to the "average" hunter. Hunters, many unwittingly, were the tools of management in a giant wildlife management program that worked. Regardless, the benefits far outweighed the costs and we have viable deer populations virtually everywhere they were desired and habitat allowed. In the final analysis, deer restoration was an undisputed success and the product of genius and hard work.

Something wonderful happened to many of us along the way. We fell in love with the white-tailed deer and its world. In retrospect this was inevitable and I suspect our wildlife management pioneers wished this for us all. QDM is part of the evolution of man and his relationship with wild things. It is the good part. Deer management on the large scale has been about quantity - state-sponsored programs providing the most for the masses. QDM is about quality - quality of life for deer and man. If you think QDM is just about producing trophies for the wall, you are mistaken. If you want a "head," you can buy one. A trophy can be provided to anyone with the cash.

QDM is essentially an endeavor of the naturalist. The practice is all about letting animals function in natural life cycles while still providing consumptive benefits to humans. It is a step toward natural synergy, a step closer to a win-win for man, deer, and the ecosystems that supports both.

The bottom line is that QDM requires a great love for deer and their environment. Science is an important tool, but useless without the spiritual commitment. Before you dismiss me as a romantic dreamer or religious fanatic, consider the qualities of spiritual love: reverence, commitment, discipline, giving without expecting compensation, and an unending desire to learn more and love more. Marriages that have even a few of these qualities last and prosper (even during deer season). All of these qualities give the hunter the discipline and knowledge required to practice QDM without resorting to tedious rule making and unsavory penalties. In other words, QDM, like anything else, works well only when your "heart is right."

In the old days, deer management by general bag limits for a large and diverse hunter population worked, but was akin to doing surgery with a machete - it worked, but left a nasty scar. QDM gives us an opportunity to do better and be better. The most rewarding aspect of the man-nature interaction that QDM promotes is that it provides us opportunity to evolve back into a creature of nature, instead of the occasional interloper in it. To adopt QDM into your own hunting behavior is not easy. Nothing worthwhile ever is. QDM requires commitment, dedication, education, and a love of nature. You probably already have at least two of these qualities if you are reading this article. Adopting the rest will bless you more than you can know.

Phil Freshley is a soil scientist, forester, and president of LandTec Southeast Inc., an environmental science consulting firm based out of Watkinsville, Georgia. Phil is a lifelong outdoorsman, conservationist, and supporter of the QDM philosophy.