QDMAMAN wrote:jaked,
I always cringe a bit when the phrase "doe slaughter" is associated with QDM or the QDMA. My experience tells me that people that make this generalization aren't up to speed on what QDM means or what the QDMA promotes. I don't mean that as a slight, and I've purchase plenty of complimentary QDMA memberships to bolster my assertions, so please don't take it personally.
Nebraska is an anomolly compared to other midwest states when it comes to the whitetail. Because the state is so vast with relatively little whitetail deer habitat, it supports a relatively low whitetail population also Nebraska has a very low people population and a relatively young whitetail hunting heritage, as compared to say PA, WI, or my state of MI.
I can support these assertions via the harvest numbers Nebraska reported. Nebraska reported 37,967 bucks in their 2010 harvest with JUST 25% being 1.5 yo bucks (outstanding BTW!) also reported 39,198 antlerless in their harvest for the same year, which is a 1:1 ratio and is equivalent to just 1 deer/sq mi. While Nebraska's antlerless harvest was up 32% from the previos year, it appears to be a move to level populations bases on the 1:1 ratio reported. This indicates to me that NE has reached the point where they feel the whitetail has filled it's niche and now needs to be maintained.
Compare these numbers to Michigan where our landscape is highly fragmented and we bost 650,000 hunters each year that are allowed 2 bucks each. Michigan reported 212,341 bucks in our harvest with a whopping 57% being 1.5 yo bucks. Our antlerless havest was 205,509 and between the 2 catagories we killed 7 deer/sq mi, 7 times as many deer/sq mi as NE.
Michigan continues to have overpopulation issues in the southern half of the mitten yet we contiue to kill more bucks than doe. It's absolute insanity but because our DNR offers vertually unlimited antlerless tags in this region, it's easy to point the finger at hunters and claim we aren't getting the job done. Our stats show that less than half of 1% of hunters in Michigan that kill one doe, kill more than 3 so offering limitless antlerless tags in a strawman and the problem is compounded by our liberal buck regs. The average hunter in Michigan is contenet to shoot 1 deer and as long as we can kill 2 bucks, there's little reason to target the neccessary antlerless to reduce the herd.
While Nebraska may not have high deer numbers, your DNR is doing a great job, IMO, of managing the ones you have and I hope to one day take advantage of that fact with a trip to your beautiful state!
You hit the nail on the head. Nebraska is vast and open for the most part. I don't think most people who have never traveled through NE realize how much my state consists of open prarie / sea of corn / beans.
I do not know much about QDM, I was fairly open with that from the beginning. I did not mean to assert that "doe slaughter" was QDM. I do know that we are killing a ton of does in the state, and I also know that the state has no idea how many does or bucks are actually killed because we recently switched to phone / internet check-in. Maybe only 25% of bucks killed are 1.5 y/o, but I would venture that around 90-95% of bucks killed are not older than 2.5 y/o.
I think the GPC is taking steps in the right direction to reduce the overall numbers of deer and try to balance the herd, but I also think the GPC will be slow to act after the state has reached the point that the "doe slaughter" is no longer necessary. I have very little faith in the NGPC after watching tons of mis-steps and mismanagement.
The GPC raises and stocks bullheads. Bullheads! Those little SOB's need no help in getting introduced to and taking over small fisheries. Does anyone come to NE to pheasant anymore? What are Kansas and SD doing right with regards to upland hunting? IMO, the NGPC is filled with too many high dollar PhD pinheads who don't know a damned thing that they don't read in a textbook.
My bigggest gripe is that the state is currently in the process of clearing huge amounts of mature trees (cedars, cottonwoods, brush, everything) on wildlife management areas across the state. Why? I called the local office following a massive tree clearing spot at one of my large public spots and I was informed that the head guys in Lincoln have deemed the WMA properties as upland areas. I forget the terminology that was used, but since the land is classified as this specific ecosystem (one that hasn't existed in the state since the arrival of white men and agriculture) it requires the removal of all trees and brush. What end does this serve? Keep in mind that this public spot is about the only whitetail habitat in the area for a 30 mile swath of bean and corns between the Platte / Republican Rivers.
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