badlandbucks
Ten Pointer
You are misrepresenting true QDM for antlered deer, sir. It's about age, not number of points on one side or a 12" spread.
TDM can be two different acronyms: trophy deer management, or traditional deer management. The former calls for a buck to doe ratio that is obscenely skewed towards the buck end. The latter is shoot any buck you want period and don't ever shoot does.
How is Trophy management obscenely skewing buck/doe ratios? Deer are born at a 1 to 1 ratio. Never shooting does and only shooting bucks is completely counterproductive to QDM. QDM is about age...of all deer. "Traditional" management practices are the precise reason the hunting quality in NC and other states is less than states with a DNR that understands whitetail herd dynamics. Trophy management isn't all about big antlers. There is a trickle down effect. Allowing deer to grow bigger antlers means allowing them to have more birthdays, which creates a balanced age class in the deer herd. Buck only harvest does the opposite. It creates an obscenely skewed age and sex ratio. You end up with the majority of bucks being 2 years old or less, with lots of really mature old does for every buck. Big old does push young bucks out of their area. When bucks are already outnumbered 10 to 1 and then pushed around by the does constantly, its no wonder mature bucks are like unicorns in a lot of places. Look through the threads on this forum about how many guys had tough seasons, didn't see much. That is not a coincidence. There is a wise saying..."do what you've always done, and you'll get what you've always gotten." If you would take the time to actually read some studies with hard evidence on this subject, you would feel differently. Trophy management doesn't mean you can't shoot what you want, it means using trigger finger management to help the deer herd get back to where nature intended. You can't expect anyone to believe that if you were given the choice of shooting a big 10 point or a cowhorn you would choose to shoot a cowhorn if both were in front of you. Every single state that is known for big bucks also has a very well balanced herd. Trophy management should be called Herd management; big antlers are merely a side effect of a healthy deer herd. FWIW, I don't think APR's alone would make a big difference in NC. It would basically only protect yearlings and lots and lots of basket racked 2 year olds would get killed. It would be of greater benefit to limit total buck harvest, which would cause many hunters to have self imposed APR's...being more selective. I get where you are coming from saying why would anyone want the government to add more regulations on hunting. in general I agree, however...when the hunters of a given state have damaged the quality of the hunting by using "traditional wisdom," the State has an obligation to protect the wildlife. If not for government regulations, we would not have Bison in America anymore, we would have very few elk or turkey. Hunters were not being responsible stewards of the land shooting what they wanted. Right now even...Utah, Colorado, South Dakota, and Wyoming have temporarily banned shed hunting. Not because they want to control what hunters do, but because the shed hunters were pressuring stressed mule deer and elk during a hard winter. Those states have a responsibility to step in and protect the resources when hunters are not doing so. The states that have instituted APRs are doing the same thing. they realized the overall herd health was declining due to harvest practices from hunters, and the APR's are a way to try to improve the problem. Everyone should indeed be allowed to shoot what they want, but not at the cost of lowering the hunting quality for current and future generations. there has to be a limit. B&C entries are more than a list of big deer...it is an indication of the health of the deer herd in a given area. Booner bucks don't show up unless all the ingredients are there, and ingredients that produce really big bucks...also produce more deer in general, which is a good thing.