Qdm 2010 of my small part of the world

[TJF]

2010 looks to be an interesting year for us. The winter was cold but not harsh. Food was abundant. We didn't find a lot of winter kill other then a few fawns being pulled down by coyotes. We did see many fat does/fawns and bucks when tromping for sheds. We had a very spread out and late antler drop which also comfirms the deer had a good winter.

While I am happy with the State's QDM for our area... there are a few hunters who need to polish up on their shooting skills. We did find a few bucks that were wounded and lost. Generally we find 5 - 8 dead bucks a year with this year being about the same. Funny how we rarely find a wounded/lost doe. You wonder why when more does are targetted and shot?? We found 1 this year. Sadly we found the Old 4 pt dead this spring. That one hurt as we had seen him up until the last couple day of muzzle loading season and thought he would make another year.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v54/TJJFF/11-22-090172.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v54/TJJFF/120_2071.jpg



Some of the other bigger bucks we found...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v54/TJJFF/skullL-Belt0042.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v54/TJJFF/beaver-skull006.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v54/TJJFF/beaver-skull009.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v54/TJJFF/Troyday20152.jpg

Here are some sheds of bucks that did make it...

Britney and a buddy from Idaho who spent 4 days with us shed hunting...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v54/TJJFF/Troyndshedding0042.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v54/TJJFF/Troyday20112.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v54/TJJFF/Feb272010sheds0132.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v54/TJJFF/Feb272010sheds0202.jpg

72 incher...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v54/TJJFF/sheds2010bigshed0092.jpg

bonus set of moose sheds...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v54/TJJFF/Moosesheds2010018.jpg

With shed hunting pretty much over finds us putting in food plots for deer and the other wildlife. Well maybe not so much for the deer as for the boss ( farming )... but the deer/wildlife will benefit. So far I have planted 650 acres of corn and hopefully next week I get going on planting 500 acres of soybeans.

My food plotting rig...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v54/TJJFF/100_0668.jpg

I am looking forward to summer scouting and helping the State's ODM plan out next fall with my new deer slayer ...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v54/TJJFF/newbowandcamera3-19-20100162.jpg

Hopefully some of you guys will let us look at your little QDM world and post about it. I know how important this Pa stuff is but there is more to life and Pa isn't the only state. Let's take a peek of how YOUR state's QDM is working. That would be very interesting.

Tim

[pepaw]

Wow. That looks fun. Those big 6 point matching sheds look fresh!
Sad about those lost deer. Shame someone wasn't able to find their trophies.
That non-typical was awesome.
Spent last weekend in S. TX. Recently had a 6.2 inch batch of rain.
Weeds have sprouted to about thigh high with the wet spring. I only located 2 sheds because you can't see the ground, but I ain't complaining.
Deer were very healthy. Far cry from last years drought when they were skinny and feeding all day.
Saw several bucks with about 3-5 inches of horn growth.
Thanks again for all those photos.

pepaw

[venado]

Tim, great post and thanks for those pictures of really nice bucks. I have the same problem that pepaw has with really outstanding plant growth this spring, but even without that I rarely find sheds. I sure do appreciate seeing your collections and just wish I could find something to compare. A 60" to 65" side is a pretty good one for where I hunt so a 72" one would really be special to me.

BTW, Tim, the attached video shows why sheds are secondary down here in the spring. My bud Chris in action:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KeEOl3D6odE

[TJF]

You guys can keep your snakes. We only have harmless garter snakes although there are rattle snakes out in south western ND. Your rains should be good for antler growth. It is very wet here also and farming has come to a halt. Looking to be another great year for big racks here.

Deer numbers are down and our Game and Fish Department is dropping tags for our unit and most of ND. The 2008-2009 winter was tough on deer in many areas and winter kill was very evident. We had a very poor fawn population this spring. Our unit will be cut back 600 buck tags and 2300 doe tags in the Lottery Draw from last year. This year our unit is allowed 2000 buck tags and 3,200 doe tags not counting the archey tag. We are only allowed one archery tag for any specie/sex which is over the counter and which is good statewide. I can usually draw a buck tag every other year in the lottery drawing for the General Deer Season. Last year I didn't draw a buck tag so I am hoping this is my year. LOL

I will give our State credit... they adjusted fairly fast to correct. I wish they would have cut out more buck tags though even if it meant not getting a buck tag for a few years. I suspect they would have liked to but we all know about not so happy hunters. OH well... it will just take them a bit longer to get the buck population up which isn't the end of the world. Well unless we have a couple more harsh winters.

Tim

[Bushman]

Tim, First off I really enjoy the pictures that you post. I am amazed that some of those sheds are dropped so close together such that you can get them into the same photograph. I had no idea that a state as sparsely populated as ND would restrict buck tags. That sure isn't the case here because it is over the counter state wide for a huge revenue stream, then the DNR sits back and listens to all the complaining that people can't find a deer. It is a rare buck that makes it into his second year on the public land.

[TJF]

Tim, First off I really enjoy the pictures that you post. I am amazed that some of those sheds are dropped so close together such that you can get them into the same photograph. I had no idea that a state as sparsely populated as ND would restrict buck tags. That sure isn't the case here because it is over the counter state wide for a huge revenue stream, then the DNR sits back and listens to all the complaining that people can't find a deer. It is a rare buck that makes it into his second year on the public land.

We have found match sets of sheds laying on top of each other to 5 miles apart. I wish they would always drop close together as there are many sheds we never do find the mate for. The 72 incher falls under this as we looked all over for the other side with no luck. I really would have like to match it up to see how big this buck was. ND has always been a lottery draw for the 2.5 week general season.

They have always had a certain amount of buck/does tags for a unit. It seems to work well in managing the deer populaqtion which isn't very big compared to your state. I don't know what the estimated population is for our state. I see if I can find it. I remember when I first started hunting 30 years ago... they only allowed around 35,000 - 40,000 tags State wide. This year there are 116,775 tags up for the drawing state wide with Mule Deer included. The most they ever allowed has been in the last 5 years with around 145,600 tags for the drawing.

Tim

[Bushman]

Wisconsin only killed 300,000 deer last deer season give or take and you should hear all the bitching that there aren't enough deer to hunt.

I do wonder what gets all of our sheds here though. I suspect a calcium deficiency and squirrels, mice and porcupines get them before anyone finds them. The few that I've found were always munched on by something. Contrast that to riding around out west and seeing piles of antlers as lawn adornments.

[pepaw]

My place in S. TX we have lots of young bucks that survive and drop. Not unusual to find horns when the vegatation is low. I find lots of dropped horns several years old. Rodents don't seem to be a problem. And there are a few squirrels. Not many rats, mice. I hear the coyotes pick them up and carry them when they are fresh.

In East TX, we seldom see a "racked" buck survive the season. And the small dropped antlers are hard to see in the dense vegetation. Squirrels gnaw on everything, including horns I have brought up to the house. And there are hundreds of squirrels. And lots of mice/rats.

Never found matched pairs together on this place in S. TX. Surprising. Must be something to do with no real weather issues.


pepaw

[TJF]

With the lack of trees... squirrels and porcupines are not much of a problem in my immediate area. In 47 years I've only seen 3 porcupines and I spend a horrid amout of time out and about. LOL We will find an occasional squirrel chewed shed in old farmsteads with trees or a few coyote chewed ones. Sheds will usually still be in pretty good shape even if they are a couple years old here.

Mild winters really spread out the antler drop here and the deer will use more area to winter in. It is a lot tougher finding sheds with a mild winter. They don't herd up as much and are spread out. Even in a mild winter... our deer would still herd up more then they would in S. TX... I'm betting. Our best shed hunting area the last couple years had 300 - 400 deer wintering in a section of land. Our odds of finding a match set are probably much better then your's Clay. This year we had an old abandoned farmstead that consists of roughly 10 - 15 acres produced 25 sheds including that fresh, bloody based 6pt set of sheds you commented on. The year before we pulled 18 sheds out of there. 100 - 150 deer usually winter in that area and really like browsing on the grass in that farmstead.

Tim

[venado]

Tim, no doubt that having "wintering areas" makes a huge difference. Where Clay and I hunt, open range, there are relatively few differences in say 10,000 acres regarding natural food stuff, it rarely would be concentrated. That combined with ground cover that greatly inhibits wandering around is a major reason that I find it difficult to find sheds. The deer rarely gather in greater numbers even during the early year winter than they are during the rest of the year which is probably on the order of 25 or so per square mile. Those friends of mine that have high fenced places and feed protein have an entirely different situation since after the rut the bucks often hit the protein feeders hard and that is where most sheds are found. Not only do they likely have a higher deer and buck concentration per square mile but they also have concentrated preferred food sources.

[pepaw]

Tim,
I forgot to mention that we find dead bucks each spring also. Our small hunting grounds are surrounded by open pastures with stands and feeders lining the fences. The wounded deer always end up as coyote bait on our place. Last year I found a buck that died within 100 yards of my stand. Monsterous body and heavy 11 point rack.
Worst find I have found was a pair of yearling 10 points locked together one spring. What a shame.
My next life I will carry a camera and post photos like you guys.

pepaw

[Laturkeyhtr]

Hey Tim, as others have said, I too enjoy your shed pix. I feel though that the wintering herds you describe makes for much easier shed hunting that it does here. I have walked strips through our woods here many times and have never fund a shed doing so. I have on the other hand happened up on a few duing turkey season.

As for our states QDM, LA has liberalized doe havests and about three years ago along with a tagging system reduced our bucks from 6 per year to only three. Personally I wish they would further reduce it to two or even one. Maybe that day is coming. My efforts for form a cooperative although rather loosely organized has done more good.