This is a very important post Mathews338. In fact, this very experience you describe (that was repeated in every state where deer had to be reintroduced) is one of the arguments for QDM.

The principles of QDM are basically three-fold: 1) allow the buck age structure to increase by passing young bucks; 2) keep a relatively balanced adult sex ratio by harvesting does; and 3) keep the herd density well below the maximum capacity of the habitat to support deer by harvesting does.

That last point is very important. Most deer herds are density dependent, in that deer health is maximized when the herd density is lowest and health is poorest when herd density is highest. The habitat only produces so much food, and only a small portion of that food is truly high-quality food. When deer densities are very low, such as when deer were first reintroduced, each deer gets a higher percentage of their diet as high-quality foods (few mouths competing for the best food sources hence each deer gets a higher percentage of top-quality foods in their diet). However, once deer densities explode, many mouths are competing for the best foods, and often these foods are completely eaten out of existence, leaving the deer to share only poorer quality foods. Herd health declines rapidly as this occurs, as the vast majority of each deer's diet becomes only low-quality foods.

The reintroduced deer herds, once the first deer season were opened, looked just like a well-managed QDM herd. They had an advanced buck age structure because no hunting had been allowed to over-exploit young bucks hence mature bucks were present. The sex ratio was balanced because no hunting had been allowed to skew the sex ratio through over-harvest of bucks and under-harvest of does. The deer density was very low because the herds were just starting to be rebuilt. And lastly, although there weren't many deer, they were more susceptible to harvest--even the mature bucks--because they had never experienced hunting pressure before.

So you had a few mature bucks that were at their maximum potential because of the low herd density, they were at their most active during the rut because of the balanced sex ratio, and they were easier to kill because they had never experienced hunting pressure before. This situation produce the record-book bucks killed at the time. If you look at every other state where deer were reintroduced, you will find the same pattern--a bunch of record-book bucks killed as soon as the first hunting seasons were opened.

Unfortunately, that pattern can never be repeated. First, hunters would never stand for the low herd densities required to produce that maximized health (and antler growth). We will never see the buck age structure like that again (it required an unhunted herd). And we will never see mature bucks so ignorant of hunting pressure.

...we are seeing the effects of two things: 1) the herd density is lower than it was in 2006, before the EHD outbreak; and 2) the warm weather we had during the MZ season reduced deer movement and potential harvests during the peak of the rut for Middle TN. These two factors combined probably account for most of the decline in harvest this year.

I will say enjoy it while you can because they learn very quickly!!! This is also exactly where people think you kill too many, because after the first year of hunting the deer become much less visible, and many hunters immediately jump to, we killed too many, their just not here like they USED to be. When in fact all that has happened is they got an education!

I like what the TWRA has done, however i want the week after the first gun season returned back to MZ as this was really crucial this time as it has been in the past to our Rut hunting. I am not for the bow season being almost two weeks before the second gun season.

Welcome to the the world we in Middle TN have lived with for a long time! The one and in some years tow-week gap between 1st MZ and 1st gun is our peak rut time, and we pushed hard to get that gap filled with some type of firearms hunting. Good luck getting it back from us!! We're going to fight tooth and nail to keep it.

Bow Hater

That's me!!!

just pure evil!

That's what my wife says.