what you think..??

[deerchaser007]

I was messing around the QDMA website and started looking through the state branches. I noticed a trend ,.. and wondered if any of you had ever pondered on it. It seems states that have QDM restrictions or guidelines also seem to have a larger amount of QDMA active branches. States such as GA,PA and MS have numerous active branches and states such as TN and AL have hardly 0. Do you think QDM at state levels opens the door to QDM at local levels??

Honestly,.. after looking at that,.. i feel i'm in the wrong state!! :grin: I would like to see a map of active QDMA members by state to really see the difference,.. but it just seems qdm in TN just is not taking hold like in other states. It sure looks like all the branches formed in TN have failed ,.. and assume its lack of participation. What you think .....??

 

[TheLBLman]

Do you think QDM at state levels opens the door to QDM at local levels??

Yes.
I believe people are more interested in any endeavor for which they can see themselves as becoming an active participant, and/or already being a participant. States with more "QMD-like" regs would cause more people to see themselves practicing QDM, albeit somewhat forced instead of voluntarily.

It sure looks like all the branches formed in TN have failed ,.. and assume its lack of participation. What you think .....??

I'm not sure about all the reasons, but there hasn't seemed to be enough interest in local "branches" (in TN) to sustain them. The actual need for local branches has been greatly reduced by the availability of good QDM info via the internet, and particularly in TN, the website called www.tndeer.com

 

[BSK]

The trend in the number of QDM Branches over the years has followed the pattern of the states with the worst herd dynamics problems produced the most branches. The Deep South had the most branches early on, such as SC, GA and AL. Those states were followed by the Atlantic Coast states of NC, VA and the DelMarVa area. Once it was found that QDM could work in the unique condition of northern states (high hunter densities, low bag limits, and short gun seasons), QDM branches exploded there as well, especially in states such as PA, NY and MI. The states with the least problems have the lowest number of branches (or were the last to produce branches) such as IN, IL, WI and IA. MO was one state to break that rule, but primarily because the southern half the state did have problems while the northern half did not. That southern half drove the creation of a lot of branches in that end of the state fairly early on.

TN has always been a conundrum for me. When QDM was rapidly gaining across the South, TN still had problems. Yet branch development was and still is slow in TN. I've nevr been able to figure that out. Over the years, at four different branches developed, but all have fallen to inactivity.

 

[Stick'n'String]

Here is my opinion since I had experience trying to get a branch up and running. Seems to follow the pattern of alot of the posts around here lately. There are complainers and there are doers and unfortunately there seem to be alot more of the former.

We had over 150 people show up to our first Middle TN QDMA branch event. When we asked for help in organizing future branch events I had less than 5 people volunteer and ended up with myself and one other (WDS) running everything. In the end there was alot of interest in attending but little interest in helping so we let it go. Also didn't help that the National office kept pushing us to put on a fund raising banquet which required us to buy a very expensive auction package. I wasn't willing to sign-off on thousands of dollars on my own.

 

[ferg]

Is there an land owner issue? What I mean is - that in Mi for example, they have developed QDM Co-Ops by the land owners that have adjacent land -

I have not seen a plat book of TN so I'm not sure how the land is broken up by ownership - but just thinking out loud.

ferg....

 

[BSK]

ferg,

Not as much of that, except in East TN where land-ownerships are smaller. Many properties in Middle and West TN of 500-1,000 acres.

 

[deerchaser007]

Here is my opinion since I had experience trying to get a branch up and running. Seems to follow the pattern of alot of the posts around here lately. There are complainers and there are doers and unfortunately there seem to be alot more of the former.

We had over 150 people show up to our first Middle TN QDMA branch event. When we asked for help in organizing future branch events I had less than 5 people volunteer and ended up with myself and one other (WDS) running everything. In the end there was alot of interest in attending but little interest in helping so we let it go. Also didn't help that the National office kept pushing us to put on a fund raising banquet which required us to buy a very expensive auction package. I wasn't willing to sign-off on thousands of dollars on my own.

S-N-S,.. i attended a few of those get togethers. Never had the chance at meeting you personally ,. hate that never happened. I became pretty good buds with WDS ,. but i have fell out of touch with him lately also. Gotta get back in touch with him.
Bill asked me on several occasions to get more involved,.. but at the time i was a traveling musician and was on the road more than i was at home. SO,. it just was not possible. I sure would have liked to see the branch succeed!! BUT,. don't blame you for not wanting to fork out alot of money.

 

[deerchaser007]

The trend in the number of QDM Branches over the years has followed the pattern of the states with the worst herd dynamics problems produced the most branches. The Deep South had the most branches early on, such as SC, GA and AL. Those states were followed by the Atlantic Coast states of NC, VA and the DelMarVa area. Once it was found that QDM could work in the unique condition of northern states (high hunter densities, low bag limits, and short gun seasons), QDM branches exploded there as well, especially in states such as PA, NY and MI. The states with the least problems have the lowest number of branches (or were the last to produce branches) such as IN, IL, WI and IA. MO was one state to break that rule, but primarily because the southern half the state did have problems while the northern half did not. That southern half drove the creation of a lot of branches in that end of the state fairly early on.

TN has always been a conundrum for me. When QDM was rapidly gaining across the South, TN still had problems. Yet branch development was and still is slow in TN. I've nevr been able to figure that out. Over the years, at four different branches developed, but all have fallen to inactivity.

I've been surprised that there has not been a surge in arkansas. I sure would have thought they would have took root the past 3 years or so!!

Alot of hunters in TN just confuse QDM practices with trophy management. I've been in that arguement here and face to face with hunters. Alot of hunters see it as deer farming also. I think if hunters would get more familiar with QDM as a whole ,. instead of just broken information,. i think they would open up more to the principles it lays out.
It was interesting in your post BSK to see how QDM took off from the south to the north. I agree with WES that in states like PA it was almost forced due to amount of hunters with amount of deer ,.. but i don't think thats why hunters become more involved on local levels. I think education at the state level lead to more hunters themselves getting involved at local levels. I'm not saying TN needs to do the same,.. but it seems in other states that education at state levels seems to be a huge factor in hunter participation in QDM.

 

[BSK]

Deerchaser007,

Instead of state education and participation leading to interest in QDM in hunters, it was actually just the opposite. Hunters who felt the state wasn't doing enough, and had personally experienced the effects of poor herd dynamics, drove interest in QDM. I was very active in QDM promotion in those early days, and I can promise you it was hunter interest driven instead of state driven. In essence, hunters that felt they needed QDM the most, but felt they were getting the least help from their state agency, that became the most active participants and promoters of QDM.

Things have changed dramatically since those early days. The details of QDM may not be common knowledge (or accurately understood common knowledge) among todays hunters, but the idea of passing young bucks so they can grow older--one of the basic principles of QDM--is definitely become common knowledge. It is talked about on every hunting show and in every hunting magazine. However, surprisingly, in the early days of QDM promotion and education, that idea was relatively "revolutionary."