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QDM and Button Buck Harvest
QDM
Messages posted to thread:
Busta'Ribs 05-Nov-15
CAS_HNTR 05-Nov-15
Drahthaar 05-Nov-15
Bake 05-Nov-15
huntmaster 05-Nov-15
Jack Harris 05-Nov-15
Jack Harris 05-Nov-15
drycreek 05-Nov-15
CAS_HNTR 05-Nov-15
Drahthaar 05-Nov-15
buckhammer 05-Nov-15
r-man 05-Nov-15
Sapcut 05-Nov-15
Busta'Ribs 05-Nov-15
Sapcut 05-Nov-15
WV Mountaineer 05-Nov-15
Inshart 05-Nov-15
Sapcut 05-Nov-15
WV Mountaineer 06-Nov-15
Castle Oak 06-Nov-15
XMan 06-Nov-15
Busta'Ribs 06-Nov-15
Ollie 06-Nov-15
12yards 06-Nov-15
btnbuck 06-Nov-15


Date:05-Nov-15

Does the harvesting of button bucks in an area of heavy deer population help with QDM?

Is it ever advisable to kill 6 month old bucks in an effort to manage your Whitetail herd?

I've always read that killing button bucks was ill advised, but an authority on the subject has recently introduced information that may be to the contrary so I'm wondering if the theory has shifted.

Any thoughts?

(As a side note, a little off subject, I'm also curious what you guy think of taking hard quartering towards shots from a high/steep angle?)

I love Bowsite!

Date:05-Nov-15

Depends on herd size I would say......too many deer on a property is not good in general regardless of sex. If you have too many deer I would focus on does and if some buttons get killed. ....no biggy.

If your herd is pretty much in check then the closer you can get to a balanced herd the better......really depends on what you are managing for. Do you want less deer but trophy deer?

What was the reason for the author saying to shoot buttons?

Regarding the shot.......if you can make it, take it......may have to aim just in front of the ham though.....heavy arrows will help too.

Date:05-Nov-15

if you shoot button bucks how are you going to have mature bucks ? Hard quartering away shots ,yes I take them, aim for the off had leg. Forrest

By: Bake
Date:05-Nov-15

Who's the authority?

My read on QDMA's stance on button buck harvest was that up to 10% buttons being harvested would not hurt overall buck herd health

My impression was that part of that 10% stance was that discouraging button harvest altogether might have an adverse impact on doe harvest, as hunters would be scared to make a mistake, and harvest less does.

Date:05-Nov-15

Do you have a link to the authorities posted info?

As Bake stated 10% is a general rule. I certainly wouldn't target them no different than not targeting yearlings, but if you are after does, you will end up with a few BB's that are shot as a mistake. Don't fret it, just go shoot a doe if the population needs it.

Date:05-Nov-15

Date:05-Nov-15

Shoot whatever is legal and makes you happy. I see no logic where shooting tomorrow's trophy just months after he is born will achieve the goals of QDMA. As for hard quartering to shots from high above - I think it's very unethical and I won't back down off that. Quartering away - love it. If you are on the ground and a good shot I think there is a place for the hard quartering-to or frontal shot.

Date:05-Nov-15

Speaking just for myself here. I would not shoot a button on purpose.

And the hard quartering to shot definately needs to be from ground level and damn close.

Date:05-Nov-15

Sorry about my original response on the shot......I though it said away, not to.......I wouldn't take it.

Date:05-Nov-15

yes me too , I don't take frontal shots. Forrest

Date:05-Nov-15

Why would you ever want to shoot a button buck???

Mistake a button buck for a doe. Never understood that either.

By: r-man
Date:05-Nov-15

I would large the large spikes , I would like to see what the young ones sport next year for head gear

By: Sapcut
Date:05-Nov-15

OF COURSE NOT! It is never sound management to harvest young bucks....unless your goal is to eliminate the buck population.

Date:05-Nov-15
Busta'Ribs's Supporting Link

Always learn something here.

See attached link to info I mentioned above.

By: Sapcut
Date:05-Nov-15

Certainly there are young bucks taken by mistake. Assuming the objective is QDM, accidentally taking a few buck fawns is not a problem as long as you intentionally pass all the young bucks that you know are not 3.5 years old.

If a population is higher than it could be to be very healthy then the only sound management way to decrease the mouths in the herd, is taking female deer. Never young bucks.

There are too many other reasons and ways that bucks decrease themselves naturally. The last thing that needs to happen is for US to intentionally take them before they are ripe for the pickin. That is the short of my opinion as a wildlife biologist and consultant the last 20+ years.

Date:05-Nov-15

Bucks get themselves into enough trouble throughout life to try and justify killing a young one, if QDM is your goal. I don't care what authority says differently. God Bless

Date:05-Nov-15

So what this is really about is you taking a cheap shot at herdmanager!

By: Sapcut
Date:05-Nov-15

I believe herdmanager said he took the button buck by mistake....efforting toward killing a doe. If herdmanager took the young buck intentionally I would suggest what a stupid thing he did, IMO.

Date:06-Nov-15

FWIW, I posted that first post without looking at the link the OP provided. I shouldn't have done that after returning here and seeing why this thread was ever stated.

To Herdmanager, my response was based on my impression the link was a magazine article. And, was not intended to be a personal reply to your earlier thread.

God Bless men

Date:06-Nov-15

One simple way to avoid killing button bucks, especially pre-rut through post-rut, is, don't shoot solitary deer. A solitary deer will almost always be a button or spike buck. Without mama, they lark around the woods like a teenager with a new driver's license and a tank full of gas.

By: XMan
Date:06-Nov-15

Ah I see Busta, lets bust someone else's chops....and who is the so called expert here....moving on.

someone here is just being a jerk.

Date:06-Nov-15

I don't understand the logic in killing 6 month old bucks. Even in areas overpopulated with deer. Kill the does, not the juvenile bucks.

The question I had was in response to the statement HM made that he hunts in an area that is over run with deer, thereby justifying the taking of 6 month old bucks.

Wasn't a cheap shot, just trying to learn more about QDM.

I admit the question on the shot selection was a little bit of a shot at my buddy, HM. Couldn't resist that. But it wasn't cheap. I just can't understand why it's so important to kill an animal that you compromise your shot selection instead of simply waiting for the animal to offer a higher percentage angle, or even waiting for another day.

But maybe that's just me?

By: Ollie
Date:06-Nov-15

I never deliberately shoot a button buck. It does not make sense if you want to increase your buck population. That said I have mistakenly shot two buttons the last 14 years that I had mistaken as yearling does and have not lost any sleep over it. I try to wear binocs in my stand and look a deer over really good prior to shooting to ensure I don't make a mistake. This approach has saved me on several occasions near dark when I thought an approaching deer was a doe but instead turned out to be a small spike. Would have hated to punch my buck tag on a small spike.

Date:06-Nov-15

Most research shows that button bucks disperse quite a distance away from where they are born. If you don't shoot them, they will likely leave your land anyways unless you own a heck of a lot of land. However, you will be shooting someone else's future bucks. I try not to shoot them, but have mistaken them a couple times for yearling does. In fact I shot one last year by mistake. I was pissed at myself, but got over it quickly, especially when I took my first bite.

Date:06-Nov-15

Not sure how true it is but I've been told that if the doe gets killed that the buck fawn would not leave the area\disperse to a different area.


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