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The Tale of a QDM Club by Dave Edwards
Own Your Own by Virgil Peritts
What Is TSI? by Matt Ross, QDMA
Native vs. Non-Native by Gabriel Karns, M. Colter Chitwood, Chris Moorman, and Dr. Chris DePerno
Oaks For Bucks by Chris Moorman
Deer Season: A Time For Kids by Stephanie Mallory
The Need For Minerals by Brian Murphy, QDMA
Perlitz Ranch Hosts Youth Camp by Kelly Haydel
Timing the Rut With Fawns by Gabriel Karns, M. Colter Chitwood
Ecological Reasons For Hunting by Dr. R. Larry Marchinton and Dr. Karl V. Miller
What percentage of a buck's antler development potential comes from the doe's genes? by Realtree Whitetail Team
Where were the bucks? by Team Realtree
Growths on Deer? by Team Realtree
How Many Teats? by Team Realtree
Why No Oaks? by Team Realtree
Special thanks to:
Quality Deer
Management Association
Land Management
Seek Professional Help
Most folks know when they have a toothache they should see a dentist or if they need help filing taxes to seek advice from an accountant. However, most have no clue where to get help to manage a deer population. I may be biased, but there is no better resource to guide your deer management activities than a wildlife biologist. Our average IQ may not be as high as the average dentist or accountant, but we are incredibly qualified to give unprejudiced and deliberate recommendations to help you meet your management objectives.
Most deer biologists are also avid deer hunters. We have advanced degrees in wildlife biology and we immerse ourselves in wildlife management 40-plus hours a week. I’m not saying biologists have supernatural powers that enable us to see and think like deer, but we do have most of the necessary resources to manage wildlife at our fingertips. No book, magazine, website or TV show -- regardless of how accurate it is -- can replace face-to-face contact and site-specific guidance from a wildlife biologist.
Biologists get into the profession because we're passionate about the resources we manage and we enjoy sharing information with fellow outdoor enthusiasts. We look forward to building relationships with like-minded members of the public. Chances are there are wildlife biologists near you that are more than happy to evaluate your property and give management recommendations. However, biologists often lack marketing and advertising skills which means we're sometimes difficult to locate.
Most state wildlife agencies have multiple wildlife biologists that work with private landowners free of charge. Federal agencies like the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, non-governmental organizations like the Quality Deer Management Association and some private consultants also have wildlife biologists on staff. You probably won’t find your local wildlife biologist in the yellow pages; but that contact information should be available through your state wildlife agency headquarters or through other agencies that commonly work with wildlife biologists, like the Cooperative Extension Service or state forest service.
It is important to remember that each agency and non-governmental organization has its own specialty. Even organizations that seem similar can have different missions and provide different services. To further complicate matters, there are divisions, sections and staff within agencies and organizations that have their own area of expertise.
When looking for help, remember to have a clearly-defined objective for your property and insist on getting the appropriate professional help needed to meet your objective. If your main objective is to manage your property to improve the quality of your deer herd, then you should be getting advice from a wildlife biologist. After all, you wouldn’t trust an optometrist to give advice on a toothache.
About the author: Jonathan Shaw received his Ph.D. from North Carolina State University studying white-tailed deer mating systems and dispersal ecology at Chesapeake Farms, MD. As a District Wildlife Biologist for the NC Wildlife Resources Commission, he works with landowners to manage deer and other wildlife.