Biology And Management Of White-tailed Deer In Alabama

hunters to see numbers of deer while afield. However, it must
be realized such enhanced opportunities normally come at the
expense of herd and habitat quality.
QUALITY DEER MANAGEMENT
Recently, the phrase “quality deer management” has become a
buzz word of sorts in Alabama and other parts of the country. The
concept of quality deer management (QDM) as practiced today was
brought to the forefront in 1975 by two Texas biologists, Al Brothers
and Murphy Ray. Much work and research on QDM has been done
since these biologists published the book Producing Quality Whitetails.
Many hunters and deer managers practice some form of self-described
quality deer management. A proper definition of QDM is the voluntary
use of restraint in the harvesting of young bucks
combined with an appropriate antlerless deer harvest to maintain
a healthy deer population in balance with the habitat
(Hamilton et al. 1995). Any management program that does not
incorporate all of these principles is not true QDM.
Restraint in the harvest of younger age class bucks (1-1/2 and
2-1/2 year old animals) improves the herd’s buck age structure. An
adequate harvest of does balances adult sex ratio and ensures herd density
does not exceed the habitat’s capacity to produce nutritious browse
on a sustained basis. Overall, the QDM approach strives to produce a
healthy, natural deer herd. Under QDM, natural deer behaviors, sociobiological
relationships and reproductive indices are enhanced.
Often, QDM is used synonymously with the term “trophy deer
management”. The two terms are not interchangeable. There are dis-
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