I was listening to and older wired to hunt podcast today at work and they had a lady on talking about quality deer management co-ops where land owner neighbors work together to implement quality deer management tactics. I was wondering if anyone in here is in one or has any experience with one?
I've heard of the same thing. Grant Woods over at GrowingDeer.TV does the same thing with his neighbors. That's the first place I had heard of it. Never hurts to ask. It would be just like a "club's" management tactic except everyone would be own their own land. Sounds mighty simple and beneficial to me. That is...if you have willing neighbors.
daviddingle, The young lady on the podcast is Anna Mitterling. Anna did her Masters thesis at Michigan State University on the dynamics behind QDM co ops. I have been very involved in the QDMA and more specifically QDM Neighborhood Co ops for over a decade here in mid Michigan. My own co op started in 2001 and since then I've helped several folks get their co ops off the ground across the lower peninsula by going to them and sharing our success and failures. In Michigan, due in large part to our regulations and property fragmentation (small parcel sizes) co ops are about the only option available to land owners that desire an older average buck age structure to hunt. Anna's position here in Michigan is an extension of success that is being enjoyed in the same fashion by her counterpart in the state of Missouri. Here in Michigan, her position is supported by a joint venture of the QDMA, Pheasants Forever, our DNR, and Michigan United Conservation Clubs (MUCC). Anna's offices are in Lansing, Michigan at MUCC headquarters. As far as what co ops have done for me personally...it's immeasurable. I own just 19 acres on which I live. When I purchased the property the area was supporting 80-100 deer per square mile (dpsm) and if I was lucky, I would lay eyes on (1) buck/year over 1.5 years of age and it was usually just a 2.5 that was running 100 mph on a doe's tail with no shot opportunity. Since forming our co op in 2001 we have worked together to lower the deer population to more manageable number (+-40 dpsm) while improving recruitment and substantially increasing average buck age structure. In 2006 I shot my first 150"+ (159" @ 3.5) followed in 2008 with a 160.5" 5.5 yo, in 2010 120" 4.5 yo, and in 2011 my first P&Y a 140" 3.5. I see multiple bucks each year in my co op that are 3.5 and I personally don't even consider targeting a buck unless it's at least 3.5 and usually 4.5, these would be the buck in the top 10% of our local herd. A QDM co op is the ONLY way that I would be able to enjoy this kind of hunting where I live on a small property, with the hunting pressure that we endure, and with regulations that encourage multiple any buck harvests.
We try it all the time with no official agreement. We just try to get our neighbors to practice it with us Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
