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buckeye dan, on 07 September 2010 - 06:58 AM, said:
First of all, antler restrictions have little to do with QDM. That detail was added by people who benefit from the commercial element for the most part. The trophy hunters jumped on the QDM band wagon for their own selfish interests as well.
There is one very critical component in the development of a species that holds true across the board. The one critical thing that takes place in the prime of all mammal's existence. Resistance to disease. I am sure all of you have seen health warnings for the very young and the elderly. Several flu strains are fatal to children and the elderly. I am using a human analogy here but it does translate to all living mammals.
When we are very young our bodies have little resistance to anything that was not genetically passed on to us. When we get very old we lack the fortitude and chemistry to fight off disease as efficiently as we could in the peak of our health.
I don't want to spoil my article so I'll stop with a couple of questions. What happens when your youth continually repopulates your youth? Do we grow veterans that are in the peak of their health that have survived many potentially fatal things that impact the young and old? Maybe just maybe we exploit that youth and it's unlimited ability to reproduce and make more mammals faster than our loss of them from any root source?
In a controlled environment like a cattle ranch or a chicken barn there is some flexibility for playing God. We can only allow certain males to come in contact with certain females and selectively breed in and out the traits we need. In the wild we have no such luxury. We need as many middle aged prime animals to survive everything they can and pass on what their genetic code has learned to the next generation.
There is one very critical component in the development of a species that holds true across the board. The one critical thing that takes place in the prime of all mammal's existence. Resistance to disease. I am sure all of you have seen health warnings for the very young and the elderly. Several flu strains are fatal to children and the elderly. I am using a human analogy here but it does translate to all living mammals.
When we are very young our bodies have little resistance to anything that was not genetically passed on to us. When we get very old we lack the fortitude and chemistry to fight off disease as efficiently as we could in the peak of our health.
I don't want to spoil my article so I'll stop with a couple of questions. What happens when your youth continually repopulates your youth? Do we grow veterans that are in the peak of their health that have survived many potentially fatal things that impact the young and old? Maybe just maybe we exploit that youth and it's unlimited ability to reproduce and make more mammals faster than our loss of them from any root source?
In a controlled environment like a cattle ranch or a chicken barn there is some flexibility for playing God. We can only allow certain males to come in contact with certain females and selectively breed in and out the traits we need. In the wild we have no such luxury. We need as many middle aged prime animals to survive everything they can and pass on what their genetic code has learned to the next generation.
Great addition to the thread, Buckeye Dan. I even read what you posted.LOL. Seriously, I dumped all of my observations and assumptions under the QDM umbrella, just out of ignorance I suppose. A prime example of the deer herd being affected by disease is CWD that popped up across the border from MN, over in WI a few years back. You pretty much nailed it. Sorry for hijacking the thread with my frustrations. It can be tough sometimes living in a liberal state like MN with the way govt. operates. I do,however, look forward to your article.
