From March 3-6, Brent Miller, Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation’s (CSF) Northeastern States Director, represented CSF at the Quality Deer Management Association’s (QDMA) Whitetail Summit. The Summit, held at Bass Pro Shop’s Big Cedar Lodge in Branson, MO, was the first event of its kind, in that it focused exclusively on the future of whitetail management and our hunting heritage.
At the event, the QDMA brought together representatives from all sectors of the deer hunting community including key stakeholders from non-governmental organizations, state and provincial wildlife agencies, land owners and managers (including public landowners such as the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the U.S. Forest Service), the scientific community, the hunting industry, and deer hunters themselves.
CSF participated in several focus groups which were designed to identify clear and achievable action items that can be implemented cooperatively by the stakeholder groups to lay the groundwork for a sustainable future for whitetail hunting and management.
Studies conducted at both the state and federal level have found that the number of hunters and trappers have been on a generally declining trend over the past several decades. To increase recruitment, retention, and reactivation (R3) of hunters and trappers, which initiative do you think would have the greatest impact?
