Quality Deer Management Association
The Quality Deer Management Association (QDMA) is a national non-profit wildlife conservation organization headquartered in Watkinsville, Ga. The QDMA’s mission is to promote sustainable, high-quality, white-tailed deer populations, wildlife habitats, and ethical hunting experiences through education, research, and management in partnership with hunters, landowners, natural resource professionals and the public.
Wildlife biologist Joe Hamilton founded the QDMA in 1988 with the intent to promote the quality deer management (QDM) philosophy in a 14-county area in the Low Country of South Carolina. From these humble beginnings as the South Carolina Quality Deer Management Association, the QDMA has rapidly grown into the most respected and influential whitetail organization in the nation.
The QDMA serves more than 35,000 members in the United States and several foreign countries, including 1,500 of the nation’s leading wildlife biologists, researchers, and managers. These professionals enable the QDMA to remain at the forefront of whitetail research and management, and to provide this information to its members for improved on-the-ground management.
The QDMA is among the most active educational conservation organizations in the nation, conducting over 100 deer management seminars and workshops annually. The QDMA also is an active financial supporter of deer research and management projects to further our knowledge of North America’s most popular big game animal.
Perhaps the QDMA’s greatest achievement has been its impact on management. Since the QDMA was founded, millions of acres of public and private lands throughout North America have been placed under QDM guidelines. Today, thousands of hunters and millions of acres of private and public land operate under QDM guidelines.
In 2001, The Wildlife Society recognized QDMA’s professional support, commitment to education and history of achievements with its prestigious Group Achievement Award. The QDMA is the only white-tailed deer organization ever honored with this award in the more than 40 years since it was established.
The QDMA’s membership is distributed through a strong, national network of local branches and state chapters with new branches constantly in the making. QDMA Branches actively promote the concepts of quality deer management and hold educational and social events to unite and educate like-minded sportsmen.
Members stay in-tune with the latest information in the whitetail world through the QDMA’s publications including its flagship journal Quality Whitetails. This full color whitetail journal is filled with cutting-edge information on deer biology, deer management and deer habitat enhancement, all written by the nation’s leading experts.
Membership in the QDMA is open to anyone committed to ethical hunting, sound deer management and the preservation of the deer-hunting heritage. To learn more about the QDMA and how it can help your hunting, call (800) 209-DEER [(800) 209-3337] or visit www.QDMA.com.
