Quality Deer Management Association (QDMA) Deer Steward Course Goes Online, and to Tony Stewart’s Indiana Farm 1-16-2012
gengberg January 16th, 2012
QDMA’s Deer Steward Course Goes Online, and to Tony Stewart’s Indiana Farm 
In the sixth year of the Deer Steward Certification program, The Quality Deer Management Association’s (QDMA) popular educational series will continue to offer new and exciting course locations, plus this year registrants will have the option to take the first Level online.
If you’re looking for an in-person class, 2012 locations include property owned by NASCAR driver Tony Stewart (where the course will be held in his museum of personal race cars and memorabilia) and Alabama’s Solon Dixon Forestry Education Center. If you’re already a Level I Deer Steward, this year’s Level II courses are offered at the lavish Cabin Bluff hunting retreat in coastal Georgia, and Ashbourne Farms in Kentucky. 
2012 Dates and Locations:
Level I Courses:
April 13-16 - Columbus, Indiana, at Hidden Hollow Ranch
Field Tour: NASCAR’s Tony Stewart 500-acre private hunting property
May 11-14 - Andalusia, Alabama, at the Solon Dixon Forestry Education Center
Field Tour: SDFEC 5,300-acre working Research Forest
Level II Courses:
June 1-4 - Woodbine, Georgia, at Cabin Bluff
June 22-25 - LaGrange, Kentucky, at Ashbourne Farms
The Deer Steward Certification program is a multi-level personal educational experience designed to offer landowners, hunters and natural resource professionals an opportunity to learn from the world’s top QDM experts. The first two Levels are actual courses, and Level III is an application process; all three need to be taken in succession. By taking both Levels I and II, graduates are able to design and implement their own comprehensive property-specific white-tailed deer management plan.
Each course follows the Four Cornerstones of QDM as a guideline. Level I courses include nearly 20 presentations over a two-day period, followed by an optional half-day field trip; Level II courses involve more hands-on experience. Attendees will learn techniques on aging deer jawbones; taking soil samples and interpreting soil test results; determining acreage of food plots and calibrating equipment; population surveys; forest and early succession habitat management; analyzing harvest data; making property maps; and much more. Level III status is the recognition of those who have given back to the whitetail resource over a long period of time, rather than something you can learn in one weekend.
Online Deer Steward
Through a unique partnership with Clemson University, individuals who have a high-speed internet connection also can choose to enroll in the Level I class online, making Deer Steward as convenient and affordable as it’s ever been!
Once registered, attendees gain access to a digital recording of a previous Level I course (filmed in front of a live audience) and will have up to 180 days to complete the series of six sessions (approximately 17 one-hour topics) at their own pace. Speakers include Kip Adams, Dr. David Guynn, Joe Hamilton, Dr. Craig Harper, Dr. Karl V. Miller, Brian Murphy, Matt Ross and Dr. Grant Woods.
Just like the in-person classes, registrants must pass an exam, and Continuing Forestry Education (CFEs) credits (14.0 hours) from the Society of American Foresters will be available. Clemson University also offers an expanded QDM course for any college students at the senior or graduate level (3.0 hours) that also qualifies for Level I Deer Steward certification. Graduates of online Deer Steward will be eligible to take one of the in-person Level II courses upon completion.
To register, call 800-209-3337 or visit www.QDMA.com and click the REACH Program link and then the REACH Certification link.
About QDMA
QDMA is dedicated to ensuring the future of white-tailed deer, wildlife habitat and our hunting heritage. Founded in 1988, QDMA is a national nonprofit wildlife conservation organization with nearly 50,000 members in all 50 states and Canada. To learn more about QDMA and why it is the future of deer hunting, call 800-209-3337 or visit www.QDMA.com
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