Thank you for your question!

I have reached out to James Jeuck, Extension Associate for North Caroline State University Extension Forestry who is an expert in mapping and GIS.  Here is his reply:

For most landowners, the answer would be “No”. 

Quantum GIS (http://www.qgis.org/ ) is a wonderful application but really is not designed for someone who just casually wants to map their property - the learning curve is very steep for someone who does not already possess strong computer and especially GIS skills. I don't want to take away anything from the Quantum GIS (QGIS), but  I have found many times over that if people are first exposed to a mapping system way beyond their experience level, they get frustrated and are less interested in trying out the easier ones like Google Earth (GE) and My Land Plan (MLP).  That category of people (of which most woodland owners fall into), I always recommend they cut their teeth on simpler mapping systems like GE and MLP.   I most certainly let people know about free GIS packages like QGIS and another excellent free GIS package MapWindow (http://www.mapwindow.org/ ), but caution them that both applications require some basic principles of cartography and digital mapping systems.  Of course, people should go out to their websites and determine this for themselves.

I always advise professionals and landowners that appear to have some GIS/Mapping experience to get a copy of QGIS or MapWindow.  For the mapping needs of a professional forester, a commercial GIS such as ArcMap, GRASS, etc a huge overkill.  Many professionals learn GIS on those large commercial applications and QGIS and MapWindows  are powerful, free alternatives and highly recommended.  As for the person who asked the question, it appears they have experience with CADD.  That experience is among the audience Quantum GIS was designed for and they will little trouble getting up to speed. 

Here is the User Manuals page for Quantum GIS.