May possibly be moving to Oklahoma City and was wondering what the public hunting is like...any recommendations on where to go and where not to go?
I live in the eastern part of the state but there is an abundance of public land that you can hunt. Check out the ODWC website, they have a mapping section and also look at the Corps of Engineers areas around most all of the lakes in the state.
After gun season, many of the refuges open up to bowhunting and the number of hunters drastically decreases.
It's a bit of a drive from you, but the Sandy Sanders area is in southwest OK. I have only been on it a couple of times but it is beautiful country and has some nice deer on it, as well as good quail country. I suppose there might be other critters, but as I said, I was only there for a couple weeks of hunting season. There is also Wakarusa (spelling) and a few other areas. Of these, I would say go see Sandy Sanders first. It's big, remote, and worth seeing just for itself, to say nothing of the hunting.
Any mule deer in Oklahoma?
http://www.wildlifedepartment.com/facts_maps/wmastate.htm
You'll want to also put in for the special hunts as well. The deadline is in May and we have the mcalester ammunition depot that is for traditional hunters only. It's a great hunt but can be pretty tough.
The special hunt info is on the site listed above but you can get a glimpse of some of the Mac deer at
http://mcaapcontrolledhunts.com/
Lots of public land bowhunting opportunities in Oklahoma. The above mentioned site should be a great help. Shilou Ranch is a good place for pigs. Not public land but price is reasonable and the hunting is good for the traditional hunter.
QuoteOriginally posted by Lost Arra:
http://www.wildlifedepartment.com/facts_maps/wmastate.htm
I cannot get the maps on their website to work for me...I have tried two different computers...all it does is sit there and think.
try this:
http://www.wildlifedepartment.com/facts_maps/wma_interactive.htm
Try this link and load the digital maps
http://www.wildlifedepartment.com/hunting/whereto.htm
Wow! Went and looked at the McAAP website...unbelievable to say the least, and it is traditional only to boot. Is it high fence or something? Genetically altered deer? How do those bucks get so big?
No high fence.
Good habitat, high security area and rigidly managed herd.
Maybe explosives are good mineral supplements.
The last time I hunted there I heard something about the original deer brought there from Michigan but that could be folk lore.
Note the age class of the MCAAP deer, that seems to be one of the keys.
I live on Fort Gibson lake (Eastern Ok)and the Corps land mentioned above can be real good.
Sorry to hijack this topic but looking at the McAlester site:
Trophy gallery>4th row>first and last photos.
Did the same guy shoot two big bucks in a two day hunt???
Looks like the same Bear recurve.
He definitely found a sweet location?
He could have. If you shoot one bigger than 105 they give you another buck tag
I work at big mac. There are some hosses on there. I know for a fact there is a new state record on there. See him 2 or 3 times a week. They are smart. They hang out around the bunkers most of the time.They get big here for a reason.
The bad part about it is that you have to purchase your license first before you can put in for the lottery...that keeps a lot of people from doing it.
I just looked at the 2011 harvest report and those deer weights are telling me that the deer are really skinny! The racks aren't that big for that old of a deer either. A 3 1/2 year old 8 point only weighed 106 lbs! That's crazy, I have 1 1/2 year old spikes that weigh 120-130 lbs. Our 2 1/2 year old's average 150 lbs live weight and some go 160
Hey Flyboy, who cares how much they weigh if they are toting around 150" of Antlers on their head. Nobody said the deer were big just the Antlers.....RW
Just saying that they are old skinny deer with some bone. They must be top heavy...the necks look huge.
Where are you hunting at Jason? Where our camp is in lower Arkansas the majority of our deer weigh under 150 pounds.
Haynesville, my lease has good body size. Was hunting in Russel Sage last Saturday and talked to the biologist at the check station and he said the average weight for 2 1/2 year olds was 150 lbs. My buddy has a lease in Arkansas southeast of El Dorado and I killed 150 lb doe out there last year and there was one bigger than that with it, just shot the first one that came out...Louisiana deer have pretty good weight on them.
Man, I wish our deer got that big, but we have way to much hunting pressure around us. Our does even old ones usually don't go past 120 lbs and our bucks rarely go past 150 lbs.
Sounds like habitat is the concern and the pressure is a contributing factor.
I think the pressure is what kills us we have a ton of oak trees and we plant food plots so the deer will have something to eat after all the acorns are gone. We have plenty of food sources, but everyone around us is the "brown and down" kind of hunters.
I hear ya...it's hard to manage like that, we have some neighbors around us that.