How to hunt Public Land in OK

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mr ed

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When you scout a place, look to see who or what surrounds it.
An example is whitehorse creek on skiatook lake.
Its surrounded on 3 sides by land belonging to a hunting club.
I hunted there the last 2 years and would only see a couple other people there and thought I'd found a secret spot.
Last fall I found out why nobody goes there much for deer except rifle season.
The hunt club has gotten the deer trained to come to their feeders just before daylight and now with it against the law to bait on public land, it will be a total waste of time to go there.
How I found out about the feeders is.
I was walking along the boundry fence just as it was getting light enough too see.
I was on a hill and watched about 20 deer moving from the food plots on the public to a spot on the private land.
I saw this happen in the same spot over several weeks. I brought out my 60 power spotting scope and watched where they went and it was directly to a feeder. I talked to a couple other guys out there and the said the same thing. That the hunt club had feeders all around the perimeter.
I only bow and BP hunt that area and have never taken a shot since the deer are always so close to the fence. I try to ambush them as they are leaving the field but its still too dark.
Come rifle season its packed with some real winners.
If you go there for rifle season you might want a bulletproof vest and a helmet.LOL!
 

MLR

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Getting a map of the public hunting areas of the area you will be at is a good idea. When Kaw reservoir was first filled I encountered this problem a number of times. Someone would remove the signs that the Corp had put up identifying public hunting areas. Then when you went onto that property they would confront you by saying it was their property and that they were going to call the sheriff if you did not leave immediately. I knew the area and had no problem calling their bluff but I am sure many a hunting trip was ruined by this tactic.

Michael
 
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Hi everyone.

I'm new here but I saw this thread and figured I'd chime in as I come from the same region as the original poster and am an avid public land hunter.

For maps of Corps land in NE Oklahoma: http://www.swt.usace.army.mil/recreat/huntingmaps.cfm

For hunting regulations specific to each Corps area, click on this link, then choose from the area lakes/rivers on the right side of the page. Each lake/river recreation page will have hunting restrictions listed under the recreation information tab: http://www.swt.usace.army.mil/recreat/recreat.cfm

For online maps of ODWC hunting areas: http://wildlifedepartment.com/facts_maps/wma_interactive.htm

You'll have to experiment a bit to get the ODWC maps to do what you want, and the most recent imagery is from 2006. It's usually a good idea to figure out the boundaries of the area you want to hunt and then check Google Earth to see if it has changed due to weather or land management.

Around the Tulsa area you have a lot of options (Oologah, Heyburn, Skiatook, Fort Gibson, Keystone, Okmulgee, plus Corps land) and each one is unique. I know you're most interested in deer rifle season, but my advice to you is to get a license (you can purchase an apprentice license without a hunter safety class, but you have to hunt with someone who has a regular license), grab a .22 or a shotgun, and spend some time hunting squirrels or rabbits. You'll become familiar with the terrain before deer season (rabbit season opens in October; squirrel runs from May 15 to January 31), and you'll probably see some deer. Print off some maps and take notes of where you're seeing game or plot things on a gps if you have one. Deer rifle season is short and as other folks have mentioned, public land gets a ton of pressure. You have to plan ahead and keep in mind that permanent stands are not allowed, so you'll have to hump one in if you intend to hunt from a tree. I prefer to hunt from the ground, but it takes some scouting to be successful.

Public land can be frustrating at first, but don't give up. Scout as much as you can, pay attention, and be prepared to walk farther than the other guy. The land near the parking lot fills up first. Also, be prepared to be flexible. Deer are awesome, but if you're lucky enough to stumble into a blackberry thicket that's crammed with bunnies or a wet patch of woods with some woodcock, you might want to come back the next day and hunt those instead.

Good luck.

Justin
 

garret01

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fishfurlife, thanks for the reply. Really good info/perspective. Now, can anyone recommend a good (considering Buck sightings and Hunter saturation) WMA around the Tulsa area? I don't mind driving either, as long as I can talk my buddy into joining me.
 

AllOut

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Hiding from all you crazy people!!!
Did I just hear crickets lol

Asking guys for "spots" is a tough call. Most guys won't give up the spots/areas they hunt, it's just adds to the competition in the area. If you bow hunted I could lead you in the good direction, but seeing how your rifle only at this point I really can't help much.
But if your willing to drive to the other (east) side of Gibson, the public hunting around Clear Creek is a good place. Good amount of land, tons of deer, but hunting pressure during rifle will be just like most other places.
 

Stan Upchurch

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Mostly, I've hunted lands. Except when there is a selected hunt I'd follow the regs and take my time. I spent a lot of my free time walking the land I'm going to hunt. This year will be different. I'll have a neww freewhell for my wheelchair next month and I'll spend a lot of time trying to find location s to hunt from in a wheelcnhair. I've been sucessful many years. A few years, when water was scarce hunting was had but somewhat sucessful. If you spen the time you will do OK. I hunt Bow, Black Powder, Shotgun and Rifle; any game that is good to eat. That is most of it. My wife however will not eat squirrels. So that season is always a scouting time. Most of my time has been spent in Central OK. So far. this summ er is harder because I'm in a manual wheelchair but with a new device called a freewheel I'll do better. Though I had a funny event that happen3ed 2 weeks ago. I slid down in a creek and got stuck. Crawled back to the truck9 half a mile) got a rope, block and tackle crawled back to where my chair was and it was gone. Spent 4 hours crawling down stream only to meet a warden at a road crossing. he asked qwhere I had b een/ when i told him he said that 2 squirrel hunters had seen me come in, found myu chair and pulled it out of the creek and put it in the back of my truck. Then they started looking for me. After an nhour and a half they went to the wardern and toldf them what happened. he said he figgured that I was following the creek bed looking for where tyhe chair might have gotten to and the creek crossed under a road about 2 miles south of the spot my truck was at. So he had been waiting for me to reac h the creek. Well I did. got a ride back to the truck went home and slept 13 hours. My wife almost would'ngt let me in the house for I was covered with mud from my hair to the bottom of my boots. Next time I'll wait awhlie before going to the tfruck.I have to admitt that I came upon 2 places where the deer crossed the creek that i had never known about. Lots of fun. can hardly wait until bow season begins. At 65 I'm slow but I'm through.
 

garret01

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Hello All,

I have been reading alot on this forum and it is full of some great info. Another question. I haven't been able to find any local hunting buddies so I may venture out for rifle season solo this year. What do ya'll think about dressing a dear after harvest in a WMA. What's the best way to carry the meat back to the truck if I'm far out in the woods? Also, how should I go about disposing of the carcas and guts? Dig a hole for the guts?
 

338Shooter

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Get off my lawn.
Hello All,

I have been reading alot on this forum and it is full of some great info. Another question. I haven't been able to find any local hunting buddies so I may venture out for rifle season solo this year. What do ya'll think about dressing a dear after harvest in a WMA. What's the best way to carry the meat back to the truck if I'm far out in the woods? Also, how should I go about disposing of the carcas and guts? Dig a hole for the guts?

I'd just leave them where they fall. They'll be gone in a day or so.
 

Garand

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Hello All,

I have been reading alot on this forum and it is full of some great info. Another question. I haven't been able to find any local hunting buddies so I may venture out for rifle season solo this year. What do ya'll think about dressing a dear after harvest in a WMA. What's the best way to carry the meat back to the truck if I'm far out in the woods? Also, how should I go about disposing of the carcas and guts? Dig a hole for the guts?

Sounds like your first move is to go take the Hunters Safety course, there are a few within a short drive of Tulsa in the next few weeks.
http://www.wildlifedepartment.com/education/courses.htm

After that do like many of the people above said, grab a .22 or shotgun and go squirrel hunting/scouting for areas.

Deer Gun is the only season I don't hunt on public land, just to many people for my comfort level. Every "hunter" with a rifle drags it out for those ~10 days... BUT for the greater majority of the other seasons you'll more than likely have the entire area to yourself.

I've been hunting public land in the area all of my life, and I still look at the maps before most trips, and spend time scouting new areas every year. There is no easy way to do it, you have to log the hours in the field to find good hunting spots.
 

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