I saw some info on here about past hunts at Salt Salt Plains NWR. However, they were from several years ago. Many were 15+ years old. I just returned yesterday from my hunt there so thought I'd add a more recent post. My hunt was NOT on the wilderness unit. The refuge was EXTREMELY wet with all the recent rain. We hunted north of HWY 11 on unit H. I did not personally look at a map of each unit but from just driving past I was not initially thrilled with being assigned to H. Its a good size unit but has limited cover. Our party of 4 and another party of 3 were assigned to the unit. We gave the party of 3 first choice of where to hunt. They chose the area with the most cover. Our hunt was a 2 deer hunt. The first had to be antlerless. The second was an "either sex" tag. After the hunt meeting at 9am Monday we were escorted to our unit. We went in scouted briefly and started hunting. I was hunting by 11am. Saw 3 bucks (spike, medium 8 and a nice 10 point probably 130-140 class deer). 2 does came out right before dark for just a moment but never presented a shot I was comfortable with. Dealt with high winds (20-30 mph) and rain the first day. 2nd day dawned cooler and calm. Deer movement started within 15 minutes of legal light. Saw a BIG 10 point, probably 150-160 class deer. Also several other small to medium bucks in the distance. About 7:30 a doe finally comes by at 200 yards. I'm able to drop her and finally have the green light to shoot a buck. The check in process for your deer requires that you text in a pic. So about 30 minutes after shooting the doe I head down to get a picture. About half way to her I look up and see a big deer about 350 yards away. I move to a salt cedar for cover and blow my grunt call as loud as I can. I'm thinking at this distance this is a "Hail Mary." Chances of him hearing me are slim but why not give it a try. After I stop calling I lose sight of him. About 60 seconds later I peak around the salt cedar. He has cut the distance in half and is coming in a hurry. He comes to about 40 yards and stops for a shot. My hunt is now over. He was not the highest scoring deer I saw on the hunt but definitely has the the most character. He field dressed exactly 200 pounds. One of the NWR employees said he was the biggest bodied deer harvested off the NWR so far this year.
Summary: The Salt Plains has incredible size and number of bucks. The folks running the hunt with the National Wildlife Refuge were top notch and super helpful. I've been on multiple controlled hunts in Oklahoma. The Salt Plains was by far the best not only in quality and quantity of deer but also in regard to the way it was run and the people involved. Only frustrating thing on this hunt was the doe first rule. My party (4 hunters) all saw multiple bucks that we had to pass waiting for a chance at a doe. The two of us that got our doe both shot nice bucks the same day. So if you get draw for this hunt my suggestion is to shoot the first doe you see but I would NOT shoot the first basket rack buck that comes by. There are a high density of really nice deer on the refuge.
Summary: The Salt Plains has incredible size and number of bucks. The folks running the hunt with the National Wildlife Refuge were top notch and super helpful. I've been on multiple controlled hunts in Oklahoma. The Salt Plains was by far the best not only in quality and quantity of deer but also in regard to the way it was run and the people involved. Only frustrating thing on this hunt was the doe first rule. My party (4 hunters) all saw multiple bucks that we had to pass waiting for a chance at a doe. The two of us that got our doe both shot nice bucks the same day. So if you get draw for this hunt my suggestion is to shoot the first doe you see but I would NOT shoot the first basket rack buck that comes by. There are a high density of really nice deer on the refuge.
