Whitetail Deer Management in Oklahoma........

[justin_h635]

My hunting partners "control" (meaning no broken parcels in between) a few thousand acres along the Canadian and also another large ranch away from there. Tons of cameras, handful of selected hunters including residents who live on/near. In other words, we know this land and it's surroundings like the back of our hands. Now granted this is not Grant county type of land with good protein of corn, gsorg, etc. Heck even the wheat is limited and although we have plots, they are small. We as a group have passed year in and year out on bucks in order to get larger bucks (with a few exceptions of some knothead older bucks that we allow a child or 2 to kill). We see more than our share of bucks on cam and off. We see bucks get older but don't see much antler development to be proud of. My point is, you can let buck after buck walk if you want but that doesn't guarantee crap. This year, we said screw it. We selected breeding 6's, and old 8, etc and drew blood. Does were rare. Anyone who thinks they have deer management figured out is a fool.

 

[AllOut]

No one claims to have it figured out.
It's just "best practices" to help maximize your potential and success.

As for your buddies place.
Our place across the boarder is a whole lot more than a few thousand continuous acres. Broke up into different leases. You can tell a huge difference in the leases that have been managed for a while and the ones that had guys on it that didn't manage very well.
A HUGE difference.

 

[AllOut]

As for what you said OKIE
If it'd help I'd be all for not shooting a buck for 3 years.
But F the outfitters, they can do their part to cause they'd reap the same benefits.
Not bucks for ANYONE for 3 years.

 

[DEER 24/7]

This is extreme, probably wouldn't be popular, but what if...............

starting this next year, NO bucks could be harvest for the next three years, unless you were a hunting with a licensed outfitter in the state of Oklahoma( as to not hurt the potential income of the guide's business).

Would you be willing to give up three years of antlers, big or small to allow the overall age of the bucks to further. Meat hunters would still have doe to harvest, as they do know. Potential effects on the herd with almost no bucks taken from the heard for 3 years? If you're a antler hunter, you're already pretty much practicing this anyway, but what if it were done state wide? I would not want to be answering the phones at the ODWC if came true, but would it help, hurt, and make no difference?

Oh god this would be the bomb I am all for it I can hunt kans and ohio for 3 1/2 years be my luck being 62 in 3 years I would kick the bucket couple months before season lol

 

[Okie4570]

Oh god this would be the bomb I am all for it I can hunt kans and ohio for 3 1/2 years be my luck being 62 in 3 years I would kick the bucket couple months before season lol

It's 100% not practical, I was just throwing it out there, stirring the pot, whatever you'd like to call it, lol.

 

[makeithappen]

It's 100% not practical, I was just throwing it out there, stirring the pot, whatever you'd like to call it, lol.

We'll call that idea "witch's brew." It would be interesting.

I wish they'd at least raise the cost of out of state licenses. I get sick of seeing so many Texans buying up leases and driving up prices/making them impossible to find.

 

[dennishoddy]

We'll call that idea "witch's brew." It would be interesting.

I wish they'd at least raise the cost of out of state licenses. I get sick of seeing so many Texans buying up leases and driving up prices/making them impossible to find.

I don't know the details, but we have a reciprocal agreement with the surrounding stated to maintain out of state hunting licenses at close to the same prices.

Kansas gun season was right after Oklahoma's, and in the NC part of the state we were inundated with KS hunters. Ks license prices were 3X what Ok was if we wanted to hunt in KS. The OWD sponsored a bill to say that if they wanted to do that , then Ks hunters out of state licenses would cost the same, and they backed off. Actually cut off KS hunters for one season. Didn't take long for them to comply.


I'm rusty on all the details

 

[makeithappen]

Actually cut off KS hunters for one season.

No kidding? Didn't know that. I've hunted NC Oklahoma for gun season and saw plenty of Kansas plates. I guess it just really aggravates me having so many out of state hunters since we have relatively cheap non-resident licenses.

 

[dennishoddy]

It was in the 90's if I remember right. I drove out around Kaw lake that year, and it was like a waste land. few vehicles, etc.

Now its probably still 70% Ks hunters, but we can go into Ks now and hunt. I've never deer hunted there, but get in on the quail and pheasant action.

I take that back. I deer hunted when stationed at Ft Leavenworth Ks in the 70's. Was not successful though.

 

[Sampson]

The wildlife department should stick with managing the resources to fit the available habitat. Not allow those who choose to trophy hunt dictate what the rest of the hunting population harvest. Most people will have no interest in shooting a couple of extra does if it's a one buck limit. But if they have a chance to harvest a second buck there's a good chance they will continue pursuing deer through out the hunting season. Not that it matters, but I'm at a point in my hunting career where I rarely kill a deer if it's not a mature. I only killed a doe last year as I didn't see a mature buck. In over twenty years, I've never killed more then one buck a year. I mostly shoot does to balance the herd where I hunt. But that's my own personal imposed goal. I'm a meat hunter by nature but a trophy deer hunter by choice. But I'm against the one buck limit as I have young children who are taking up hunting and I let them shoot anything they want. I enjoy spending time with my children in the woods and don't want it limited by a one buck season. Some people around here are starting to sound like their self righteous/egotistical standards should be imposed on the rest of us. If you choose to be a trophy hunter so be it, but don't look down your nose at those who chose something different.