While the northwest region of Oklahoma was previously king of big bucks, hunters can now find big-bodied deer all across the state. (Shutterstock)
October 12, 2024
By Darron McDougal
This whitetail hunting forecast for the state of Oklahoma is part of Game & Fish’s “Great States" project identifying the best deer-hunting states in the country. Read more: America's Top Whitetail States Oklahoma Hunters Should Be Happy This Season One of our nation’s most eco-diverse states is the Sooner State where 12 different ecoregions range from mountains down to pancake-flat plains and everything in between. If you can think of a habitat type to hunt deer in, Oklahoma likely has it. Although less than 5 percent of Oklahoma is public land, the state does a phenomenal job of managing its public lands for deer and other wildlife, giving the DIY hunter a quality experience.
“We have quite a few different WMAs that hold pretty high deer densities,” Dallas Barber, a wildlife biologist with the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation, explained. “The southeastern counties, in particular, hold plenty of deer and some quality bucks. The region is filled with WMAs, state lands and national forest lands, giving public-land hunters ample opportunities for a great hunt.”
DID YOU KNOW?
DEER POPULATION In 1917, the total deer population for Oklahoma was an estimated 500 animals. Today, there are an estimated 750,000 deer with hunters taking approximately 100,000 each year.
In that region, the 185,199-acre Three Rivers WMA and 78,997-acre Honobia Creek WMA are worthwhile places to start, but don’t forget to purchase an $85 annual access permit before entering them. Loblolly pine plantations of various age classes dominate these large parcels, and streams provide wildlife with water and natural travel corridors, while natural pines and hardwoods are interspersed. Oak benches and ridges are where hunters will likely find the most deer from mid-fall through the end of the hunting season, but don’t overlook small agricultural plots annually planted to provide wildlife with some additional food resources.
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Barber shared that northwestern Oklahoma used to be the place to go for big bucks, but he mentioned that the quality in that region has scaled back slightly—likely due to draught conditions for several consecutive years—while other areas have caught up in terms of buck quality. “Over the last five or six years, it has gotten to the point where I’m not surprised to see big bucks harvested in any part of the state,” he said. “Southeast Oklahoma took its turn, and the Red River Valley took a turn. There really isn’t a bad place to go.”
THAT’S A FACT
OKLAHOMA HARVEST RECORD In 2020, Oklahoma hunters set a new harvest record of 126,290 deer while meeting the anterless harvest goal of 40-45 percent.
Mast crops are big in areas with oaks, but Barber said that many WMAs have plantings for wildlife. “During the hunting season,” he said, “winter wheat tends to be the king, mostly because a lot of the other crops such as corn and soybeans are summer crops, which are harvested before the deer hunting kicks off. I also suggest being attentive to native forbs, as deer rely on those, too.”
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Sixty-six Boone and Crockett trophies have been harvested in Oklahoma, including the record typical that scored 194 0/8. (Shutterstock) According to harvest records, Barber outlined Osage, Pittsburgh, Cherokee and Adair Counties as consistently producing the highest deer harvests. And Oklahoma deer currently don’t face any decline related to diseases, so those harvest tendencies should stay mostly consistent moving forward. “We’re blessed that our deer aren’t subject to EHD or blue tongue on the same scale as deer in some of the neighboring states to the East,” Barber detailed. “We tend to see it on a very small scale in localized areas. We’re not seeing hundreds or thousands of deer mortalities. CWD is new to our wild deer herd. We’ve only detected two cases of CWD up in the Panhandle.”
The downside to Oklahoma is the recent colossal price jump on nonresident deer tags. Nonresidents are now required to purchase a $209 hunting license and a $500 deer method license. “What that means is that you need a license for whichever method you’ll be hunting,” Barber stated. “If you’re coming here to bowhunt, you’ll need a nonresident hunting license and a nonresident deer archery license. That includes the entire bag limit for that method. For archery, there is a six-deer limit, only two of which can be antlered. Rifle and muzzleloader hunters must have the proper method license and are allowed a four-deer limit, only one of which may be antlered.”