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

[willystruck]

As far a $ per pound of venison verses grocery store high colesterol, drug filled beef, nuf said. My wife and I love to eat venison. I use it just as I would beef and get better quality, healthier food in the end. I hunt 2 locations, one is 4 miles from the house and the other is about 15 miles away. I can no longer afford to drive long distances or pay for hi dollar leases.(last lease I was in was $50 per year) Should I quit hunting and eating venison?
Not gonna happen..............
That mature doe I take each year with a .357 revolver at 25 yds or less is as much of a trophy, to me, as the little 16 point fellow that has been hanging on my living room wall for almost 20 years.

 

[retrieverman]

I subscribe to the "go big or go home" buck philosophy, and I didn't kill a one this year. I had NUMEROUS opportunities, but I didn't get a shot at the one I wanted. I am a firm believer in thinning the doe population, and I killed three.

On and around our place, the deer population "seemed" to be down a little from previous years, but I still saw 10-15 deer per hunt. I don't think they are in danger of extinction yet.

 

[dennishoddy]

I know someone who behind a high fence watched inferior genetic bucks with full access to protein live to ripe old age without ever becoming trophy class. These were raised right next to bucks which were purchased for breeding, selling, etc and it wasn't even close. I am not arguing that age isnt' a huge factor in antler development however what I am saying is both doe and buck genetics must be good for their offspring to fulfill this potential (along with access to nutrition). I have seen both alive and dead 200# bucks that look old, are good bucks to shoot, but would never be something a trophy hunter would want.

I have pics of a 210 lb field dressed buck that I took in archery that has the rack of a yearling buck. 7 points and no mass. It would have to die of old age before being legal to hunt. It was early in my hunting career, and it was not aged. Could have been an old timer on the way down, but never the less, it would not be legal under some of the proposed regs in this thread.

 

[dennishoddy]

Thanks Dennis, that's what I was wanting to hear. Do they suggest timeframes of when to harvest deer, like 50% of does should be harvested before the end of ML season? Or are you just given a certain # of does to harvest at your leisure?

Kill them at your leisure. I'm going to offer some advice.
With a DMAP it becomes a chore vs a hunting experience at times. Its a labor of love, and you have to be dedicated to doing this for several years. I'm 11 years into the project, and we are seeing some results, but those danged does are breeding machines.

I'm a guest on the DMAP. I'm thinking if you want to go that way, you will finally find out that you will have to allow some help.

Be it customers, charity hunts, or what ever. Just my opinion.

 

[Okie4570]

So I've got the groceries, milo, wheat, corn, soybeans, all within a mile or so EVERY year.....I've got the cover, creek bottom, CRP some hardwoods...I've got a large tract of property with no one in between....I've got no problems with the age part, and not really anyone hunting close by that's interested in shooting younger bucks.....and I've got...................more 9pts than any man could never want and the rest are eight points and a whole slew of bucks that have screwed up left sides......genetics. I see the same quirky characteristics year after year both on game cam and from the stand.

 

[EFsDad]

So I've got the groceries, milo, wheat, corn, soybeans, all within a mile or so EVERY year.....I've got the cover, creek bottom, CRP some hardwoods...I've got a large tract of property with no one in between....I've got no problems with the age part, and not really anyone hunting close by that's interested in shooting younger bucks.....and I've got...................more 9pts than any man could never want and the rest are eight points and a whole slew of bucks that have screwed up left sides......genetics. I see the same quirky characteristics year after year both on game cam and from the stand.

Wow, that's our place in a nutshell minus soybeans. Left side screwy and more nines than you can imagine. Must be the same heard.

 

[AllOut]

So I've got the groceries, milo, wheat, corn, soybeans, all within a mile or so EVERY year.....I've got the cover, creek bottom, CRP some hardwoods...I've got a large tract of property with no one in between....I've got no problems with the age part, and not really anyone hunting close by that's interested in shooting younger bucks.....and I've got...................more 9pts than any man could never want and the rest are eight points and a whole slew of bucks that have screwed up left sides......genetics. I see the same quirky characteristics year after year both on game cam and from the stand.

It's something about that area dude...
Tons of 120-130" 8s and We kill a lot of big 9s
Just odd

 

[Okie4570]

Wow, that's our place in a nutshell minus soybeans. Left side screwy and more nines than you can imagine. Must be the same heard.

31 miles away from you as the crow flies.

 

[dennishoddy]

I'm a trophy hunter to the core.

I don't hunt for meat, I give most of mine away.

Your lease is in Mexico.

Here is why the antler restriction is so contentious. Some want nothing but a head on the wall and others want a nice buck and meat for the freezer.

I don't fault either camp for their beliefs.

I don't think the minority of head hunters should control the majority of meat hunters. That being said, and I've said it before, a mature buck that field dressed 180 lbs has a whole lot more meat than a fork horn that weighs 80 lbs. That alone should drive "meat hunters" to let the little bucks walk and take a bigger buck.

I actually think that is happening. In fact I know it has because the average antler size is increasing in Okla. The ODW has put out reports that prove it.

Its an education process that does not need some additional legislation to make it happen for minority interests.

 

[justin_h635]

It's something about that area dude...
Tons of 120-130" 8s and We kill a lot of big 9s
Just odd

But if you let them live suddenly they grow 2 pts and achieve trophy class?