2017 Oklahoma Hunting Report

I posted this yesterday from my stand...

First day of our archery season and my first tuneup hunt. I call it a tuneup hunt because I use them to see what I need to do and what I forgot to bring. I wasn't exactly sure what time I needed to get up so I set my alarm for 5:15 in our camper. I awoke and ate breakfast and then as I was getting dresses realized I had forgotten to bring my camo hat. I just sprayed my every day cap down with scent killer. As I was putting everything on my 4 wheeler I realized I had forgotten my seat cushion which was more an annoyance than problem...now are seeing why I call it a tuneup hunt...

Left camp and realized I could make out treetops on the eastern horizon with it beginning to lighten. Made a mental note to get up 15 minutes earlier. Got to my parking spot and grabbed my bow and headed up a mountain I have hunted 20 years and sharing with bears the past 9...I mention bears because 1/2 way to my destination I ran into one in the dark who crashed through the brush "woofing"...after I cleaned myself up I continued up the mountain and found my treestand. 1/2 way up the tree my bow hanger I had in my back pocket fell out and so back down I went to get it...

Finally I am in my stand and got my bow hanger screwed into the tree and my bow pulled up and in place with arrow nocked. I checked my phone and it was 6:57 AM...leave earlier...
I was getting ready to put my face mask on when I heard footsteps in the leaves so I grabbed my bow and noticed 3 does coming my way...naturally they came in and circled completely around me getting my wind...nervously stomping feet...checking out my entry route...and finally committing to going to some week old rice bran which was surprising as I could hear acorns falling everywhere.

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They perked their ears and looked up the mountain and I finally noticed a doe working her way down picking up acorns and passing at 50 yards going down hill. Eventually 2 of the does in front of me got nervous and ran 50 yards to my north and stopped. I heard squirrels barking to my west down the mountain and all of a sudden a big buck ran up the hill and chased the 2 50 yard does up the mountain...I was hoping they would circle back but they never did...the single doe that was left hung around another 10 minutes and then went up the mountain...62 and breezy from the SE and dry as a bone...
 
Had chances on some does opening morning and evening. Nothing since except a bobcat @ 5 yards.
 
Cool Fronts have caused increased deer movement with several sightings and I have seen several roadkills in the past week. Mature buck in daylight pics are starting to occur and I think our muzzleloader season is going to be phenomenal.

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Only two sits here, nada on the first, two doe 2 button bucks on the second. One of the does was a smart old hag, she cut my trail where I went in and backtracked me, determined to find me. She tracked me to my stand and kept lookin up until she spotted me, stomped, blew and ran out of sight and proceeded to blow for another 5 minutes. Should have shot her when she went by me the first time.
 
I'll be doing a 3 day hunt in Oklahoma Nov. 18, 19 and 20. I'm hoping the weather will be nice those days but that's something we cannot control. What part of Nov. is the rut going good in Oklahoma?
 
I'll be doing a 3 day hunt in Oklahoma Nov. 18, 19 and 20. I'm hoping the weather will be nice those days but that's something we cannot control. What part of Nov. is the rut going good in Oklahoma?
Depends on the area, end of October up until the start of rifle are usually pretty good

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I'll be doing a 3 day hunt in Oklahoma Nov. 18, 19 and 20. I'm hoping the weather will be nice those days but that's something we cannot control. What part of Nov. is the rut going good in Oklahoma?
Those days should be good for rut depending on weather.
 
I did not make it out today as my wife just had our second boy. Will be at the house for the next 3-4 weeks I think. I did get Robbie hunt last Sunday after that cold front blouses through and say lots of activity, does and a few smaller bucks. I believe if I could have stayed in the stand all day I could have come out lucky. Looks like a nice front is coming through just in time for next weekend. Hopefully one of you boys gets lucky. Till then post em if you got em!
 
Scored a nice ~100-120" buck at 6:45 last night. Had a terrible stand setup for the south wind but he ended up coming from the south at about 30 yards in the treeline. He stopped when I stood up and we were looking at each other through my crossbow scope. I won this one. Not bad for putting a stand up this summer on a whim.

I was getting pretty discouraged as this is rough country and I had yet to see a single deer over many many sits. This guy had a very large body for Oklahoma and is my personal best. A trophy to me! Had a few 4 wheeler breakdowns which resulted in a few miles of walking and 4 hours of driving for parts but it was worth it, because there's no way I could've drug him .75 of a mile.
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The NE Oklahoma bucks are definitely getting in the mood. Lots of activity on scrapes and lots of daytime activity including chasing going on now...a sense of urgency is what I am starting to see. Our muzzleloader season opens this Saturday to the coldest morning and day so far this fall. I expect lots of big ones to go down this weekend...
 
I hunted yesterday morning on top of our resident doe bedding area. Didn't see any bucks, and the does are 100% tied to their fawns still as they all casually strolled right in front of me.

Heard 10-15 shots, a mixture muzzle loader and rifle, so there had to be a bunch of movement, just not within my small area.

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Big ones went down everywhere...I dropped both our bucks off at the taxidermist today and he said it is an unreal year. He had piles of deer heads to skin out...awesome time to be in the woods!

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Saw 3 does today at about 15 yards on my 4 wheeler at 12PM when it was 85 degrees with no bucks in tow. Saw a fawn alone in the woods eating acorns and a coyote crossing a large field in the middle of the day. Must be the front coming in. This upcoming week should be great.
 
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When I saw that the wind was going to be 30+ on Saturday I decided to wait till evening to hunt. I went to my property and planted some of the Bur Oak seedlings I’d raised and then got in my stand. The bucks were trailing does all over but no shooters were around. So I went back Sunday and the conditions had improved a lot. But the deer weren’t moving like they were sat. Finally after seeing only 2 single does this buck shows up at a little over 100 yards. He was hooking it across a shooting lane and I didn’t have long to decide if it was a shooter but when I saw the trash and mass I went ahead and took him. I wasn’t disappointed when I walked up on him. I keep cameras going year round and I’ve never seen this one until yesterday


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When I saw that the wind was going to be 30+ on Saturday I decided to wait till evening to hunt. I went to my property and planted some of the Bur Oak seedlings I’d raised and then got in my stand. The bucks were trailing does all over but no shooters were around. So I went back Sunday and the conditions had improved a lot. But the deer weren’t moving like they were sat. Finally after seeing only 2 single does this buck shows up at a little over 100 yards. He was hooking it across a shooting lane and I didn’t have long to decide if it was a shooter but when I saw the trash and mass I went ahead and took him. I wasn’t disappointed when I walked up on him. I keep cameras going year round and I’ve never seen this one until yesterday


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Congrats, great buck. Any idea of age?

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My personal deer hunting season ended at 7:30 am this morning. I was sitting in a stand we call "Texas Field" because we have to walk across a rocky prickly pear and cedar infested opening to get to our stand tree. It is the perfect setup because the prickly pear field is a deer free zone and I am only walking about 25 feet into where the deer zone is. I was using my old lever action 30-30 and yesterday I shot a few Remington Core-lokt bullets and it was dead on at 50 yards. I had 2 boxes of Hornady Lever-Evolution 160 grain bullets and I shot one through it and it printed very close to my other group. My friend who also shoots a lever action Marlin also shot one but his printed about 12" high at 50 yards. I made the mistake of deciding to load the rifle with 7 of the Hornady bullets for this mornings hunt.

At 5:30 AM I am in my stand well before daylight and with a slight south wind in my face I had a deer walk by 5 minutes later I could hear but absolutely could not see...

At 7:15 am 2 does worked their way down to me from off the mountain and went to a small waterhole in the creek to the west of me and drank and then worked their way back toward me. They got to the spot I had crossed the little dry creek and got nervous when they smelled my ground scent and they started circling behind me. At this same time I look up and see my target buck walking down the same trail the does came in on and he was about 130 yards out when the does got around downwind and started blowing. I would like to say I threw my gun up and smoked him but it was actually more comedic...

The deer turned and I tried a quick shot. At the shot he turned and ran to my left and stopped about 150 yards out with his vitals behind a large tree but I could see blood on his back legs. I aimed for his neck and fired and saw a limb blow off a tree on the way. The next shot barked the tree he was behind and the next 4 shots hit nothing but dirt I guess. I was beside myself at that time with an empty gun...I quickly grabbed the 5 spare Remington Core-Lokt bullets I brought since I had shot all the Hornadys I had and I watched the deer lie down behind the same tree...a couple minutes later he is on his feet and walking across to my right. He stopped in an opening and I sent a Remington round on its way. At the shot he bucked and ran straight at me and crashed about 100 yards from me behind a large blown down red oak. I sat and watched for 15 minutes and saw no movement and got down and eased over to where he had fallen. The last shot hit the sweet spot...

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It's a pain to have to try to be your own photographer...lol


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