With the opening day of gun season on November 19th
With the opening day of gun season on November 19th, the cold weather has the deer coming out of the woodwork. As she was driving down our road to town this morning, my wife said she saw about twenty deer in different groups along her three and a half mile drive. Several were jumping across the road.
With the opening day of gun season on November 19th, the cold weather has the deer coming out of the woodwork. As she was driving down our road to town this morning, my wife said she saw about twenty deer in different groups along her three and a half mile drive. Several were jumping across the road.
With the colder weather this week, the rut has set in and the deer are on the move. Over 160,000 plus hunters clad in orange will be on hand on Saturday, November 19th, in search of whitetail deer.
Harvest numbers reported by the ODWC from the 2021-22 deer season prove that now is a great time to be an Oklahoma big game hunter. Healthy herds and ideal conditions accounted for more than 117,629 deer taken, making it the third-highest harvest total on record. The antlerless deer harvest accounted for 41 percent of that total, which falls right in line with the statewide annual goal of between 40 and 45 percent. Gun seasons led the way with 68,879 deer harvested. The seasons include the traditional 16day firearms, the youth season, and the holiday antlerless season respectively.
Some interesting data from the 2022 Deer Hunters Almanac reflects just how far we’ve come. In 1964, gun hunters harvested 3,368 deer, while bow hunters harvested 140 for a total of 3,508, the lowest number on record. There’s never been a better opportunity to introduce youngsters or newcomers to the sport of deer hunting.
According to Bobby Harris of Fort Gibson, gun season is about camaraderie with friends. “Even if you’re not hunting together, it’s always great to share stories at the end of the day”, said Harris. “By the look of things, we should still be in rut on Saturday so we may have more stories to tell. It will be a fun time nonetheless.”
Muskogee native, Robert Capps, said it’s a day he looks forward to all year long and it goes back to when he was a kid. “It was a big deal getting together with family and friends to go hunting and that, to me, was the most important thing and harvesting a deer was just icing on the cake,” said Capps. As you prepare to go afield, please let family or friends know the area you plan on hunting and a time to expect you home. Reach Kilgore at jkilgoreoutdoors@yahoo.com .
