Wildlife News: 2023 Rack Madness

Ever wonder how the deer, elk, pronghorn or black bear you bagged might stack up against the best of the state’s Cy Curtis Award winners? You can find out Feb. 24 during Rack Madness at the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation headquarters.

This event welcomes anyone to bring in their antlers, horns or skulls for professional scoring by ODWC personnel. Registrants entering an item for scoring might end up winning an Oklahoma Lifetime Combination Hunting and Fishing License valued at $775, provided by the Oklahoma Wildlife Conservation Foundation.

Rack Madness will run from 12 p.m. to 7 p.m. Friday, Feb. 24, at 1801 N. Lincoln Blvd. in Oklahoma City.

Lifetime License Giveaway

The lifetime license drawing will take place at 7 p.m. and participants must be present to win. Anyone who checks-in at the event after 6:45 will not be eligible to participate in the drawing.

Anyone who brings a rack, horns or skull for scoring will automatically be entered in the drawing upon registration. There is only one entry per participant, except for youth.

Any youth (under 18) who attends the event (no rack required) who harvested an antlerless deer during the 2022-23 deer season is also eligible to enter the drawing. As a bonus, if the youth enters a rack, horns or skulls for scoring and they also harvested a doe, they will get two entries into the drawing.

The winner must be eligible to hold a lifetime license and will have the option to transfer the prize to someone else who is eligible.

Registration and Requirements

Participants should pre-register online at GoOutdoorsOklahoma.com. Scoring will be handled on a first-come, first-served basis. There is a two-item scoring limit per participant. To qualify, antlers must both be attached to the skull plate, whether mounted or unmounted. In addition to white-tailed and mule deer antlers, scoring will be available for elk antlers, antelope horns and bear skulls. Harvest must have occurred in Oklahoma.

Cy Curtis Awards Program

Hunters whose officially scored items meet the minimum score and drying period requirements will be eligible for the ODWC’s Cy Curtis Awards Program, which recognizes trophy Oklahoma mule deer, elk, antelope and black bear as well as the hunters who harvest them. The program began in 1972 and is named for a former Department wildlife biologist who is recognized as the person most responsible for restoration of white-tailed deer populations in Oklahoma.

For more information about how to apply for a Cy Curtis Award, visit https:// www.wildlifedepartment.com/hunting/ cy-curtis.