Rearranging the record books seemed to be on Oklahoma deer hunter’s minds this past season as a number of beautiful bucks were taken across the state. Now that the required 60-day drying period is over for the majority of antlers acquired during the state’s archery season, Alan Peoples, chief of wildlife with the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation, says he has not seen anything like it through his entire career.
“I have the privilege of seeing a bunch of big deer racks pass through my office every year, and I’ve never seen this many at one time,” Peoples said.
As outsiders scramble for answers to the state’s staggering whitetail success, they are beginning to attribute the success to Oklahoma’s sound deer herd management strategy that has been in place for approximately 17 years.
The strategy, based on the tagline; “hunters in the know…let young bucks grow,” which replaced the former “‘Hunters in the know take a doe” in 2013 has had a remarkable effect on the Oklahoma deer herd.
“The Department revamped the ‘Hunters in the know take a doe’ slogan from 2000 and began emphasizing the message of ‘Hunters in the know … let young bucks grow!’ in 2013. The goal was to get hunters to think like deer managers and to realize that whenever they pull the trigger or release an arrow, that’s going to have an effect on their local deer herd,” said Erik Bartholomew, big game biologist with the Wildlife Department.
Additionally, the department released an informative poster to aid hunters in recognizing younger bucks in relation to older bucks. The strategy was eventually recognized by the Quality Deer Management Association, who awarded the Oklahoma Wildlife Department its 2014 Agency of the Year.
So far the 2016 deer season has added almost 40 bucks to Oklahoma’s Cy Curtis Awards Program, which recognizes trophy game animals such as white-tailed deer, mule deer, elk, pronghorn and black bears.
The state’s overall first-place buck is believed to be safe from de-throning atop the state’s record books so far. The deer, taking in 2004, scored 248 6/8, is hanging on literally by a few inches as a pair of non-typical deer taken in 2016 are nipping at the state record’s heels.
Jeffrey Parker’s non-typical whitetail scored 245 5/8 and Travis Ocker’s 245 2/8 buck both taken this past season were extremely close to the mark and remain as a true testament to the success of Oklahoma’s sound deer management practices.
Feature Image: Travis Ocker (PROVIDED BY GEORGE MOORE/ODWC)