Bowsite.com

Okie Archery numbers doubled this decade

23,000 deer harvested last year compared to 11,000 2007. That's incredible growth for our sport. Technology has played a role in popularity as well as the legalization of crossbows in 2009.

Have you noticed that deer are more pressured earlier in the season?

What would you like to see change in our state management?

For the game wardens to check more hunters because I think most folks are hunting out of season with a rifle just from what I can hear around where I hunt at I'm strictly bow hunting and try to manage for mature deer but it's hard to do when your neighbors are picking off your 3 year olds with rifles At times when it's supposed to be archery season only !!

way to go crossbow.

oh and i may add online check in....allowing even the wort riflehunter to tag in a deer with an archery tag during bow season.

I agree with the use of rifles during archery seasons. I hear way to many gun shots before light and after. Online checks is a free tag for poachers.

I'd like to see the check in system come back myself as well! That and a seperate and slightly shorter season for crossbows especially on public land which has become very crowded compared to just a few years ago

I agree Michael. I hunted a small public area that was archery only until crossbows were legal for everyone. I might see one or two other hunters a weekend before and then it turned 10 plus and the deer moved elsewhere or went nocturnal. I quit hunting the area all together.

I don't believe poachers really care what checking system is used.

Yea I've never really understood how the online check in contributes to poaching... Wouldn't a poacher just take the deer home anyway or cut in field? I've never seen stats to back this up. Does a poacher need a tag?

I did enjoy taking my deer to the check station.

Because now you can just take it home and still be "legal" it's a poachers dream...have your cake and eat it too. I really don't think it happens as much as people who pass on deer older that 3.5 years old think it does though lol

ive heard that said before. There has always been a lot of poaching of deer.

I disagree with our season dates all together. The best time to be in the woods for most seasons ive hunted falls during bow only. between muzzleloader and rifle. If I had my pick I would push rifle back to start around first weekend in Nov, and muzzle loader to but right up to it. I personally would lime to see the check stations come back. It was good for hunter fellowship and the kids. As far as poaching, the State will have to cough up allot more money, and have more than 1 game warden for the entire county. Without local Law enforcement agencies enforcing wildlife laws, Game Wardens are it, and theres simply not enough of em.

Oh hell no! Lol Rifle and muzzleloader season is falling in the peak of the rut! My opinion it would be a disaster for bow hunting

We need to push rifle back say first part of Dec. like Kansas look what they have by doing this and X bows only during rifle or Blk. powder season.

I agree bowdoc...unfortunately archery is t the small player that it used to be. I think the only thing that is keeping the gun season popular is the semi decent rut dates.

I mean really if you could hunt peak rut dates with a crossbow or cold December nothingness with a crossbow which would you choose? Those damn machines are going to change bow seasons forever...heck they already are

*cold December nothingness with a rifle

I hear yeah man !!!!

Well make that nearly triple!

In my experience you could find quality hunting on any public land before the crossbows became a part of the scenery. The last time I went to T-bird was a couple years ago and I witnessed a truckload of Xbow hunters unload and take out walking around like they were small game hunting. I didn't feel like they were any threat to the deer population but I didn't see any deer either.

Oneeye they are figuring it out

More Wardens in the field. I hunt in the South East part of the State (Atoka Co). Opening morning of archery season sounds like a war zone with all the rifle shots. In addition to that, these rifle hunters take their deer home, check them online, if at all, and nobody knows the difference. Need to get rid of this system.

Fairly common practice to use a "centerfire bow" to harvest a deer in October in Push county and SE Oklahoma amongst locals. I worked at a deer processer in high school one fall on bow opener a guy brought in a fat doe. I could see the entrance wound looked like a 3 blade wound but no exit. As I skinned the deer I started noticing bullet damage then found the actual bullet still embedded right under the skin on the offhand side. It's been going on since before the online check but definitely got worse after. But IMO the rise is mostly due to the crossbows. I personally know a guy who had never archery hunted until the year they legalized crossbows. He went out and got one and has harvested 3-4 deer sense then.

I wouldn't blame poaching exclusively on xbows. I know people, personally, who used to push arrows through .22 holes WAY back in the day. That was when xbows were still for disabled individuals only. I've never liked xbows, but I did pick one up last year just for hunting public. I got sick of packing in a treestand 2 miles just to get away from the other hunters (Tbird is overrun!), so I opted for a crossbow so I can walk as far as I need and sit on the ground without having to worry about drawing my bow while eye level with a deer. And i HATE myself for buying the xbow too! My wife has encouraged me to keep it in the off chance my shoulder gives and I need a xbow to be able to bow hunt. On another forum I'm on, the argument is generally pro-xbow because of the younger hunters starting out, the women, and disabled individuals being recruited as new hunters because they can use an xbow. I see both sides, but I generally don't like xbows.

Crossbows mean nothing here. The killing starts in the summer and continues to spring. Wardens that would get off their butts and work and bringing back check stations would help a lot.

If enuff hunters stood up and said no more echeck maybe odwc would listen.

Stop the illegal use of four wheelers on closed roads. nothing twist my crank more than for me to pack in a mile, carrying everything, only to have someone come driving up the road n an ATV. That, and start fining people for leaving their stands year round in trees.

I'd like to see them go to one buck a season like Kansas

I don't blame the Xbow hunters for doing whatever is legal within the state regulations. I like the one buck limit idea, because they're either going limit out within a week or else they don't know how to get close enough to kill a deer and give up.

Man if we went to a one buck it would be crazy! We would be the new Kansas

Yes we would. Most of the state has decent genetics and in some areas they're really good. We just need age. Oklahoma could be phenomenal. Unfortunately the mission statement of the Department's deer management plan literally states "to maximize hunter opportunity". So they do things like allowing 2 bucks and gun season during the rut. I really wish they'd change their management plan though as times have changed and I think the majority of hunters would rather have the opportunity to hunt bigger deer in an older age class. We would also get a more balanced buck to doe ratio like Kansas. I think most guys would trade a buck for that. Especially if they've ever experienced first hand how good it can be. I'm bow hunting in Kansas right now instead of Oklahoma. I don't remember the last time I deer hunted Oklahoma which is sad.

Bringing back check stations is like bringing back the assault weapons ban. It’ll make some people feel good inside but do ABSOLUTELY nothing to solve the problem. A criminals gonna do what a criminal is gonna do.

Yes but the build a buck program (echeck) Is a gateway for criminals. It will convince a halfway legal hunter to kill a buck early in rifle and hunt the rest of the season looking for an upgrade and if he doesn't kill a bigger one that one will be checked in the last day. echeck is garbage. Be better off not checkin em at all. The number of archery killed bucks during muzz and rifle have also skyrocketed with echeck.

well I’m glad they didn’t away with it. As a law abiding sportsman it was nothing more than a pita to drive half way across a county to the one open check station to register my kill.

Poachers are gonna do whatever the hell they want to anyway. I’m glad the state didn’t continue to punish me for the poachers stupidity.

I’ll never support going back to physical check stations. I’ll bet lots of “legal” deer were never even reported because guys didn’t wanna mess with finding an open check station. I feel echeck probably gives the odwc a better idea of what is being killed. Legal or not! Cuz i believe most those deer were being killed and never reported anyway. Because again it’s my firm belief that someone who wants to kill a deer illegally will do so no matter what laws exist.

Agree: the poacher is probably not even aware that echeck exists

Another in favor of one buck.

Above on the arguement for crossbows for women and children is nonsense. Bows are safer to learn on, and my son at 12 took a doe at 13 yards with a passthrough using 35# draw, 25" DL, 350 grain arrow tipped with a 2 blade Magnus Stinger. That was an eyeopener to me. The Ameristep blinds are also great for them to hunt out of, and for us is more effective for close shots than the treestands where deer and hogs seem to always spot us. We have had deer within 3 yards both upwind and downwind of a blind only put out a couple of hours before.

What area do you hunt in that you find blinds more productive than stands? I have been busted before in stands and thought how in the world did they know i was up here.

Any bets on this year? I’m guessing 6k increase in statewide archery harvest and drop in muzzle loader and rifle both that will somewhat reflect archery increase

Register here to reply to this topic