Oklahoma Public Land

Discuss deer hunting tactics, Deer behavior. Post your Hunting Stories, Pictures, and Questions/Answers.
  • Advertisement

HB Store


OkieCity
Posts: 3
Joined: Wed Dec 16, 2015 8:00 am
Status: Offline

Oklahoma Public Land

Unread postby OkieCity » Tue Oct 17, 2017 4:57 am

Hi, I am fairly new to the bed hunting. I have been following Dan and this site since the Blood Bros days 6-8 years ago and have adjusted my hunting from pounding one area until complete frustration to trying to be more tactical, planning my wind and approaches.. I actually have been doing significantly more post season scouting than hunting because I enjoy walking and hiking in nature and trying to find and figure these animals out. I hunt public land that is almost completely void of other hunters 11 months out of the year and the bow hunters that do show up seem to be the find a nice trail or deep cut opening and set up a permanent stand. For the other month it is WWIII on deer with an open to the public muzzleloader week which will pull 50+ guns per day for this 15,000 acre piece and then the Wildlife Dept.(DNR) will hold draw rifle hunts for the following 3 weekends offering 3 day tags to 350 guns each weekend. I have never drawn in as I put in for further out draws but I have ended up there on a rifle hunt weekend and it was scary how many shots rang out all over the place, I actually thought people were shooting at me on several occasions and just got outta there. I know most of you guys are in the far North where it gets significantly colder and food sources are significantly less and educated hunting pressure is significantly more.. Down here we face a South Wind 75% + and usually our coldest days are mid 20's and that's usually after the season ends. If we get a handful of hunting days in the 30 degree range during the season I would be surprised. Consequently food sources are fairly abundant I would say for 90% of the year and the point food becomes an issue is about the time season is over (Jan 15th) here. The woods are mostly rolling hills, number of creek bottoms (large and small), no significant rivers though the creeks usually wont dry up unless mid summer, with large grass fields and a bunch of DNR wheat and crop fields (hundreds of acres each) in the Public as well as most of the private land surrounding consists of crop fields with wood patches, there are tons of Post Oaks as well as a fair amount of large oaks, there is not a lot of "Big Woods", there is a ton of "Edgeline" where it is thick prickly viney crap that I have to use a machete or sword to hack through. Anyway I am not sure really what my question is, I guess I feel like I am not hunting the same animals that you guys are up North. During the winter when the woods are open I have found several big buck core areas and several large beds but they have not felt like gold money even when I find them, I get the feeling that something large has been here before but isn't staying with any regularity, like finding a large bed and rubs almost in it with soft dirt all around but no big tracks (meaning he hasn't been there recently). The amount of thick cover that people wont walk into is almost endless as being quiet in it is almost impossible and I am very sneaky as I am 5'6" 150lbs and used to wrestle so I have good balance and foot control. Now this thick cover is obviously not so thick that the deer wont walk in it because I walk through the woods this time of year and the trails are everywhere.. Literally everywhere. They come out and go in and walk all around like cattle and there are only a few well distinguished trails at pinch points everything else looks like they just jump up at night and run around having a big drunken deer party, even in the woods the trails are all over like they want to know every square inch of their ground. This weekend I went into what I thought I had determined to be a big buck bedding core area based on previous years hunting and scouting after season and I circled the edges and then cut my way right through the middle and found a fair amount of deer sign but no large tracks, fresh rubs, scrapes, large poop or any big sign that this guy was back living here yet (maybe its only a late season bed?) Anyway im just confused by all the sign everywhere, I know most of it is being made at night, I know these deer have almost endless food choices and they aren't terribly concerned about a human being able to get to them before they hear or see them up until the first shot goes off then they hunker or hide or head to private. I guess any advice on how to approach this would be helpful. The areas I find concentrated big deer sign towards the end of the season and after season is showing very minimal sign now. These deer are very well trained in human avoidance if they make it through a couple years of the month long gun hunts, food is every where and possible bedding is everywhere as almost every road and open field has some bed(s) in position to keep it under observation.. Getting past the sentry deer is a whole other story because the big buck sign I have found is always deeper and more protected than just watching a field edge because I think these guys get tired of getting up and running from every idiot that stumbles through even though they aren't threatened its more deep bedding to avoid the annoyance and they still get alerted when the little deer run by..


BigCedarJack
500 Club
Posts: 779
Joined: Thu Dec 04, 2014 12:17 pm
Location: Oklahoma
Status: Offline

Re: Oklahoma Public Land

Unread postby BigCedarJack » Tue Oct 17, 2017 8:30 am

Northern part of Cherokee?
OkieCity
Posts: 3
Joined: Wed Dec 16, 2015 8:00 am
Status: Offline

Re: Oklahoma Public Land

Unread postby OkieCity » Tue Oct 17, 2017 10:16 am

No, this is actually Lexington WMA just south of Norman and OKC.. its the closest public land to the metro but I am not worried about mentioning it because 1. Oklahomans don't know the HB and 2. The deer are well educated and very crafty and 3. I invite anyone to come take a crack at these big boys and there are big boys here, I have found 6" trees rubbed 5ft high, ive seen and been on to several 140-150s, ive found numbers of different hand sized 5 1/2 - 6" tracks. The big buck sign is very light but I almost always track them back to living in thick creek bottoms close to food and elevation changes which is pretty much the whole property. I am only hunting what I consider to be the top 4-5 "areas" where all their needs are met in close proximity to where I have found large beds and what I consider their core area where they bed in different locations probably based on wind variations. I just haven't been able to find a bed I consider to be "The Bed" optimal location for a defensive position with fresh hair and fresh tracks
OkieCity
Posts: 3
Joined: Wed Dec 16, 2015 8:00 am
Status: Offline

Re: Oklahoma Public Land

Unread postby OkieCity » Tue Oct 17, 2017 10:28 am

I should also mention that scents and calls are worse than worthless down here.. these deer have seen, smelled and heard everything fake that has been made and in addition to scaring/startling a number of deer and have them blow and bolt, I have actually been made fun of on several occasions where little guys will jump out and run around out of bow range and ive been incircled by several deer numerous times due to grunting and they will all grunt back and forth and Ive tried being silent and joining the conversation but no matter what I say I have never been a sweet deer talker so I started leaving the calls and crap at home but now as I take them more seriously they are taking me more seriously and I am getting way less interactions and feel like im hunting dead woods when Im in one of my "good" preplanned spots
User avatar
Wannabelikedan
500 Club
Posts: 1036
Joined: Fri Feb 03, 2017 5:28 pm
Location: Oklahoma
Status: Offline

Re: Oklahoma Public Land

Unread postby Wannabelikedan » Wed Oct 18, 2017 11:13 am

OkieCity wrote:Hi, I am fairly new to the bed hunting. I have been following Dan and this site since the Blood Bros days 6-8 years ago and have adjusted my hunting from pounding one area until complete frustration to trying to be more tactical, planning my wind and approaches.. I actually have been doing significantly more post season scouting than hunting because I enjoy walking and hiking in nature and trying to find and figure these animals out. I hunt public land that is almost completely void of other hunters 11 months out of the year and the bow hunters that do show up seem to be the find a nice trail or deep cut opening and set up a permanent stand. For the other month it is WWIII on deer with an open to the public muzzleloader week which will pull 50+ guns per day for this 15,000 acre piece and then the Wildlife Dept.(DNR) will hold draw rifle hunts for the following 3 weekends offering 3 day tags to 350 guns each weekend. I have never drawn in as I put in for further out draws but I have ended up there on a rifle hunt weekend and it was scary how many shots rang out all over the place, I actually thought people were shooting at me on several occasions and just got outta there. I know most of you guys are in the far North where it gets significantly colder and food sources are significantly less and educated hunting pressure is significantly more.. Down here we face a South Wind 75% + and usually our coldest days are mid 20's and that's usually after the season ends. If we get a handful of hunting days in the 30 degree range during the season I would be surprised. Consequently food sources are fairly abundant I would say for 90% of the year and the point food becomes an issue is about the time season is over (Jan 15th) here. The woods are mostly rolling hills, number of creek bottoms (large and small), no significant rivers though the creeks usually wont dry up unless mid summer, with large grass fields and a bunch of DNR wheat and crop fields (hundreds of acres each) in the Public as well as most of the private land surrounding consists of crop fields with wood patches, there are tons of Post Oaks as well as a fair amount of large oaks, there is not a lot of "Big Woods", there is a ton of "Edgeline" where it is thick prickly viney crap that I have to use a machete or sword to hack through. Anyway I am not sure really what my question is, I guess I feel like I am not hunting the same animals that you guys are up North. During the winter when the woods are open I have found several big buck core areas and several large beds but they have not felt like gold money even when I find them, I get the feeling that something large has been here before but isn't staying with any regularity, like finding a large bed and rubs almost in it with soft dirt all around but no big tracks (meaning he hasn't been there recently). The amount of thick cover that people wont walk into is almost endless as being quiet in it is almost impossible and I am very sneaky as I am 5'6" 150lbs and used to wrestle so I have good balance and foot control. Now this thick cover is obviously not so thick that the deer wont walk in it because I walk through the woods this time of year and the trails are everywhere.. Literally everywhere. They come out and go in and walk all around like cattle and there are only a few well distinguished trails at pinch points everything else looks like they just jump up at night and run around having a big drunken deer party, even in the woods the trails are all over like they want to know every square inch of their ground. This weekend I went into what I thought I had determined to be a big buck bedding core area based on previous years hunting and scouting after season and I circled the edges and then cut my way right through the middle and found a fair amount of deer sign but no large tracks, fresh rubs, scrapes, large poop or any big sign that this guy was back living here yet (maybe its only a late season bed?) Anyway im just confused by all the sign everywhere, I know most of it is being made at night, I know these deer have almost endless food choices and they aren't terribly concerned about a human being able to get to them before they hear or see them up until the first shot goes off then they hunker or hide or head to private. I guess any advice on how to approach this would be helpful. The areas I find concentrated big deer sign towards the end of the season and after season is showing very minimal sign now. These deer are very well trained in human avoidance if they make it through a couple years of the month long gun hunts, food is every where and possible bedding is everywhere as almost every road and open field has some bed(s) in position to keep it under observation.. Getting past the sentry deer is a whole other story because the big buck sign I have found is always deeper and more protected than just watching a field edge because I think these guys get tired of getting up and running from every idiot that stumbles through even though they aren't threatened its more deep bedding to avoid the annoyance and they still get alerted when the little deer run by..


You explained Okie public land perfectly! :clap:
You forgot to mention the hogs but they’re probably not near as dense up by Lexington WMA as they are here down south. They definitely add more chaos to the mix.
Teaching is only demonstrating that it is possible.... Learning is making it possible for yourself.


  • Advertisement

Return to “Deer Hunting”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 136 guests