Skip to main content

Outdoor Oklahoma Journal

This is the Outdoor Oklahoma Journal, where we're all about helping you pursue and engage in Oklahoma's vibrant outdoor lifestyle. Follow us for great hunting and fishing stories, wildlife features, insider information about unique opportunities, and tangible details on how to go out and be a hunter, angler, and conservationist. The outdoors are always open, so don't miss out!

The renovated shooting range at Lexington WMA was officially opened last week with help from shooting sports teams from Altus and Sequoyah (Claremore) schools along with several Wildlife Conservation Commissioners. (Don P. Brown/ODWC)
Lexington WMA "Open House"

You and your family are invited to learn about squirrel hunting and public land hunting while spending time at the gun range! This free event is hosted by the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation.

A buck pronghorn with black horns in the shortgrass prairie.
Conservation Highlights from 2023

Read about your Wildlife Department’s most recent conservation efforts and find out how ODWC is keeping Oklahoma’s conservation legacy alive and well.

A corkboard with images of two grassland birds.
Wild Double Takes: Eastern and Western Meadowlarks

Tips for identifying two Oklahoma look-alike birds, the eastern and western meadowlarks.

man looks through spotting scope
Next Year's Hunting Season Dates

How and when Oklahoma's hunting season dates are set can get complicated. But for the most part, hunting seasons are either on the same date or the same weekend every year.

A brown cat lays on the ground, looking through standing vegetation.
Bobcats Focus of Study on Three Wildlife Management Areas

The Wildlife Department partnered with Oklahoma State University to study the density of Oklahoma’s most-harvested furbearer and the relationships between predator and prey.

The sun shines low on a wetland with ducks in the background and thick grasses in the foreground.
How Waterfowlers Can Help Prevent Spread of ANS

Duck and goose hunters have a role to play in helping to prevent the spread of invasive aquatic nuisance species. Here are some ways they can help.

father and son squirrel hunting
Missed Hunting Opportunities

Lots of opportunities to enjoy the outdoors exist on Oklahoma's wildlife management areas.

two hunters in the woods looking for squirrel
Public Land Alternatives to Private Land Hunting

Wondering where to hunt? If you're looking for public hunting opportunities in Oklahoma, here are a few areas to get you started.

A corkboard with images of two gray raptors with red barring on their breasts.
Wild Double Take: Cooper’s and Sharp-shinned Hawks

Tips for identifying two Oklahoma look-alike raptors, the Cooper’s and sharp-shinned hawks.

Photo of a black and white bird in two hands with a cavity tree in the background.
Louisiana Gives Oklahoma’s Endangered Woodpecker Population a Boost

Twelve red-cockaded woodpeckers were recently relocated to Oklahoma’s shortleaf pine forest from a donor population in Louisiana.