Page 15 - 2018 SEPT/OCT Outdoor Oklahoma

Figure 1: Total Harvest with Bucks and Does
120
Bucks Does
100

Harvest (in thousands) 60
80

40

20

0
2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017
Year
With the 2017-18 deer season in the books, Oklahoma For the first time since 2014, participation in the deer
again proved why it is a great destination for deer hunters muzzleloader season increased from the previous year.
from across the country. The total harvest of 107,914 deer is The Department’s annual game harvest survey estimat-
up from last year’s harvest total of 99,023. Figure 1 shows ed 79,248 hunters took to the woods with this underused
overall deer harvest numbers since 2004. Not only was method, up 3,482 hunters from last season. Harvest was
overall harvest up, but many trophy animals were harvest- also up to 16,563 deer, an increase of 4,597 over last year.
ed as well. Antlerless harvest totaled 40 percent, which is on Archery season continued to grow in popularity and
the low side of the Wildlife Department’s management goal harvest numbers in 2017-18. An estimated 97,837 hunt-
of 40 percent to 45 percent. And in western Oklahoma, 196 ers managed to take 29,094 deer during the 16-week
mule deer were harvested from 13 counties. season, again setting a new archery harvest record for
Harvest numbers in all deer hunting seasons increased the state. Figure 2 depicts each individual season and
from last year, making 2017-18 a great time to be an Okla- its harvest total.
homa deer hunter. Hunters were successful in bagging As usual, more deer were harvested in the larger coun-
some really impressive trophies, which can be credited ties. Hunters harvested 5,141 deer in Osage County, while
in part to a few different things. First, hunters across the Pittsburg County yielded 3,391, and Creek County gave
state are really adopting the Wildlife Department’s slo- up 2,831 deer. Table 1 shows harvest by county, season
gan of “Hunters in the Know … Let Young Bucks Grow!”
This mind-set over the past several years has allowed Figure 2: 2017-18 Percent Deer Harvest by Season Type
more bucks to reach a mature age class. The combination
of abundant fall forage after the rut, along with a mild
and wet spring, allowed for abundant food sources to
be available during crucial times for antler development.
Also, game cameras are becoming more affordable and
more reliable, allowing hunters to better document the
trophy bucks where they hunt. Hunters are much more
willing to wait on a mature buck if they have photographic
proof to boost their patience and motivation. All of these
factors helped hunters who wanted to harvest a trophy.
Gun hunters continued to show not only the highest
participation of all season types with 187,657 hunters,
but also the highest portion of total harvest with 57
percent. After all results from youth, regular and holi-
day antlerless gun seasons were tallied up, 62,257 deer
Gun
were reported via the E-Check system for all of the gun 57.7% Archery Muzzleloader
15.3%
27.0%
seasons combined.
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