Attention hunters: Ever wonder how the deer, elk, pronghorn, or black bear you bagged might stack up against the best of the state’s Cy Curtis Award winners? You can find out Friday, Feb. 24, during the annual Rack Madness event at the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation headquarters in Oklahoma City.
Rack Madness welcomes anyone to bring in their antlers, horns or skulls to be professionally scored by certified Wildlife Department personnel. Anyone who registers and enters an item for scoring could win a grand prize drawing for an Oklahoma Lifetime Combination Hunting and Fishing License valued at $775, provided by the Oklahoma Wildlife Conservation Foundation.
Rack Madness will run from noon to 7 p.m. Friday, Feb. 24, at 1801 N. Lincoln Blvd. in Oklahoma City.
Lifetime License Giveaway
The lifetime license drawing will take place at 7 p.m. and the person drawn must be present to win. Anyone who checks-in at the event after 6:45 p.m. will not be eligible to participate in the drawing.
Anyone who brings a rack, horns, or bear skull for scoring by 6:45 p.m. will automatically be entered in the grand prize drawing upon registration. Only one entry is allowed per participant, except for youths.
Anyone 17 or younger who attends the event (no rack required) who harvested an antlerless deer during the 2022-23 deer season is also eligible to enter the drawing. As a bonus, if a youth enters a rack, horns, or skull for scoring, and that youth also harvested a doe, that youth will get two entries into the grand prize drawing.
The winner must be eligible to hold a lifetime license and will have the option to transfer the prize to someone else who is eligible.
Registration and Requirements
Participants should pre-register online at GoOutdoorsOklahoma.com. Scoring will be conducted on a first-come, first-serve basis. There is a two-item scoring limit per participant. To qualify, antlers must both be attached to the skull plate, whether mounted or unmounted. In addition to white-tailed and mule deer antlers, scoring will be available for elk antlers, antelope horns, and black bear skulls. Harvest must have occurred in Oklahoma.
Cy Curtis Awards Program
Hunters whose officially scored items meet the minimum score and drying period requirements will be eligible for ODWC’s Cy Curtis Awards Program, which recognizes trophy Oklahoma white-tailed and mule deer, elk, pronghorn, and black bear as well as the hunters who harvest them. The program began in 1972 and is named for a former Department wildlife biologist who is recognized as the person most responsible for restoration of white-tailed deer populations in Oklahoma.
For more information about how to apply for a Cy Curtis Award, go to https://www.wildlifedepartment.com/hunting/cy-curtis.