2016 Pushmataha County Thread

[arrowslinger]

If I was going to buy land to hunt on in Oklahoma I would look in southern Pushmataha or Atoka Co. The less bear you have to deal with the better. Also the less mountain and more bottom land the better.

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[Texahoman]

If I was going to buy land to hunt on in Oklahoma I would look in southern Pushmataha or Atoka Co. The less bear you have to deal with the better. Also the less mountain and more bottom land the better.

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Still don't know where the bear are but they can stay away, I'm in southern push and choctaw county. Closer to this river the better!

[3whunt]

I agree that bottom land is much better/more enjoyable for hunting. Though the mountains around us supply a steady flow of young bucks annually and mature deer during the rut. There are dead spots in the county that have a low deer population so don't discount that when looking to buy. The closer to Arkansas the more dog hunters and in my opinion poachers you'll have to deal with.


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[arrowslinger]

The dog hunters are strong where I'm at, had a guy up there during the middle of the week and he ran guys off for running dogs in the middle of the night. Scary part they had no fear and came right into our camp.

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[PSE-Madman]

we just got back. had four guys in camp. three does, one medium-ish 8 pt and a giant hog. saw bucks running does this morning. A member took a shot at one and missed it. said it was a giant 150 plus... deer movement seems to have picked up considerably. still most of the bucks on cams are at night.

[acearrow]

Wow, thanks Scott. Was beginning to wonder if anyone would take the time to respond. We have a 22 year old special needs son that loves the outdoors, hunting, fishing, camping etc. I would like to buy a larger tract with someone else and split it. I like having other grown ups around that could help our son and me should something happen. Why did yall get off the Arkansas lease if I can ask and how did you find it?
Blessings, Bruce

Found the Arkansas lease through a timber company. After three years, It just wasn't picking up and deer were almost nonexistent. We are getting some really nice bucks on camera now in Oklahoma but just not seeing any during hunting hours. Doe have been few and far between. Tried some food plots but didn't do a good job with them. Planning on putting in some more and spending more time preparing them before next season.
I have seen several nice properties for sale at reasonable prices in Push county. Good luck on your search.

[B G]

we just got back. had four guys in camp. three does, one medium-ish 8 pt and a giant hog. saw bucks running does this morning. A member took a shot at one and missed it. said it was a giant 150 plus... deer movement seems to have picked up considerably. still most of the bucks on cams are at night.

So would it be worth the 3 hour drive to sit the stand tomorrow?


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[Rwc]

Thanks Booner! I am beyond excited and still a little shocked that we got him!This is one of my best friends (Drew) family's land and it's 300 acres. The first year Drews dad let me hunt bucks up there was 2013. That was also the first year we saw this buck. I think he was 3 at the time. We had trail cam pics of him and we talked pretty hard about shooting him but decided to let him walk. He wasn't a wall hanger then but he had our attention for sure. We knew we might never see him again but the 3 of us that hunted that year all let him walk at least once. The next year he blew up! We gave him the name BFB. (Big freaking Buck) He would hit all the feeders randomly throughout September, October, and early November. After that he would vanish and we never new till the next September if he had made it through the year. In fact the first pic of him I posted above is the week before Thanksgiving 2014. Drew got up there that Friday early and he was on camera in our hand corn everyday that week between 10 and noon. Drew had killed his buck already and told me to go get him. It was raining and a little cold the morning when we got up but I toughed it out. The rain quit about 8 and I knew he was coming. It started pouring hard a little bit later and the radar looked like it wasn't gonna let up anytime soon. I called it quits that morning and he pretty much stopped showing up after that. Drews brother saw him once that year but couldn't get a shot.

This place is probably 50 percent open or more but has a thick patch of timber running along the back fence line. We do all our deer hunting in that timber out of woodsey too/gametmer style hangon stands. This particular spot has been the best on the place since we put it up. We hung the stand and put a feeder out at the end of the year 2 seasons ago. Drew played a bigger role in killing this buck than I did honestly. He is constantly trying to make things better and has moved the stand twice since we put it up. It's still within 100 yards of its original spot. Now the stand is 50 yards inside the timber on the edge of a big field and there is a fence line (not the property line) that runs just inside the edge of the timber. The deer travel through there a lot. The feeder is 40 yards from the stand and we hand corn the area a bunch!

We started getting pics of him in September again this year and were kinda disappointed that he went downhill from last year. Most of the pics were at night but we had some during the day as well. Drew had a bunch of deer come in right at dark last Friday evening. BFB came in a little later but it was too dark too see what he was. We found out it was him when Drew checked the pictures from his camera later that night. He never saw him again that weekend. We hunted this past Saturday morning and I didn't see a deer from that stand and there hadn't been much activity. I don't think we had a daytime pic all week at that feeder. Drew hunted there that evening and was covered up with deer after shooting light again. He stayed put till they all left. He told me he wanted me to hunt there Sunday morning. I tried to convince to hunt it himself and even told him I wasn't sure I could find the stand in the dark but he wouldn't take no for an answer. I had 1 deer there early but never could tell what it was. About 8 I heard a deer coming down the fence so I turned and got ready to shoot. It was a small 8 that passed right where I needed him too had he been a shooter. He was out of sight in less than a minute and when I turned back around BFB was at the feeder facing dead away from me! I never heard or saw him coming. I practiced quite a bit and was shooting great at 30 but hadn't shot much at 40. I was praying he'd come my way. Something spooked him a little and he turned and was walking out on a path that would bring him close enough for a shot. I grunted several times but he wouldn't stop. He had 1 or 2 more steps before he was gone so I "holler grunted" and he stopped. I was already at full draw and the arrow was gone almost immediately. It hit a little higher and a touch further back than I wanted. I listened and heard what I assumed at the time was his horn smacking against a tree when he went down. I got down a bit later and found a big spot of blood and good blood trail where he left out. I met drew back at camp and him, my wife and three year old and his son took up the trail about and hour later. Blood was good for a while then got a little sparse. I thought about calling it off for a bit and giving him a little more time just in case. We started finding good blood again pretty quick and we were 50 yards from a creek. Had he made it up the other side I would have backed out for a while but he was dead at the bottom creek! He had his horns wrapped in a branch down there. Not sure if that is what I heard or if he hit one of the other trees on the way down but Drew hear it too from his stand. Pretty cool that we both heard him go down after all the hours spent hunting him together. I hope to kill bigger bucks than him in my life but I don't know that one will ever be this special! I always told Drew I didn't care who killed him I just wanted us to be there together when it happened. We are headed back up next weekend hoping he can get a shot at a main frame 10 with double split brows! Sorry or the long read but I'm still pretty dang excited!!!!!! [ATTACH]822765[/ATTACH]

[ATTACH]822766[/ATTACH]

Mix congrats, that's a toad my friend.

Rwc

[arrowslinger]

So would it be worth the 3 hour drive to sit the stand tomorrow?


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If I could hunt tomorrow I would go!!!

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[Hogmauler]

Wow I have learned a lot already. I was thinking how cool it would be to have bear on your property but after seeing how destructive they are Im having second thoughts. It sounds like the deer population is luck of the draw up there? The closet counties to me (within five hours) are: Choctaw, Atoka,, Bryan, Pushmataha, McCurtain, and Latimer. What say yall in regards to your choice of counties. I would also like to purchase something with a river running through it if it is not too expensive.

[Texfisher]

This was on our local news. Just east of Push county. This is what I fear with locals. Luckily we haven't had any trouble like this.

http://www.kxii.com/content/news/Two-decapitated-deer-found-on-camp-road-game-warden-investigating--403658406.html

[acearrow]

Wow I have learned a lot already. I was thinking how cool it would be to have bear on your property but after seeing how destructive they are Im having second thoughts. It sounds like the deer population is luck of the draw up there? The closet counties to me (within five hours) are: Choctaw, Atoka,, Bryan, Pushmataha, McCurtain, and Latimer. What say yall in regards to your choice of counties. I would also like to purchase something with a river running through it if it is not too expensive.

Mauler, the more I see, the more I tend to like Atoka county but I am going to give Push a little more time before I make any rash decisions. I would say any of those would be good for you. Only Push, McCurtain and Latimer allow bear hunting so I guess those are the counties with the most bears. We haven't seen any yet and guess I really don't want to. Little river runs down one side of our property and it sure is nice having it there. Doesn't always run like you would think a river should but there are some nice deep holes for swimming and fishing.

[Hogmauler]

Scott are yall leasing or buying the property yall are on?

[kva393]

Scott are yall leasing or buying the property yall are on?

Hogmauler, I got tired of TX leases and refinanced my house to by 75 acres in Push. Best thing I could have ever done. Great neighbors and good amount of deer. Occasionally a big buck but not off feeders. Need to hand feed corn even down where I am or set stands to catch bucks scent checking feeders/plots. Seems like only half way decent bucks that will hit feeders are ones who were raised on them. I would recommend researching and finding property surrounded by other large tracts. Seems to reduce hunting pressure just by number of hunters. Also if you can't find river a lot of these properties have springs if you look for them look for the ferns that have red stains from iron coming up. Good luck!!


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[Txsurveyor2014]

I bought our property in latimer county. It is up in the mountains, actually own part of the top of one. I have only owned it 2 years now, but we absolutely love it up there. I have seen lots of deer and a couple bears. So far, no issues with the bears but I haven't been running a feeder, only hand corn. It seems like the deer are bigger than what I am used to, and have pics of a few good bucks. We have plenty of water sources and have had zero issues with any locals. I made sure to stop by and introduce myself to everyone and let them know that I would be hunting and didn't like trespassing without making any accusations. It has been a lot of fun overall.