2014 Pushmataha County Thread

[q-all]

I'm hoping to be a player on this thread this year. Had a lease around Kiowa but the landowner sold the property so I am looking for a new place this year. Trying not to get too worked up about it, but I would like to find a place soon so I don't get left out in the cold come deer season. Been thinking about some of the timber leases in Pushmataha county, but don't know much about them and how the hunting is over in that area. Also looking at some place just south of Hwy 3 around McGee Creek. Anyone know anything about these areas?

All through the hills/mountains of Atoka and push County hold good deer. From my experience the better deer come from the valleys and low lying areas more then from higher up in the hills. It's great if u can find a lease with both. The mountain terrain is very good for bedding and u can plant food plots in the lower areas.

As for quality from my experience and the people I know that hunt those areas I would say the average score for a mature 5.5 yr old deer is gonna be high 40s lows 50s with a few getting in the 60s/70s.

There is also 200'' potential in these counties. I know of 3 killed the past 5 years in Atoka/push

[q-all]

My Push question is about food plots. What to plant and when?

Hope 2014 is better that 2013

We plant food plots twice a year. In may we do our spring summer plots which consist of Alot of different kinds of peas and milo. Usually in September we Plant our fall/winter plots. We have alot of sucess with buck forage oats and the MBS fall mix which contains brassicas, winter peas, and some other types of oats.

This year we are experimenting with a 10 acre irrigated alfalfa field we have planted. We are able to water it from a large lake on our place.

My place in Atoka Co. 2 miles from push County line.

[q-all]

I'm looking to buy a small piece of land either there or Choctaw. What part of the county, or around what small towns, is hunting considered the best? Thanks.

I have hunted in Choctaw Co. In the past And my good friend has had a large lease their the past few years.

Choctaw has really good deer all through out the Co. Anywhere along hwy 70 east. The problem I experienced hunting there was the leases and ranches are much smaller acreages then in Atoka or push Co. And every one seems to hunt everywhere.

I had a 700 acre lease in Krystal. North of Boswell on the boggy river 2 years ago. It was pretty tough. That area seemed over hunted. The other lease I hunted was South of Bennington on pipeline road. This was a much smaller place and held some awesome deer.

[cd_sharks]

I hope 2014 is better than 2013.

[Texfisher]

Just got my December deer back from the taxi. Hope to see some of the bigger ones this year.

[Wheelie]

Well folks it's hard to believe but it is already time to start the 2014 thread. The title says Push county but anyone hunting North of the border is welcome!

I learned allot from everyone last season and I am eager to continue the journey so post 'em up and keep us posted on your wins, defeats and everything in between.

Good luck to everyone this season!

Booner, really enjoy reading your post, Darton and I had a tough hunt in Pittsburg County on his place, we were seeing allot of good deer early in the season then it hit us, ACORNS! lol the territory is all post oaks, after that the place seemed like it never had deer on it. No deer at the feeders for days. I only shot one Doe very late in season.

We've learned allot about the territory after our first year on Dartons place, we made some stand and feeder adjustments, now we have some really good Bucks showing up, and herds of Does. Hopefully this year we won't have the record rainfalls again. The Bucks we were wanting to shoot made it through the hunting season, very very light pressure around us.

We're looking forward to a great season and more good times. Booner keep posting, I may not post allot but enjoy reading your threads.

[Wheelie]

Got a really unique Buck showing up at a new location on Dartons Ranch.

[Booner Sooner]

Booner, really enjoy reading your post, Darton and I had a tough hunt in Pittsburg County on his place, we were seeing allot of good deer early in the season then it hit us, ACORNS! lol the territory is all post oaks, after that the place seemed like it never had deer on it. No deer at the feeders for days. I only shot one Doe very late in season.

We've learned allot about the territory after our first year on Dartons place, we made some stand and feeder adjustments, now we have some really good Bucks showing up, and herds of Does. Hopefully this year we won't have the record rainfalls again. The Bucks we were wanting to shoot made it through the hunting season, very very light pressure around us.

We're looking forward to a great season and more good times. Booner keep posting, I may not post allot but enjoy reading your threads.

Thanks for the kind words Wheelie. The past few seasons have been incredible and sharing it with you guys has added a new and fun dimension. God has been good.

You are right on the money about the mast crop this past year. My goodness! I was blessed to be able to put myself between a bedding area up on the mountain and a feeding down in a nearby creek bottom to connect.

Regarding the rain, I take a different approach and pray for a repeat. I'll admit that sitting through rain shower after rain shower with a few tree rocking **** floaters mixed in wasn't fun but I'll take that over the drought we had a few years back any day. Those drought years were hard on our herd. This past season the deer were uber healthy with grass and mast as plentiful as I've seen. It's true that hunting is harder but healthy deer gives me a better opportunity at a trophy animal that is able to maximize his antler growth. Let it rain, let it rain, let it rain.....in Push County.

On another note: I believe that the buck I had a couple of up close and personal encounters with last season made it through the season unscathed.
These pics were pulled from the video I took with my bow-mounted iPhone. If you didn't see the post last season this buck was on game cams a few times and started giving me shot opportunities only after I tagged out on my two bucks. "Look but don't touch!"

He's a lucky son of a buck as I had him dead to rights twice but couldn't legally take a shot. He's mature with good tine length and mass. In honor of the Golden Horseshoe he's got stuck up his @r$$ I named him the horseshoe buck. Also speaks to how his main beams hook around.

I'll be back up there in two weeks so hopefully I'll have some TC pics that confirm he is still duking bowls of Lucky Charms and guarding his pot 'O gold. :-)

[Wheelie]

Don't get me wrong about the rain, but over 7 inches of it in less than a week? lol WOW, wanna talk draught? Last 2 years I hunted Hardeman and Foard Counties, the first year was scarey it was so dry, those 2 years I didn't see 1 fawn. Can't wait to see this years fawn crop..

Darton and I have decided to have 2 inclimate weather Cadillac stands for those hard rains that may occur so we can enjoy those record rains lol. Can't wait to see your tc pictures.

[Booner Sooner]

Love the Cadillac stand idea! Everybody needs a backup plan.

Also, that buck in your TC pic is trashy! Love it and look forward to seeing an up close pic in the future right before PDP's.

Is the date correct? It surprised me to see antlers this late in the year. If so he may be one of those bucks with undescended testes (hypogonadism) or have some sort of hormone issue. Either way he would be on my hit list!

Thanks for sharing.

[Wheelie]

Love the Cadillac stand idea! Everybody needs a backup plan.

Also, that buck in your TC pic is trashy! Love it and look forward to seeing an up close pic in the future right before PDP's.

Is the date correct? It surprised me to see antlers this late in the year. If so he may be one of those bucks with undescended testes (hypogonadism) or have some sort of hormone issue. Either way he would be on my hit list!

Thanks for sharing.

Booner, dates are correct, time is an hour fast. All the bucks on camera still have horns, last year was the same, seemed like our bucks hold onto their horns later than anywhere. Oh yes Mr. Stickers is on the hit list.

[PSE-Madman]

haven't checked up on you guys in a while. here are a couple pictures from last season. We shot several does but we never take pictures of them. Over all it was a down year. We got set up late because we thought we were getting kicked off. Ended up getting to stay and found out in late September after we all got second leases in TEX. We basically split our time and didnt hunt this place much. We do a ten day hunt each year in ML season. It is always full of good times.

Here is the cull Ive been after for a few years. Killed in Muzzle Loader season



My dad shot an eight point that day as well. he was meat hunting. he has a trophy lease in S TEX.


almost stepped on this dude. Had to dispatch.

[Aimlow]

Boy look at the head on that rascal

[Booner Sooner]

Well it's finally time to head North and do some scouting. I'm going through withdrawals. Early afternoon I'll be loading up the boy (7) and dog (10 months) and heading for God's country. I set out some cams in mid December so they should be about done. Looking forward to seeing which of our shooters made it through the season.

I've got two places that I'm itching to scout. By the Topo map they should be excellent spots. Time to get in there to see if this is right. One is in a steep canyon and the other is what I believe to be a bedding area. This is the bedding area that the bruiser I stuck and lost early last season. That was the "Lessons Learned" buck if you were following along last season.

Should be a good time. Just want to get out of the mountains before the ice and sleet starts. Hope to be able to post up some pics next week.

Anyone else done any scouting lately?

[Booner Sooner]

Well, we had a fast and furious 24 hours in the mountains but elected to head South last night ahead of the 20 degree temps and freezing precip.

Got the canyon scouted. Saw very little deer sign but a lot of bear scat. This is one of those places that you scout once and probably don't go back to hunt. Way too rough to hunt without huge effort. You'd have to quarter a deer up and pack it out. With the bear sign I saw I'd be surprised if deer regularly were in this area.


Afterward my scouting partner was worn out.

The bedding area didn't get scouted this time so that will be next trip.

The game cams mainly showed does and bucks that already dropped their headgear. I've got to go through the pics again. I'm looking for the two bucks that are on the hit list.

More to come.