Oklahoma Elk Hunt

[Mule Skinner]

You're close you will need to purchase a license but not the non resident deer unless you plan to hunt deer in Oklahoma that year. You can buy the 5 day non resident hunting license for $75 bucks before you apply for the cheapest route to apply.

10-4, thank you

[donpablo]

Am I seeing correctly on the application? Only gun. No bowhunts?

[Texans42]

Am I seeing correctly on the application? Only gun. No bowhunts?

none of the seasons are rut, you would probably be better off doing late AZ or late NM archery then Okla as you can draw those tags multiple times

[Texans42]

Awesome draw! Just curious…. Will Oklahoma open up for another round of controlled hunts this year?

Yes but only to landowners in Cimmerian and TX counties

[Chew]

Just found this thread. Applied for 3 hunts. No idea what I'm doing.

[BradBryant1000]

Just found this thread. Applied for 3 hunts. No idea what I'm doing.

I'll look today as well. No clue on what I'm doing. I'll research it at the minimum.

[IkemanTX]

Just found this thread. Applied for 3 hunts. No idea what I'm doing.

I am on my third year applying for elk and whitetail draws in Oklahoma. I’m pretty sure I am right at the point to start drawing. Especially because my first 2 choices are walk-in only tags.


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[Chew]

I am on my third year applying for elk and whitetail draws in Oklahoma. I’m pretty sure I am right at the point to start drawing. Especially because my first 2 choices are walk-in only tags.


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Yep ...you're guaranteed now. [emoji16]

[Odwraca]

Wow! What an amazing opportunity!!! I am on my third year applying, hoping for a shot at it soon!

[Clay89]

Pts don’t really help much in Oklahoma I have 18 and I kno of lot having 25 or more for elk theres so many entries it’s pretty much straight up luck

[RutnBuk]

Anyone know if the OP harvested?

[swain_130]

Original poster here. I just saw that this thread was getting new replies almost a full year later, so I thought I would give a recap of this very cool experience. First if you are not familiar, you are allowed to bring helpers to help carry out the animal if you are able to harvest one. What I thought was a bit unclear was that this helper is not allowed to go on the hunt with you. The hunt itself is solo, and then after the harvest you notify your area leader and they will bring your help out the location where they dropped you off. Maybe this is clear and I just missed it, but I do feel that would be important especially since most reading this probably live in Texas and your helpers likely do too. My dad was going to fly in from AZ to go on the hunt with me but had to have an eye surgery last minute so he couldn’t make it. That turned out to be for the best since he wouldn’t have gotten to go on the hunt anyway.

After getting checked in our area leaders took us on an afternoon scouting session and everyone selected where they wanted to be dropped off. After that everything is on foot, and the terrain is much different form the South and East Texas areas where I hunt whitetail. On this scouting trip I traded numbers with another hunter who had a bull tag. Since I had a cow tag the idea would be that if I saw a bull or he saw some cows we would text each other to try to put the other on something to harvest. Unfortunately for me, he was able to harvest a 7x7 bull about 45 minutes after shooting opened. I moved around all day climbing the mountainous terrain to get good vantage points to try to find some animals with my binoculars. I saw several bulls but not a single cow so I was not able to attempt a shot day one.
Day 2 I choose to get dropped off at the same location, but I headed north instead of west and found a spot on the side of a large hill about ¼ mile from the drop spot. I waited there for the sun to rise. After I could see, I sat glassing the areas, looking for elk. I did see 2 cows quickly climbing a rock face that looked almost straight vertical just across the valley from me. They climbed to the top and then disappear. You could hear them move than see them. They were moving fast enough it seemed like they knew I was there. As I continued to look, I spotted several elk about a mile away, so I got up and started walking that direction. After walking about ½ mile, I noticed some elk though some thick trees eating in a clearing. These were not the same animals that I had first seen, as I had only made it about half of that distance. I dropped by pack and went tree to tree to try to get to the brush at the edge of the clearing I could see them though. It was far too thick to attempt to shoot though so I had to get pretty close. When I finally got there, I could see there were 3 cows. One was clearly younger, probably just a yearling. For any that haven’t seen elk in person, we were told that the elk in OK are generally not as big as places like Colorado and Wyoming and this “yearling” was still bigger your typical whitetail. These animals were less than 50 yards away at this point, and they could sense I was there. They didn’t run, but they did take cover behind some thick bushes and trees. Well the two bigger ones did. The younger one went the other direction so she was completely exposed. At this point I know exactly where the other two are, I just don’t have a shot. The young one would call and the other two would answer. After what seemed like 10 minutes (but was probably only 2), I guess the bigger ones decided that they needed to get the littler one, or that it must not be that dangerous because nothing happened to the small one yet. They came out from behind the trees in a slow trot. Not running but certainly faster than a walk. I already had my rifle up, got her in the scope and squeezed the trigger. That round did just what it was supposed to do. She ran away from me over this small hill and out of sight for a split second then I saw her legs go up in the air and fall out of sight. The biggest of those 3 was down. After a few minutes I crept over the hill and could see her laying in the open. She was down just under 100 yards from where I fired. Then I went back to grab my pack and retraced my steps thinking about what an awesome experience.
Knowing the harvest was a success I sent my area leader a text saying I had a cow down. He asked north or south of the drop off flag, but my text back to him saying north didn’t go though. I got straight to work field dressing and quartering her. Since I didn’t have a helper and the leader didn’t get my location text another game warden was sent to find me to make sure everything was ok. He found me about the time I was finishing up the quartering process. He was there in time to help take the last hind quarter off the carcass. Here is where I really got lucky though. He carried a lot of the meat out with me and since he was a game warden he had taken a SxS so we only had to walk maybe 1/8 – ¼ of a mile instead of almost the full mile back to the flag. If you get to go on an elk hunt like this please honestly assess your physical capabilities. Carrying that cow out was no joke. All this was done before noon on day 2.

One of my big takeaways, especially for Texas hunters, is how different the hunt and getting the meat out were. First, there was no sitting in one spot waiting for the deer to come to the corn. There was a lot of walking and moving. Second, I can’t tell you how many times I was asked how much she weighed. I’m guessing that is because for a whitetail in TX, generally you shoot it, load it in a truck or side by side and talk it back to the winch (likely electric) that has a scale so the deer would get weighed before the carcass is broken down. Nothing like that. I had to gut her where she fell and then get to work breaking her down while she was on the ground, using the hide as a tarp so the meat didn’t touch the dirt. Far different than our typical deer hunts but a truly great experience and I would highly recommend to all able.

My last note is my favorite. I shot this elk with a 30.06 that my grandfather gave me in the mid 90s as my first deer rifle. He lived in Colorado at the time and I knew it had taken elk before when it was his. I had assumed it had taken an elk in the late 80s or maybe even early 90s before he moved to AZ. However, talking with my dad I found out the last time he shot an elk my parents were dating but not married, so that would put his last elk harvest in 1979. 42 years later I was able to take one with the same gun. I only wish he was still around so I could share the story with him. Hopefully the green screen enjoyed this little re-cap. Thanks for reading and all the messages above.

[Chew]

Great recap and loaded with awesome info. Thanks for sharing and congrats on the great meat!

[Duzy]

This cool.


I get to…

[MooseontheLoose]

Great recap OP. Congrats on a successful hunt