Hung my cameras and did some scouting..

[iccyman001]

I was antsy, so I took off to Oklahoma with my pup yesterday for some scouting and so I could hang my cameras.
So we drove 3 1/2 hours there and spent a good half of the day exploring.


I was able to hang my cameras at some GREAT spots. One was my honey hole that I found last year. If I wanted to I could take care of all 6 of my tags right there. However, it\'s so far away from anything, that I have a chance to indirectly manage this herd. So I will probably take 2-3 does from here and only larger, more mature bucks.

The other spot I found was a funnel like I have never seen before. It\'s like a major highway crossing that has been beaten to the ground. I cant wait to see what is moving through that.

One thing that made me VERY happy was, I came over a hill and there was a beautiful turkey about 40-50 yards away. I was going to snap a good picture, but my puppy decided he wasn\'t having that

I did manage to catch it in flight, but they didn\'t come out too well.



Very tough to see unless you zoom, but it\'s in the center of the pic.


Here are some random terrain pics









I am just in love with this area. It\'s 19K acres and it\'s only bow.

The terrain alone scares most of the lazy hunters away and keeps certain areas untouched because one dumb people or people trying to find large animals (like me) would go.




I also got to play with my new binos. It\'s amazing how clear nice binos are....

 

[colorado russ]

Dan, that terrain is way different than what I\'m used to hunting in OK. I do like the big cedar trees where you could get a nice ladder stand in. Are you finding any bigger trees for chain-on stands?

Was able to see the turkey in the pic after zooming in. Good numbers of turkeys in OK. Curious if there\'ll be many quail hunters come deer rut time towards end of November? Quail season opens around 11/8 I believe so maybe over those next 2 weeks the hunting pressure will die down some. Best bet may be to hit before quail season starts.

I had an old WMA map set from ODWC but it\'s really poor quality. Found a better map online. Do they allow ATVs on the roads through the WMA? I like the primitive camping areas, food plots, windmills and guzzlers - should be a good area like you\'ve already discovered.

I\'m anxious to see trail cam pictures too and if any mulies of size.

Heading back to OKC over Memorial weekend. Too bad Clovis isn\'t exactly on the way back or I\'d stop and introduce myself(and leave you a couple of stands, climbing sticks and trail cameras!!).

 

[iccyman001]

Dan, that terrain is way different than what I\'m used to hunting in OK. I do like the big cedar trees where you could get a nice ladder stand in. Are you finding any bigger trees for chain-on stands?

Was able to see the turkey in the pic after zooming in. Good numbers of turkeys in OK. Curious if there\'ll be many quail hunters come deer rut time towards end of November? Quail season opens around 11/8 I believe so maybe over those next 2 weeks the hunting pressure will die down some. Best bet may be to hit before quail season starts.

I had an old WMA map set from ODWC but it\'s really poor quality. Found a better map online. Do they allow ATVs on the roads through the WMA? I like the primitive camping areas, food plots, windmills and guzzlers - should be a good area like you\'ve already discovered.

I\'m anxious to see trail cam pictures too and if any mulies of size.

Heading back to OKC over Memorial weekend. Too bad Clovis isn\'t exactly on the way back or I\'d stop and introduce myself(and leave you a couple of stands, climbing sticks and trail cameras!!).

There are VERY few trees out there that I could do a chain/hanger stand. I brought my climber out once, but the only few trees it would work on were so far away from where I wanted to hunt. :dk:

I found and started hunting this area last year from November 14th til mid December. I never once saw another hunter or heard shotgun shots while I was out there. The size of it really has its advantages and I think most of the quail hunters will be closer to the roads. Me, I am in much nicer, more secluded areas. I will be sure to let you know how it effects everything.

They do not allow ATVs which personally I think is nice.... I drive a truck, so I have no issue getting out there. People with cars or non 4x4 vehicles will not be getting very far out there. So it again works in my favor! I also think this ties into the quail hunting too. I believe a lot of the people are hunting quail near the front gate. Not in deeper. The food plots are awesome and I saw a lot of activity around them. I did stay away however because I also boot prints near them. I imagine that people were already hunting them. The nice thing about the area is there really are a lot of deer and really are a lot of nice places to hunt. I have two cameras hanging now and have two back up spots, but I might throw another camera or two out there. I really enjoy seeing all the animals.

The primitive camping is also a plus. Last year I set my tent up a few nights and it worked great. I slept at the one near the entrance and I know someone or a few people drove by it. No one touched a thing. This year I will be dragging my trailer out.

As for the mulies, the WMA description says they are in smaller numbers, but the first day I hunted Sandy Sanders.... I came face to face with a GIANT 6x6 mulie.... I had not done my research yet and was not sure if I could shoot it or not, so I let him walk. Beautiful buck though, MONSTER rack.



I only hung my cameras for a week last year at the end of the rut. Here are a few pictures.
Overall that week I had over 130 pics. At least 9 DIFFERENT bucks and TONS of does. I only had ONE buck that was running in the dark and it was only 15 minutes before morning shooting light... The times on my camera are wrong, I fixed that for this year.


^^^^
the night walker



^^^^^^
I want to see this guy this year. He\'s a very young and healthy buck in this picture. I am thinking 2, but I love his rack. A nice 7 pointer with a little crab claw



^^^^

Baby fork

 

[cnelk]

Some nice looking stuff.
Is there a spot to build a natural blind?
Looks like the materials available would be perfect.

 

[iccyman001]

A 3 pointer. His right antler is very unusual, just like the night walkers....



This is the only pic of this guy I have, but I saw him in person.... a beautiful basket 8 that I am thinking is around 3-3.5 LAST YEAR. My buddy found his sheds from the year before and same basket 8, just smaller.

I can NOT wait to have a shot at him this year



Overall I saw about 20 different bucks from 1-3.5 years old. All different sizes and shapes.


and PLENTY of does

 

[iccyman001]

Some nice looking stuff.
Is there a spot to build a natural blind?
Looks like the materials available would be perfect.

It\'s almost the best option out there. Most of the time I was just up close to trees or back in some brush.

This year will be natural blinds, a few spots for a pop up, and I might also invest in a tripod blind. It will be a hike getting it into the woods, but would give me SUCH a huge advantage. For example, these pics are at my honey hole. It\'s 8 different runs intersecting at this spot and it\'s loaded with rubs, scraps, etc. It\'s very tough to pick a spot to set up, and have a shot at all spot. I can try a pop up this year, but honestly my best option would be to set up a tripod in this small spot I have next to all the runs. They would never see me and I would have a shot at every run.

 

[Colorado_Lew]

Looks like you could hang a stand right in the tree that is pictured behind those deer.
Lots of good branches to break up your set too.
You wouldn\'t need to be very high up, perhaps 10\' leaving most of the branches intact.

 

[iccyman001]

Looks like you could hang a stand right in the tree that is pictured behind those deer.
Lots of good branches to break up your set too.
You wouldn\'t need to be very high up, perhaps 10\' leaving most of the branches intact.

I know my climber is too big for it and I just figured a hang on was too big too. Do you think I could put a hang on to something that small?

Next time I go out, I will take some pictures of around there

 

[Colorado_Lew]

A hang on stand should fit in that tree.
Depending on the diameter it may not be too much fun in a stiff wind.

 

[John little]

I\'m curious to know more about this place. I\'ve killed some very nice bucks on public land here in oklahoma like u said get in away from most of the people and you can have the place to yourself. My favorite honey hole I take a small boat to access it.

 

[Bob Frapples]

There are some very light ladder stands out there, we found an abandoned one and managed to get it out of the tree before it broke it. It\'s lighter than my lock on and sticks by quit a bit. With a shoulder strap I can carry it a long long ways.
Just an option to consider.

 

[iccyman001]

When I head out next time, I will be sure to take lots of pictures of these trees. That way you guys can have a better idea on what I am working with.

I have just always used climbers, so I am used to dealing with large trees. If a hang on or ladder will work for this, then that is great!

 

[colorado russ]

Dan, I tried to find some pics of a ladder stand in a cedar. I\'ll get my buddy to send me one of his. Depends on how big the cedars are but I bet alot are 15-20\' tall.

Only drawback I\'ve been finding is the weight. Lightest I found was a 15\' stand by Big Dog, I believe, that weighed 46 pounds. Pretty heavy to be hauling very far - at least for my old butt![attachment=1]<!-- ia1 -->treestand in cedar.jpg<!-- ia1 -->[/attachment][attachment=0]<!-- ia0 -->tripod in cedar.jpg<!-- ia0 -->[/attachment]

 

[iccyman001]

Dan, I tried to find some pics of a ladder stand in a cedar. I\'ll get my buddy to send me one of his. Depends on how big the cedars are but I bet alot are 15-20\' tall.

Only drawback I\'ve been finding is the weight. Lightest I found was a 15\' stand by Big Dog, I believe, that weighed 46 pounds. Pretty heavy to be hauling very far - at least for my old butt![attachment=1]<!-- ia1 -->treestand in cedar.jpg<!-- ia1 -->[/attachment][attachment=0]<!-- ia0 -->tripod in cedar.jpg<!-- ia0 -->[/attachment]

Weight isn\'t too much of an issue right now. Like I said, before you guys mentioned ladders, I was going to buy 120lb tripod stands to carry around

I am off to Tulsa on Saturday, so I am going to swing through my spot and check out the trees near my areas!

 

[colorado russ]

Heck, I\'ve got some 2 person ladder stands you can use then!! Most cedar branches go all the way to the ground not like the first pic where it\'s easy to see the ladder steps.

Sent you a PM about Saturday since I\'ll be in OKC over the weekend.