Who's getting ready for deer season?

Just built myself a new tower blind. 11'-7" to the platform.

Still need to paint the legs and the bare metal.

I helped a buddy last week set up some deer stands and feeders.  I got covered from the chest down in chiggers. I also found 20+ seed ticks as soon as I got home.  I blame the new "secret spot" we set up a ladder stand and feeder in.  I told him a couple of days ago that because of this itching that if his big buck this fall walks in front of me first I'm shooting it.

looks like the tallest thing for miles, got a red light on the top?

Not yet...

It's on top of the tallest point within 300 yds in any direction.

I still have a boatload of cedar to cut and stack before I can see everything I want to see.

Here's a pano of the E, S & W from the platform:

Cool I wish some of mine were portable. I got one in the bottom I need to finish.

We set up three tree stands last weekend.

Dang, nice stand.  Looks like a shorter version of those ranger fire watch towers.

Just wish I had a place to hunt.  Haven't been able to hunt since I moved to central OK 15+ years ago.

Thanks all.

Brandi, that sucks. I'd go NUTS(er) if I couldn't go out for hunting season.

Ground blinds and tripods/towers are the best option in the western part of the state, where there's seldom a tree tall/straight enough for a hanging tree stand... Ladder stands are usable in places, but I find them a bit restrictive for my fat ass. Hard to turn enough to make shots to the sides.

Yup. It drove me crazy, that's why I'm nuts now lol.

HMU if you know the Lexington WMA. I've been drawn for a special one day/two deer hunt on Veteran's Day and would love some guidance, maybe even some in person scouting assistance before hand.

I’m not hunting this year. I’ve sold everything I own that has to do with hunting. I am sick and tired of getting a spot.... then the next year they lease it, or want just family to hunt it. I never kill anything I don’t have the owners blessing to shoot. Not sure why it works out like that. All I have left to sell is my deer feeder. Brand new in the box if anyone wants it.

I’ll hunt again one day. When I have a place of my own.

Yup, it sucks.  I don't know anyone with land so I've been SOL since I moved to OKC.  Lexington WMA is the only public land anywhere near central OK and it's postage stamp size can't accommodate the number of hunters with nowhere to go.  Lexington's website even warns potential deer hunters before they show up "Deer: White-tailed deer inhabit the area but are highly sought after.".

I've not hunted there myself but I've heard a lot stories about it being wall to wall hunters.  I've also heard a few folks say it's not that bad at all and you rarely see another hunter.  Considering that's it's a tiny area of land, the only public land around for a huge number of hunters AND that the WMA warns folks that it's heavily hunted during deer season I tend to believe it's probably pretty packed but I could be wrong.  Would be awesome if I was.

I sold almost all of my hunting equipment too when I moved here just because there was no place to hunt.  I used to live and breathe deer hunting but it's just not an option anymore .

I’d probably wind up not hunting too if I didn’t have family land to hunt on.

Have either of you thought of leasing? Doing a group lease to reduce cost per person?

We occasionally hunt public land on the lake but it’s getting to be such a hassle with Game Wardens riding atv’s where others can’t. It’s like they try to force hunters onto private land. Then I get emails and letters where they want me to lease my land to the state for next to nothing. And yet there’s never been so much as a ticket written to a poacher. I kinda wonder if they are buying feral hogs and releasing them like the old mountain lion rumors.

I've never heard of this, and I don't think my family has ever been contacted. (not that we'd do it anyway) How much were they offering, and what area of the state?

I’ve thought of that. But any leaseable land I have ever found is a 2 hour drive, or so expensive I can’t afford it. There’s a guy out here that leases his land for 15k or more to the highest bidder. The deer and turkey are thick on the place, but I can’t touch that price.

Look up the Oklahoma Land Access Program (OLAP).  I don't know how much they pay, but I check up on the maps every week or so and several areas the landowners pull out not long after they enroll.  My best guess is they find they didn't like being in it as much as they thought.

.50 cents an acre with current lease being $5.00 acre. Now if you’re further west where there’s no public land I heard it’s more. But we have all kinds of hunting options with the WMA’s and forest service land plus timber company owned land.

So nobody's hunted the Lexington WMA or is willing to offer up advice on the best ways to approach the hunt that is only five weeks away?

Good luck Leemozoid! Sorry I can’t help but get with the WMA biologists and see if he or she can give you a contact list? Otherwise ScoutLook and foot scout.

I've hunted it before. Typically they have youth hunts in there before the controlled hunts so the deer are more skiddish than normal. Hunting the edges of the WMA were the most beneficial to me. Didn't go out that way last season.

YMMV

Well I have to report this year has a bumper crop of skeeters!!!

Beautiful job. Congratulations

My tour guide is studying for his Series 7 FINRA exam and pussed out on me. Would you mind shading out some areas where I could reasonable expect some traffic for an all day ground blind sit or even tree stand sit? I have a strap on stand I can hang this weekend.

Well people say there is no good deer on public land. I hope they keep believing it! Damn this thread has been lame. And here I haven’t even drawn my bow. This year has been slow. P.S. I didn’t get the deer buddy got him across the hollow with his stepped on kid. Kid had the fever bad!!!

Well, I wound up seeing exactly zero deer from the new hunting tower on opening weekend, and only 3 does from the creek bottom blind on Saturday morning. Trail cam at the tower blind corn feeder showed exactly ONE deer having come through during the last week, so I went and hunted over the wheat Saturday evening and saw a really nice 8 point at about 200 yards, which I proceeded to miss. Next morning I saw 5 forkies in a bachelor group, and a coyote that I decided to turn inside-out.

In the meantime, the 3 raccoons hitting my feeder decided to bring 3 more of their friends. Fockers!

TL;DR
This was the kind of hunt that keeps me outdoors.  After getting a late start, thinking my whole hunt was going to be ruined by inclement weather, and missing a chance at a good buck because of a lack of sleep, within seconds I have a deer down and a solid opportunity to screw with my hunting partner.

This last Tuesday I drove down to Three Rivers WMA for a multi-day backpacking/hunting trip.  I got a late start and after a 4 hour drive I got there around sundown and set up camp.  I didn't check the weather and woke up to rain on my tarp.  I fiddle-farted around and by noon the fog hadn't burned off at all and I was wondering if I had made a mistake.  The forecast was calling for rain all day and part of the next.  About that time a buddy of mine who recently has been going through some stressful times texted me saying he needed some outdoor time and asked if I wanted to go hunting with him on his place.

I load all of my stuff back in the truck and drive home.  Spent the next day with the mrs. and Friday morning I woke up stupid early and went south to his place.  We got in the stands about 30 minutes before sunrise and I was tired.  My buddy was about 100 yards behind me and 30 yards off to my left.  He was overlooking an open field between us and I was facing into some woods.  I had nearly fallen asleep in my stand when I realize my phone had received a text.  He had sent me a picture of a decent buck that walked 30 yards behind me.  The buck was gone by the time I saw the text.  Not much was seen the rest of the morning and it was all out of range.

The afternoon sit was a bust.

Saturday morning started off slow when suddenly I hear leaves crunching to my left.  A small 5 point buck was coming right for the base of my ladder stand.  He was close and he was in a hurry so I made a snap decision to shoot him.  If I had any time to think about it I probably would have let him keep walking.  He was coming straight on and about the time I got the sight of my crossbow on him he swerved slightly to his left which opened up a shot between his neck and shoulder.  I hit him right in the sweet spot.  He ran a half circle and died 50 yards in front of me.  I went from bored and sleepy to giddy and full of adrenaline in under 10 seconds.  He didn't make much noise when he went down so I waited just in case his bigger brother gave my buddy or me a shot.

About 90 minutes later my buddy comes walking up behind me because he hasn't seen or heard anything except squirrels.  He asks if I've had any luck and I point to the blood spot in front of him.  He perks up and we start "following the blood trail".  He looked like he was about to punch me when we "found" the deer and he realizes I saw the deer go down from my stand.  This was the first deer shot while we have hunted together that he refused to help me drag or gut.

The arrow went in between the neck and right shoulder, clipped a lung, center punched the heart, and came out right behind the sternum, barely clipping the stomach.

Congrats!

Ran down to Lexington yesterday. Got some pointers from a hunter who's been on the WMA many times. He sent me a satellite image with some directions drawn on. I found it yesterday. I've got some GPS pin set on my map now and will be there dark and early Sunday for an all day blind hunt with a couple of areas close by with a lot of sign. I'm exciterated!

Good luck!

Tender straps!

Well all I’ve seen have been dink’s and doe’s. This year has been rough but I’m still after em.

I went out Saturday morning on my land, set for 40 minutes before busting a nice 8 pointer.  I watched him fall and just sat in my stand for another hour and half, deer were everywhere.  
That is probably all I will shoot this year, usually just shoot one cause that's about all I can eat.  Hope the rest of you score/

Well, rules of the managed hunt bit me in the ass. At 7:30 the morning of the hunt a beautiful mature, tall, wide, eight point walked out in front of me at about 60 yards. I was ground hunting with a shooting stick and had him in the scope from the moment he appeared. Problem was the rules of the hunt were two deer, first had to be a doe. Next could be any sex. He was a wall hanger. And he got the biggest pass of his life.

He knew something was up. His head came up and he stared directly at me. He sniffed the air, took a step and put his head back down. Almost immediately it came back up and he stared at me again. I was frozen. Anyone who doesn't believe in scent control should believe now. I was standing in full view but he couldn't smell me. I use multiple layers of full scent protective clothing and body wash/deodorant. It works. He eventually looked around and walked off into the timber on the other side of me. Never saw another deer the rest of the day.

Oh, to the jerk who took a dump next to my truck, thanks for at least wrapping it in your a** wipe and leaving it there. SMH.

On to next year. Only day this year I have free to hunt. Taking care of mom in Missouri wiped out all of my extra leave time. It's all good, though. A friend had his deer rifle and cross bow stolen so I'm loaning him my rifle for the season. It was still fun. I also walked nearly 11,000 steps according to my fitness tracker.   Couldn't have done that on a dare last year! I actually lost weight today (thanks to sweating through all layers of my clothes). Just proves that the benefits of weight loss are tangible. I'll see you next year, Bambi.

Got one Saturday AM from a ground blind on a ridge overlooking a creek bottom.

Nice! I must have pissed on the spirit deer’s corn pile. My luck hasn’t been the best. But I’ve been doing community service work and killed nine hogs.

Managed to kill a few pigs. But the deer have been winning this year. I haven’t even seen very many dink bucks.

Looks like a ruptured eardrum.

He just couldn’t take the mystical bark of the Grendel.

Get your dad a deer cart. They are less than $100.00 and worth every penny. Mine is down at my buddy’s house close to where we hunt on the mountain and it’s so rough in places you can’t get a 4wheeler with a chain saw to some spots. You’d be surprised where you can get the deer cart with a pair of lopping shears.
Cheap one
Here’s the one I have.
Only thing is I wish it had pneumatic tires that were a little wider.
Around the farm I use my little Kabota tractor and a small Stihl chainsaw if I a very thick spot to retrieve from. But No Shit the deer cart is a life saver.