Oklahoma public land

G

GWP14

New member
I'm from Illinois looking to do 7 days of out of state hunting this year. Went to South Dakota last year and did pretty good. Looking to chase some quail this year. Just looking for some advice on what to look for out there? Is it worth my time making a trip out there or would you go else where? Thanks
 
Western Oklahoma WMAs are usually all pretty good during good years. If you're gonna be here a week get an atlas from wildlifedepartment.com. Good luck. Plenty of good Oklahoma public land.

Dog boots will be essential for a Western Oklahoma trip.
 
Texas and Oklahoma both have good to great numbers right now. The problem is, they are both EXTREMELY limited in public hunting land. If it were me, I'd hunt Kansas, their quail numbers are way up and you're going to have more land to hunt. I'm basing that solely on the amount of acres to hunt, Texas and Oklahoma both also get HAMMERED with hunters. I've hunted all 3 states, I live in Texas, that's just my take on it. But I also hate bumping into other hunters.
 
As a side note:

The roadside counts are primarily done along predetermined county road routes that border private property. The count normally doesn't include the WMA's which are typically block units which receive a tremendous amount of hunting pressure on top of the environmental impact on breeding seasons. Draw your own conclusions about hunting Oklahoma this year.

cr
 
I have a feeling that Oklahoma will be better than it sounds but down from the last two years. August roadside counts are sometimes a bit misleading if the cover is good. Talked to a biologist in he panhandle that thought it would be about like last year but not as good as 2015. We will see.
 
Regardless of the roadside counts you can almost bet the WMA's will be down compared to the last two years. The relentless hunting pressure they have received during that period will eventually take it's toll.

cr
 
I tend to disagree with the biologists when it comes to what effect hunters have on quail numbers on a WMA. At a very popular WMA in Texas, there are 28k acres. Last year alone there were 10,500 birds shot off of it, you turn in a wing from each bird you kill when you leave. That doesn't even include birds that people forgot to turn in, birds that were shot dead and not found, and birds that were wounded and not found.

I'm sorry but you cant tell me that 10,500 birds, which is probably more like 12,500 birds being shot off of 28,500 acres has no affect on numbers. I just cant wrap my head around that.
 
They’re remarkable little birds. Four years ago, you wouldn’t have heard of anyone killing those numbers anywhere in the country. The fact that there were that many produced is something when you really stop and think about it. I’d like to know what percent is 1st year. I don’t shoot up coveys anywhere I go but everything I’ve seen and read and my experiences tell me they’re an annual crop. Almost 100% of the birds I kill are that years hatch. Yes, you need broodstock but they can produce ridiculous numbers of chicks in a perfect summer. I also believe the fall shuffle from adjacent private lands helps refill some of the WMAs that get pressured so hard.

Google the Packsaddle WMA quail study or read Dr. Guthery’s book On Bobwhites. Both address hunter effect on birds.
 
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akp said:
They’re remarkable little birds. Four years ago, you wouldn’t have heard of anyone killing those numbers anywhere in the country. The fact that there were that many produced is something when you really stop and think about it. I’d like to know what percent is 1st year. I don’t shoot up coveys anywhere I go but everything I’ve seen and read and my experiences tell me they’re an annual crop. Almost 100% of the birds I kill are that years hatch. Yes, you need broodstock but they can produce ridiculous numbers of chicks in a perfect summer. I also believe the fall shuffle from adjacent private lands helps refill some of the WMAs that get pressured so hard.

Google the Packsaddle WMA quail study or read Dr. Guthery’s book On Bobwhites. Both address hunter effect on birds.
Click to expand...

This sure does sound good to a new comer. Heck—Tucker and I will be happy to scare up a few covies here and there while enjoying new territory.
 
The local bird dog had the ODWC Upland Game Biologist as a guest speaker last night. The follow up roadside count for October won't be made public for a few more days but he did share the news with those in attendance. Probably not the news everyone wanted to hear but the October count wasn't any better than evidenced by the August counts. The northwest was down approximately 73% and the southwest is down about 68% from last year. He still maintains there is a lot of cover in the ditches and hopes those numbers come up some but to expect numbers below the 10 yr average.

cr
 
akp said:
They’re remarkable little birds. Four years ago, you wouldn’t have heard of anyone killing those numbers anywhere in the country. The fact that there were that many produced is something when you really stop and think about it. I’d like to know what percent is 1st year. I don’t shoot up coveys anywhere I go but everything I’ve seen and read and my experiences tell me they’re an annual crop. Almost 100% of the birds I kill are that years hatch. Yes, you need broodstock but they can produce ridiculous numbers of chicks in a perfect summer. I also believe the fall shuffle from adjacent private lands helps refill some of the WMAs that get pressured so hard.

Google the Packsaddle WMA quail study or read Dr. Guthery’s book On Bobwhites. Both address hunter effect on birds.
Click to expand...

This is what has them scratching their heads. As far as a breeding season the conditions couldn't have been much better but the numbers are not indicating much success.

cr
 
Makes you wonder if they only produce the extremely high numbers in response to very low populations (drought)... I have heard very good reports from SW Kansas so I’d think along the border would be good. Talked to a bio at a NW WMA and he thought pretty good but not like two years ago.

I hunted SW last year and it was like NW two years ago. NW wasn’t quite as good last year as it was in 15-16. Either way, I’ll make a trip or two West. I’ve had very good hunts on western WMAs since 2014.

My best post drought year in Osage County was 2013. They were essentially gone in 2012. Excellent in 2013. Been decent every year since but not quite as good as 13. I think there’s something to recovering from very low numbers. Of course, this is just my experience and I’m no biologist.
 
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