Looks like my daughters boyfriend may be stationed at Vance Air Force in Enid, OK for his pilot training. What types of hunting is there in that area? He would be interested in big game, small game, upland and waterfowl. It looks like there is a section of public land not too far away but what is private land access like?

$$$ i'd guess since it's just north of Tx. .

Unless you pay for a lease or just know someone it's gotten tough to hunt private land. We used to hunt pheasant north of Enid just by knocking on a door and asking, but that was 25 years ago. There is quite a bit on public land for deer and such, I don't hunt it except for the special hunts from the Wildlife Dept but I hear if you can manage to go during the week and especially after opening weekend they aren't terribly crowded. A call to the local game wardens would probably be a good idea.

For decent deer hunting you will need to be on a lease unless you like crowds of hunters and damn few chances at shooting deer. The deer population is good in that region of the state. Duck and goose hunting will be very good. Small game hunting will be fine on most public land. Not many hunters still bother with it. After opening weekend you might get permission to hunt pheasant and quail on private land by knocking on doors.

FT Sill has deer, pigs and elk. Easy for military to access and hunt.
Bob

What is FT?

Fort...as in Fort Sill in OK.

Be advised though that Ft Sill is a good 4 plus hours from Enid. I live right north of Ft Sill and I know military guys can hunt on post but I don’t know about taking guests. I’m also pretty sure elk are some kind of draw.

Up around Enid there is outstanding waterfowl hunting and probably some quail to be found, pheasants are pretty scarce as far as I know. I’m in the area fairly regularly for work and I’ve seen one hen in the last year. There are lots of deer, not sure about access these days, the Texas plague of leasing has spread to a lot of areas of OK over the last decade. The Salt Plains WMA has some huge deer if you can draw a tag. I see a good number of turkeys up there and you’ll likely have a better chance getting permission knocking on doors for turkeys than deer. Lots of coyotes to call in the winter months and again, probably a decent chance of folks letting a guy go call if he asks. I haven’t seen near the evidence of pigs up there as further south though there are some.

Canton lake is reasonably close and is the walleye capital of OK if you like to fish. Most any lake will have good populations of crappie and catfish too.

Didn't know about Ft. Sill. I read it as FT still has ........... I'm not military but do know what FT means in that terminology.

Thanks for the responses and I will share them with him.

I haven't been there in many years, but the Fort Sill area and the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge is not what most people picture when they think of Oklahoma.

CWT, how long will he be there?

ugghhhh.... Vance is in the middle of nowhere! Altus is nearly just as bad. OK is one of the best states in the country for a military member though; They offer resident hunting license to any active duty member, whether they're stationed in OK or not. Western OK offers OTC archery pronghorn hunts in the western part of the state and there are dozens of small chunks of public land in the western panhandle.

Two years is what he said. Thanks to everyone for the replies.

I'm just curious. A military guy there for a training session is probably living on base or maybe in an apartment. So if you get an elk, what do you do with it? You can probably find a charity to take the meat but how about a nice set of antlers? They're not very practical to be hauling around between duty stations.

Good deer can be found on many public areas I am sure. I hunted some public land this last season and the only individual I saw out there was one guy fishing, but I didn't go on a weekend. I'm in the SE part of OK and I can definitely say that pressure from Texas has raised the cost of private land hunting in this area.

Tips:

Have him consider the draw hunts. It is $5 to enter as many draws as you want and these hunts do not count toward the combined season limit in most cases.

There is a state wide elk season based on a quota, private land only except for draw hunts, if that is of interest.

Buy a crossbow. Rifle season is short and crossbows are legal for all hunters regardless of disability status. Archery runs from Oct 1-Jan 15.

Just made an account, appreciate the advice. I'd only be able to hunt weekends unfortunately, but hopefully I can find some areas away from everyone else. From looking at maps, it seems like I might not be able to just hike 2 miles into the woods to escape hunters like I can here in NC. Suppose I can grab a crossbow, enter the draws, and try my best. Sounds like a fun challenge. You think door-knocking for deer is out of question?

I'm the guy in question, just made an account. If it's deemed acceptable out there, I'm thinking I could bag a deer out and happily process the meat at home. I'll likely be staying in a rental house off base so a cooler and a freezer is no problem. If I get some antlers, hopefully there'd be a taxidermist around for a European mount. I'm not sure I'd go for Elk for those reasons though. That'd be a bit too much to deal with I'd think.

They had Buffalo there when my dad was a resident and they had a birthday for a Kiowa chief that was turning 100 who shot one on horse back. My dad said it was good but my mom wouldn't touch it as the women tending the fire would spit on the fat that started to burn.

The Pan Handle has some good mule deer and a few antelope, not sure about access there though.

RockChuck-
Just curious, but what are you trying to get at here? If a guy does 20+ years is he expected to not hunt during his most healthy & able hunting days he'll see in his life?

Treedude- I recommend applying for elk. Take every opportunity you can get. Your flight training time will be like living in frat house most of the time. You and the other Lt's will be able to eat a elk up real quick in between doing shots of Jeremiah Weed.

Don’t bother buying an elk tag if you can’t hunt them on Ft Sill. Outside of the Special SW Zone, where I live that’s about 4 1/2 hours from Enid and all private, there’s no elk to speak of. They opened the season statewide a few years ago because there are a few here and there that are likely escapees from some high fence area and there was a grey area around the legality of shooting them. There’s also no elk hunting on public lands. I think in the last 3 or 4 years theres been less than ten killed statewide outside of the above mentioned SW zone. You’d just be throwing your money away.

There’s a taxidermist behind every tree in OK, people live and breath deer hunting here so no worries there. There will be ample opportunities to hunt, we have tons of public land and some of it is really good especially for archery hunters. You don’t have to buy a crossbow if you already have archery gear but it is an option if you want to stack the odds. Buy or bring a muzzleloader, that’s an extra season and usually a good one as the rut is generally kicking off about that time. Rumor is that rifle season is going to be extended next year to 23 days from the 16 we’ve had for a while, no increase in the limit just more time to hunt.

I don’t know how big the deer are in NC but you’ll have no trouble processing one at home in an evening in OK. We had a check station for years and I never checked a deer that weighed over 180 dressed out of hundreds I booked. Average buck will dress out at 125 down here, maybe 140 up north where you’ll be with a monster going 175-190. Antler wise we have some hogs killed every year so the potential for a bruiser is there.

If you get out to the small towns and make some friends or hang around the COOPs you might have a chance at some oldtimer letting you go hunt. Never know unless you ask and as a rule Okies are pretty laid back nice folks.

A nice whitetail buck in central North Carolina will weigh 180-220 live weight ( can be more ). Much less down east and varies in others areas too. Antler size varies a lot buy region with most BC bucks coming from central NC. For example my daughter killed a 142 eight point in central NC while the buck I am most proud of ( from any state ) only scored 125 but it came from the western part of the state.TreeGuy is a great kid ( his dad is a retired Marine ) and is looking forward to serving our country so thanks for your help.

I admit I had to Google Jeremiah Weed.

You can always ask. A coworker actually let me hunt her family land this year when she heard I lost my spot. It’s the big leases that have gotten a lot of out of state pressure. If someone would lease it to you they likely know the value of their property as a lease.

Of course the Witchita mountain draw hunt for elk is once-in-a-lifetime so why not try for it while here?

As to the overall numbers they are available online. I know the SE section has a quota of 5 and it’s usually filled in the first couple weeks of archery. There is a breeding population in the Pushmata WMA but of course the statewide season is private land only.

Just checked. This season: 58 harvested outside the special southwest zone. 128 harvested in the SSZ

Yes by all means put in for the Wichitas. But I wouldn’t recommend buying a general season tag just because it’s available. Especially if you are going to be up around Enid.

BTW I’m surprised at the 58 killed outside of the SSZ. Pretty cool

I'm not trying to discourage hunting at all. Like I said, I'm curious because the animal has to be handled in some way and often military people aren't in a position to do so, especially when at a base short term for training. It would seem to be easier while at a long term duty station because you'd be dug in better rather than living on the fly.

Being in the military he can hunt fort sill. It’s some of the best whitetail and elk hunting in the state. 2 hrs south of Enid

Flight School ain't a short term thing. It's a assignment that they'll be at (hopefully... people do fail out) for a long time. I butchered several types of small game on my dorm patio as a young amn and my friends and I ate through a whitetail right quick. You're correct that mounts and antlers are a giant PIA in military life, but you find ways to survive. I've got elk heads with my FIL, Coues deer with a buddy in NM, Pronghorn with another friend right now while I'm wasting away in Germany. Once I get home, I'll have to figure out a logistics plan to get everything gathered up, but hunting is important to me and I'll figure it out.

I forgot to mention, check the Oklahoma Land Access Program (OLAP) map on the wildlife department website. Not sure what would be near you but it’s worth a look. There are different levels of access that landowners can allow, but the most common for big game appears to be the “Archery and Shotgun only(no slugs)” option....bringing us back to the crossbow.....

CWT,

He can go to the link below and choose any local COE lake and it will have a map of areas that have public hunting.

https://www.swt.usace.army.mil/Missions/Recreation/Hunting-Information/

I will also recommend Ft Sill hunting. It’s terrific!
I will add that you should invest in a good pair of snake boots. Rattlers and Copperheads all over everywhere.
Have fun and good luck!

There are still buffalo there, don't think we'll be hunting them soon.

The elk have been jumping off Wichita Mtn Wildlife Refuge for quite a while, friends took two from a ranch in eastern Kiowa County some years ago, rancher has since began leasing his land.