I drew a buck antelope tag (1 of 50)! My father drew an archery hunt and my youngest son drew a youth gun hunt!
Two years ago, after applying for 20 years, I drew a bull elk tag and killed a nice 6X6.....I have been trying for the antelope tag since the first year.......

Funny thing, I told my wife a few weeks ago that I was going to draw the antelope hunt this year.......she said no way.....I said it was a sure thing because I had plans to hunt either New Mexico antelope or Alaska, both in late Sept., and was having a difficult time deciding which one to choose........the Okla. antelope tag is "once in a lifetime" and is held in late Sept. too, so the decision has been made for me!

Alaska will have to wait one more year!

I'm happy to hear someone drew out. This was my 15th year putting in for Elk but no luck this time.Good Luck with the goat hunt.

Are the tags for 'lopes in Cimmaron and/or Texas county? Are there any located in other areas of the state?

There are some excellent goats in the OK panhandle...best of luck!

The tags are for Cimarron County only......don't know if there are antelope in any other panhandle counties? I'll be making a trip out west to scout and secure landowner permission before long!

GonHuntin: Great news the Antelope tag for you! I hope you have a wonderful Hunt and bag a nice one!
Keep that lucky tag drawing streak going! I have never been lucky in hard to draw tags! But I look at it this way one year I will "overdraw" on tags and get them all! Sheep, Moose, Mt. Goat, limited draw Elk etc etc! That will be a hectic fall!
Good for you and congrats on the Antelope tag!
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

Great news. Hope you get a hawg of a 'lope!

I sort of "drew" on Oklahoma Elk there as well. Actually, out of the blue, I was invited to hunt Elk on a private ranch that borders the Wichita Mt. Reserve. The Elk come out and graze on the farmers wheat. All I need is a Deer license and an additional $25 fee to convert the deer tag to an Elk tag. I can't wait!

What was your experience with the Elk there? I know they impose a 5 pt minimum on the "Depredation Elk". Is it the same way in the reserve?

Forgive me, I am just learning the laws on this deal.

Way to go Mark

Wendell

When you draw a bull tag on the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge, there are no point restrictions.......I drew my bull tag the year before the hunt became a "once in a lifetime" draw.....I can start applying again in 8 more years.

Believe it or not, when I was there, one of the hunters killed a bull with spikes less than 6 inches long, on the first morning of the hunt! I can't imagine drawing such a coveted tag and shooting a little bull!!! I had made up my mind that it would be a 6X6 or better, at least until the last day......I killed my bull about 2 hours into the hunt.

Good luck on your hunt, there are about as many elk off the refuge as on and finding a place to hunt elk off the refuge is like hitting the lottery!

Not a very good photo, but......



[ 07-22-2003, 00:08: Message edited by: GonHuntin ]

Congrats on the antelope tag! I've been putting in for about 5 or 6 years and am still waiting. Didn't put in this year as Vaughan is getting all my attention!

Wendell, I drew a bull tag at the WM in '98 and took a 4x5 on the second day. Typical deal, the guys in my group with cow tags were being overrun by bulls and I was only seeing cows. There are some monsters there, I just didn't get a shot and I watched mine for probably 15 minutes before shooting just waiting for something bigger to show up.

Definitly a different hunt due to the buffalo and Long-horns that you had to hunt around and through.

I haven't heard much about the depredation hunts. I know a few years ago, before they were allowed, some landowners got into trouble selling hunts for the "stray" elk to some Dallas "sportsmen" Maybe that's what got the depredation hunts started.

Anyways, good luck to you both!

Joe.

VarmintGuy

There is a kicker to this story.......a few years back, OKLA. changed the rules for drawing a tag in the "Controlled Hunts".....they made a new rule that says you can only draw one hunt per year......I don't have any problem with that rule. However, if that rule had not been in place, I would have drawn the antelope hunt and the archery hunt my dad got!

The hunts are drawn in progressive order, from the most desirable to the least desirable.....in this case, the elk hunts are drawn first, the antelope second, the deer third.....then turkey, etc......when you draw a hunt, you are done..... My dad and I had put in together as a "group" for the deer hunts (not allowed on the elk or antelope hunts) so that we would either both be drawn or neither would be drawn......when we were selected for the archery hunt, my name was kicked out because I had already drawn the antelope hunt.....
That's alright, I can go along and help my dad, I just can't hunt.....small price to pay for the chance to take an antelope in OKLA. This will be my first antelop hunt and the success rate on bucks last year was 97%!

Joe......I'd take the hunt with Vaughan ANY day!!!

[ 07-22-2003, 00:10: Message edited by: GonHuntin ]

Don't make the mistake that a lot of people do with the antelope - get it dressed, skinned and cooled off as soon as possible. (At least gutted and cooled.) If you kill it cleanly and take care of the meat, it will be some of the best game meat you can get.

Congrats!

I'm jeleous. I've put in for several years and got bupkis to show for it.

Good luck.

Hey Mark,

Congrats again!!! I am going to drive up and rub the top of your head for luck!! I'm sorry we won't be hunting for pronghorn in New Mexico together...maybe we can do the coyote safari to Logan, NM after deer season or get that Texas javelina/hog hunt done!

Good Hunting,

Bob

GonHuntin,

I will take the Elk that you shot anyday!

JMac, There was a period where they did not allow the Elk off of the reserve to be shot. They have changed that now due to the large number of Elk that leave the reserve. All one needs is written landowner permisssion, written description of the private land to be hunted and a deer license with some sort of $25 Elk fee.

As a matter of fact, some of these Elk will travel a very long way off of the reserve. All the way into Texas! Two weeks ago a friend of mine saw an Elk not 10 miles from my ranch in Texas. Odds are that he came from this area in OK. About every 4 or 5 years or so, one will show up in this area of Texas.

Wendell, I don't doubt it a bit. I bet those off refuge elk were getting pretty thick though.

The ODOW has never been known for being proactive. But give them enough evidence, and they'll flash into action and eight to ten years later something will be done!

Just look how long it's taken them to lengthen the deer season.

Joe.

Gonhuntin
Can you explain the Draw system to me. If you don't draw a tag can you still hunt that year or is that it for the year?

Bakes

Bakes

I'll give it a try.......

In the state where I live, there are more people that want to hunt certain animals than their population will support. The state wildlife department holds annual drawings to award the limited number of tags available through "Controlled Hunts". Controlled Hunts are held for animals of limited population, such as elk and antelope, and for more common animals (deer, turkey, upland birds, waterfowl) in locations that are not normally open for hunting, such as wildlife refuges, state parks and wildlife management areas. Applications for the drawing are submitted in the spring and results are posted in the summer.

Even if you don't draw a tag in the Controlled Hunts, you can still hunt deer, turkey and other common game by simply purchasing the appropriate tag, you just don't get to hunt in the restricted areas or for the less common game.

In Wendell's case, he will be hunting elk on private property that borders a national wildlife refuge. These elk hunts are held because there are too many elk that have escaped from the refuge. These hunts are open to anyone who can obtain written landowner permission to hunt elk but that permission is usually very expensive to obtain.

If I have completely confused you, you can read about hunting in Oklahoma at:

http://www.wildlifedepartment.com/hunting.htm

click on "Controlled Hunts" to read more about how that process works

Thanks mate, It would be good for the Aussie authority's to do a simillar thing in our parks for some deer species.

Bakes

Congrats again friend. We'll see you next year up north.

yukon delta,

So......you are still planning on turning him loose in Alaska? You may not get him to go home!

I hope all is going well for you up there.

Bob

GonHuntin,
Congratulations, hope you get your antelope.
Gene

Mark,
I'm sure glad you drew that tag.Since I ended up with your NM Goat hunt. I talked to the rancher and he is sending me the paperwork.Bob and Jay sound like a couple of great guys and I'm looking forward to hunting with them.I had just put in my 7mm RM for a rebarrel hope it done in time.My 6mm Rem will be the primary anyway.Good luck and thanks for your help.

Thanks to everyone for the good wishes. I called a rancher in that area last night and now I actually have a place to hunt! I'll continue to make contacts and will make a scouting trip out there next month to finalize everything.

Rob

I'm glad I could help, I'm betting you will have a great time and probably kill a bigger buck than I will!

GH,

I am glad you found a place. I am going to be moving today, so I am getting ready to shut down the computer for a few days. Congrats again!

Rob,

I am glad you are going to be able to take Mark's place. We need a token Okie! I talked with Carl at the NM ranch this morning. He said he saw a GREAT buck yesterday. He is all ready for us. I am guiding him on that free-range blackbuck antelope hunt here in Texas this weekend.

Good Hunting,

Bob.........bye for a while!!