Page 2 - Sept/Oct 2020 Outdoor Oklahoma Magazine

Panoramas

ance with the one you came with.” I if you listen carefully, behind all the talk of trophy deer,
recall my dad saying that, usually when I the sound of high-fives as successful hunters stand over
wanted some gadget to add to our hunt- the biggest buck they ever killed, the click and clack of
“Ding gear or some celebrity-pitched won- keyboards as trail camera photos are shared online and
der lure that would sink a boat with the fish it would catch. “hit list” bucks are getting named — behind all that, if
It was his way of saying sometimes the old familiar gear and you listen closely, is the sound of music.
methods were too valuable to turn away from. This dance is not over.
With that in mind, I look at where Oklahoma sits in We have worked too hard to get to where we are just
terms of deer management success. In 35 years, a state not to turn our backs on the management that allowed us to
mentioned in serious deer hunting circles is now a state get here. Our success is not based on a one-time com-
nationally recognized for producing an exceptional number mitment to antlerless harvest several years ago. Rather,
of quality animals and greatly improved herd it is an ongoing process. Continued success
health. A look at the Big Game Report in depends on continued effort. Deer manage-
this issue will show you how well our deer ment is no different.
and deer hunters are doing. We have very I’ve been deeply invested in our state’s deer
high success rates. We lead the region in deer management success, both as a hunter and
hunting opportunity. We have gone from as a wildlife professional. I’m very proud
seeing the vast majority of our bucks taken of what we’ve achieved. And deer hunters
being yearlings to a very balanced-age herd should be as well, because they have made
that has fantastic potential for producing the it happen. But we still have work to do. We
large antlers most of us hunters hope to see. must continue to harvest antlerless deer at an
It was a long road to get to this point. adequate rate or all of our gains and harvests
Decades of trying to increase antlerless of mature bucks will be memories. We’ve
Jerry Shaw
harvest led to the “Hunters in the Know... worked too hard to let that happen!
Take a Doe!” campaign. This management philosophy of So, during those quiet times in your stand or blind,
greater antlerless harvest set us on the path to better-bal- strain your ears. Hear that band still playing and realize
anced sex ratios, improved rut synchronization, slowed the dance isn’t over. The deliberate, focused, and adequate
population growth, conserved habitat from overuse, and antlerless harvest got us here. And just as my father would
other valuable improvements. But that was only part of the say, if you want continued success, “dance with the one you
long-term plan. came with.”
As the herd sex and age ratios became more balanced, I’m grateful to my father for instilling in me the drive to
the slogan was changed. “Hunters in the Know... Let do what is right for the resource and what will help fellow
Young Bucks Grow!” became the talk. And deer hunters hunters have the greatest chances of success. I hope you,
voluntarily changed their hunting and began selectively too, will put this advice to use this fall.
harvesting older, more mature bucks — even if they
didn’t tag a buck each season. Just like the increase in
antlerless harvest, this change in hunter attitude paid off
in more mature, large-antlered deer being taken across
this state.
Many think this is a time to sit back and celebrate. But Jerry Shaw, Wildlife Division Program Supervisor

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