Attention hunters: Deadline is midnight Friday
The bull elk hunts in the Wichita Mountains are the most sought after hunts in the state's controlled hunts program.
Hunters have until Friday at midnight to apply for the 2009-10 controlled hunts through the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation.
For those not familiar with the program, the state Wildlife Department offers some outstanding hunts through this lottery-like system.
Hunters have to apply online and pay a one-time annual fee of $5. But they can apply for as many hunts as they want for their $5.
That’s a better gamble than any you will make on a blackjack table at an Oklahoma Indian casino.
Most of the hunts are on government-owned or managed lands. Deer, elk, quail, turkey, antelope are just some of the more than 140 hunts offered around the state.
Deer hunts are the most popular, with more than 75,000 applications last year for the dozens of deer hunts offered around the state.
The odds of getting drawn for any deer hunt, based on last year’s numbers, is 1 in 15. The single most popular deer hunt is the gun buck hunts in the Wichita Mountains, followed closely by the archery buck hunts on the McAlester Army Ammunition Plant.
But the most single most sought after hunt of all is the bull elk hunts on the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge.
Elk hunts are also offered on the Cookson and Pushmataha Wildlfie Management Areas and the odds of getting drawn for any elk hunt are 1 in 171.
Some hunts, like the elk hunts, are truly once in a lifetime. Once a person has been lucky enough to get drawn for an elk hunt they are not eligible for another.
Other hunts offered through the program are designed just for youth and persons with disabilities.
To apply, go to www.wildlifedepartment.com.
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I’ve applied twice as an out of state hunter and never been able to grab a place. My brother lives in OK and he’s got a spot last year for an elk hunt. I keep hoping…