Best Outdoor Towns in Oklahoma
Just received the June-July issue of “Outdoor Life” in the mail at work and the cover story is a list of the 200 best towns for sportsmen in the United States.
Four Oklahoma towns made the top 200, but it wouldn’t have been the four I would have chosen.
The magazine listed Bartlesville at No. 54, Poteau at No. 145, Enid at No. 168 and Elk City at No. 182.
The magazine based its ratings on socio-economic subcategories such as median household income, median home value, cost of living, unemployment rate, mean commute time and amenities such as schools and hospitals.
Outdoors-related subcategories used in the rankings included the gun friendliness of each town’s state, huntable and fishable species nearby, the town’s proximity to public hunting land and fishable waters and the potential for taking a big game trophy-caliber game animal or fish nearby.
I guess the socio-economic subcategories justifies the inclusion of those cities, but just based on hunting, fishing and the outdoors, here are four towns I would choose before Outdoor Life’s selections:
Eufaula instead of Bartlesville: I probably would prefer my daughter marry a man from Bartlesville than Eufaula, but for stuff to do outdoors, there is no comparison. Admittedly, I am biased because I grew up near Lake Eufaula, but it is the best crappie lake in the state not to mention the excellent smallmouth bass and catfishing.
Deer, turkey and duck hunting are plentiful in the area. And look at all of the good lakes just an hour or two north and south of there.
Broken Bow instead of Poteau: Hey, the state largemouth bass record came from Broken Bow Lake, the Lower Mountain Fork River is the best trout stream in the state and Three Rivers and Honobia Creek WMAs are right there. Not to mention nearby Pushmataha County has more Cy Curtis bucks than any other county in the state, including the state typical record.
Woodward instead of Enid: The towns are not that far apart but Woodward is closer to more public hunting areas and next door to Woods County which has produced some monster bucks. Woodward also is closer to better bird hunting at the Black Kettle National Grasslands and to antelope and pheasant hunting in the Panhandle.
Frederick instead of Elk City: Hackberry Flat is nearby for waterfowl hunting and the best public dove hunt in the state. The state non-typical record buck was taken near Frederick. The Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge is nearby and Lake Texoma is not too far away.
Those are my four. Agree or disagree?
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Comments
pretty slim pickin’ if Enid makes there top 200. Not a decent lake within 45 miles, no rivers to speak of either. Hunting can be decent, but for an all around town you would think it would have to have some home waters.
Tahlequah , equi-distant from Grand to Eufaula. Can be on either lake in 45 minutes and of course, Tenkiller is right there on the front lawn. It is the epicenter for fishing in Eastern Oklahoma.
And its just a short hop over to NW Arkansas and Beaver Lake or on to Mizzou and Table Rock, Bull Shoals.
Don’t have a clue about the hunting around Tahlequah.
Tahlequah is a good choice and one I almost put on my list instead of Eufaula. I believe Field & Stream did a similar ranking last year of best fishing towns in America and Tahlequah was the top choice in Oklahoma.
POTEAU deserved to be ON THE LIST -obviously you havent been to Poteau lately. We are very proud of our town and we work hard to make it a great place to visit. We have hosted several hunts the last few years, we have the hotels, restaurants, and the sporting good stores to shop in and we have something for the wives that want to tag along. We have the scenery and have been dubbed oklascenic! We have the hunting and the fishing. We are POTEAU PROUD and we are getting better each day, watch out for Poteau Power!!! home of Cavanal “the world’s highest hill”
Did you know…
POTEAU and POTEAU MAINSTREET MATTERS will be hosting our FIRST ANNUAL HUNTING AND WILDLIFE FESTIVAL during Labor Day weekend this year?
I don’t know of another town in Oklahoma that puts out the red carpet for our Outdoorsmen and Outdoorswomen.
We look forward to seeing you there!
Good to see the folks in Poteau are defending their selection. Hey, I think Poteau probably is a better overall place to live than Broken Bow, but not for hunting and fishing. Poteau has the Gar Rodeo at nearby Lake Wister and Cedar Lake just down the road, while Broken Bow has trout fishing on the Lower Mountain Fork and big bass fishing on Broken Bow Lake in its backyard.
Poteau, Okay lets drive for about an hour, you can be at Broken Bow, Lake Eufaula, Tenkiller,or Lake Ft. Smith. Don’t want to drive an hour, in thirty min you can be on Kerr lake, Wister Lake, Cedar lake, or Spiro Lake one of the best small lakes in Oklahoma, and as for hunting Wister Lake has some of the best Duck hunting around, our deer, turkey, and soon to be black bear are some of the best in the state that is if you want to hunt. These along with the other things Poteau has to offer is the reason it made the list, from Poteau you are on the edge of some great hunting, fishing, or just about anything you want to do outdoors.
Ok I was a State Park Ranger for 10 Years in Leflore and Latimer County. Lake Wister a 7,300 acre Lake, is 10 minutes from Poteau, Cedar Lake is 35 minutes, Lake Carl Albert in Talihina is 45 minutes, 10 minutes from Poteau is a 35500 acres Wildlife management area, and a 2000 acre Waterfoul refuge. The Poteau River (222 km long) and its tributaries drain an area of about 4,839 km2 in the mountainous regions of eastern Oklahoma and western Arkansas. In 1947 a survey of Poteau River was done and 68 species of fishes were found. Then 45 min from here is Wilburton they have Trout fishing( yes it is stocked but it is still available, also there is Lake Carlton. My Husband caught a 7lb bass there. Then 45 min from Poteau is Quachita National Forest, there is Deer, Turkey, Bobcat, Bear, you name it…So yes I think Poteau Certainly deserved this…I am Running out of Room but I could go on and on. Have you ever been Down here for more than a day. Have you ever had someone who knew the area take you around. If you’d like I can set you up with a guide.
Thank You
Ok I was a State Park Ranger for 10 Years in Leflore and Latimer County. Lake Wister a 7,300 acre Lake, is 10 minutes from Poteau, Cedar Lake is 35 minutes, Lake Carl Albert in Talihina is 45 minutes, 10 minutes from Poteau is a 35500 acres Wildlife management area, and a 2000 acre Waterfowl refuge. The Poteau River (222 km long) and its tributaries drain an area of about 4,839 km2 in the mountainous regions of eastern Oklahoma and western Arkansas. In 1947 a survey of Poteau River was done and 68 species of fishes were found. Then 45 min from here is Wilburton they have Trout fishing( yes it is stocked but it is still available, also there is Lake Carlton. My Husband caught a 7lb bass there. Then 45 min from Poteau is Quachita National Forest, there is Deer, Turkey, Bobcat, Bear, you name it…So yes I think Poteau Certainly deserved this…I am Running out of Room but I could go on and on. Have you ever been Down here for more than a day. Have you ever had someone who knew the area take you around. If you’d like I can set you up with a guide.
Thank You
I can’t disagree with anything Rick said except to point out that while Poteau is “on the edge of some great hunting, fishing,” Broken Bow has it at its doorstep. That’s all I’m saying. And Ella, you make a good argument until you mention the trout fishing at Robbers Cave. A great place, but not for trout fishing. No comparison to the Lower Mountain Fork. But I don’t have as much of a problem with Poteau and Elk City on the list as I do Enid and Bartlesville.
Durant for proximity to Texoma, Broken Bow and jump off to out of state points COLA is cheap
Claremore, jump off to entire East Oklahoma Fishery
Okmulgee — Eufaula, Tenkiller and points SE
Kingfisher to the land of good hunting