Rack madness sponsored by Wildlife Department

Ever wonder how the deer, elk, pronghorn or black bear you bagged might stack up against the best of the state’s Cy Curtis Award winners? You can find out March 6 during Rack Madness at the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation headquarters.

This event welcomes anyone to bring in their antlers, horns or skulls for professional scoring by ODWC personnel. Registrants entering an item for scoring might end up winning an Oklahoma Lifetime Combination Hunting and Fishing License valued at $775, provided by the Oklahoma Wildlife Conservation Foundation.

Rack Madness will run from 1 p.m. to 7 p.m. Wednesday, March 6 at 1801 N. Lincoln Blvd. in Oklahoma City.

And to help recognize “hunters in the know take a doe”, the Oklahoma State Game Warden Association is also giving away an Oklahoma Lifetime Combination Hunting and Fishing License to one lucky person who harvested a doe during the 2023-2024 deer season.

The winners of the lifetimes must be eligible to hold a lifetime license and will have the option to transfer the prize to someone else who is eligible. The lifetime drawings will take place at 6:45 p.m. and participants do not have to be present to win. Anyone who checks-in at the event after 6:30 p.m. will not be eligible to participate in the drawing.

The National Deer Association will give a free membership to the first 100 people in the door.

There will also be hourly drawings for prizes during the event including items from the Go Outdoors Oklahoma shop and an Oklahoma resident annual hunting licenses with one deer tag of choice, donated by Oklahoma Hunters and Anglers LLC.

Participants should pre-register online at GoOutdoorsOklahoma.com. Scoring will be handled on a first-come, first-served basis. There is a two-item scoring limit per participant. To qualify, antlers must both be attached to the skull plate, whether mounted or unmounted. In addition to white-tailed and mule deer antlers, scoring will be available for elk antlers, antelope horns and bear skulls. Harvest must have occurred in Oklahoma.

Hunters whose officially scored items meet the minimum score and drying period requirements will be eligible for the ODWC’s Cy Curtis Awards Program, which recognizes trophy Oklahoma mule deer, elk, antelope and black bear as well as the hunters who harvest them. The program began in 1972 and is named for a former Department wildlife biologist who is recognized as the person most responsible for restoration of white-tailed deer populations in Oklahoma.

For more information about how to apply for a Cy Curtis Award, visit https://www.wildlifedepartment.com/hunting/cy-curtis.

Deer racks are considered either typical or non typical, and the scoring formula differs for each. Antler scoring involves measuring various characteristics of a set of antlers in inches, and then accounting for certain deductions to arrive at a final score.

Cy Curtis qualifying scores are 135 points for typical deer and 150 points for non typical deer. Elk, black bear and pronghorn are also eligible for the Cy Curtis Award record book. For more information about how to apply for a Cy Curtis Award, visit www.wildlifedepartment.com and search for “Cy Curtis.”

The Cy Curtis state record deer measured 248 6/8, a non typical whitetail from Tillman County taken in 2004 by Michael Crossland of Grandfield.

In recent years, the number of near-record racks has been notable, and the state’s deer harvest has consistently totaled around 100,000 animals annually.