Antlerless deer season gives hunters last chance

The chance to enjoy another deer hunt or two before year’s end would be a wonderful Christmas gift for almost any deer gun hunter. That’s exactly what the Holiday Antlerless Deer Gun Season offers!

This year’s holiday season will be open for 14 days from Dec. 18-31 statewide except the area west of U.S. 83 in the Panhandle. Even if a hunter has harvested the maximum combined limit of six deer for the year’s regular deer seasons, the hunter may still take two antlerless deer during Holiday Antlerless Deer Gun Season because they are considered bonus deer.

Season dates and other regulations may vary on public lands, and hunters should always check special area rules for public lands in the current Oklahoma Fishing and Hunting Regulations.

Oklahoma’s new license structure continues to benefit hunters as the holiday antlerless deer gun season approaches. Namely, deer hunters with an annual hunting license and deer gun license — even if purchased for the regular deer gun season that has now passed — already have what they need to cruise right into the holiday antlerless season. Even if hunters already harvested their limit of does for the regular deer gun season, they can still participate. In previous years, hunters had to purchase an additional, designated holiday antlerless license for each deer hunted.

Additionally, youth under 18 years old need only a youth annual super hunting license to hunt the holiday antlerless season.

Harvesting a doe during the holiday antlerless season can help improve what’s called the buck-to-doe ratio in the deer herd. Improving the buck-to-doe ratio increases total nutrients available for deer; condenses the rut period for healthier bucks; leads to fawns dropping within a tighter time period, reducing the risk of predation; and makes for fewer late-born fawns, which face the risk of developmental challenges, said Dallas Barber, Big Game Biologist for the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation.

For complete regulations, refer to the Oklahoma Fishing and Hunting Regulations available at www.wildlifedepartment.com, in the Go Outdoors Oklahoma mobile app for Apple and Android, or in print free from license dealers statewide.

How Hunting Seasons are set

How and when Oklahoma’s hunting season dates are set can get complicated. But for the most part, hunting seasons are either the same date or the same weekend every year. For example, deer muzzleloader season opens the fourth Saturday in Oct. and runs for nine days through Sunday. And rabbit season opens Oct. 1 and runs through March 28.

Why? The short answer is that is how it is written in Wildlife Commission resolution and Title 800 of Oklahoma State Statute (Wildlife agency rules). These are the rules that govern things like bag limits, legal methods of take and season dates.

All dates are subject to change so be sure to check the Oklahoma Fishing and Hunting Regulations which are updated annually in late summer.

Here are some of the common seasons with generally set dates:

· Deer Archery: Oct. 1 to Jan. 15

· Deer Muzzleloader: The fourth Saturday in Oct. continuing nine days through the first Sunday in November

· Youth Deer Gun: the third Friday in Oct. and runs for three days through Sunday

· Deer Gun: The Saturday prior to Thanksgiving and runs for 16 consecutive days in management zones as designated by Commission resolution

· Holiday Antlerless Deer: Dec. 18 to Dec. 31

· Spring Turkey: April 16 through May 16

· Elk Archery in Special SW Zone (All private lands in Caddo, Comanche, and Kiowa Counties): The first Saturday in Oct. for five consecutive days through Wednesday. And then again the second Saturday in Dec. for five consecutive days through Wednesday.

· Elk Gun in Special SW Zone (All private lands in Caddo, Comanche, and Kiowa Counties): The Thursday immediately following the Oct. elk archery season for four consecutive days through Sunday. And again the Thursday immediately following the Dec. elk archery season for four consecutive days through Sunday.

· Additional Antlerless Elk in Special SW Zone (All private lands in Caddo, Comanche, and Kiowa Counties): The Saturday before Thanksgiving and running for sixteen (16) consecutive days, and Jan. 1 through Jan. 31

· Quail: the second Saturday in November through Feb. 15

· Squirrel: May 15 to Feb. 28

· Rabbit: Oct. 1 to March 15

· Bobcat, Badger, Gray Fox, Red Fox, Mink, Muskrat, Opossum, River Otter & Weasel: The first day of Dec. to the last day of Feb.

· Raccoon, Beaver, Striped Skunk, Nutria and Coyote: Open year-round