On a 90-degree afternoon in September, I must admit, my mind is about as interested in thoughts of duck and deer hunting as my belly is interested in a steaming bowl of chili. But that ducks-and-bucks time of year is just around the corner and if you need proof, just check your calendar for a few events coming up Saturday.
Duck Blind Drawings: The annual duck blind registration and drawings are set for Saturday at area Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation offices. Folks in northeastern Oklahoma will be most interested in the ones at the Porter office, located between Wagoner and Muskogee on Highway 69.
Registration begins at 7 a.m. for Fort Gibson Lake with drawings at 8 a.m. Eufaula Lake registration begins at 9:30 a.m. with drawings at 10:30 a.m. and registration is noon for Webbers Falls, with drawings at 1 p.m.
The department also holds drawings for W.D. Mayo, Waurika Lake, Fort Supply Lake, and Canton Lake, at locations near those lakes. Check the wildlife department web site for details on those drawings at
tulsaworld.com/wildlife. About 300 duck blind permits, about 100 for each lake, will be issued at the Porter office Saturday, according to Craig Endicott, northeast region supervisor for the Wildlife Department.
“There will probably be 400 or 500 duck hunters there,” Endicott said. “It’s a big annual thing.”
Applicants must be at least 16 and already possess all licenses and permits for hunting waterfowl. Newcomers should be aware that if their name is drawn from the registration bin they will have to immediately walk up to the aerial map posted at the drawing site and mark the spot where they plan to build their blind.
For more information check the department web site at
tulsaworld.com/wildlife or call the Porter office at (918) 683-1031.
Deer Hunting Permits: The Deep Fork National Wildlife Refuge also will issue permits Saturday. The refuge has 300 Archery Deer Hunting Permits available and has yet to issue all of them for a season. The most issued was last year at 292.
The permits allow archery hunters to hunt deer on the refuge during the special deer hunt period Nov. 4-22. Hunters should check refuge rules such as those restricting use of food attractants and allowing only strap-on tree stands. When permits are issued hunters receive written rules and a map of the available hunting areas on the refuge. A more detailed map can be purchased as well.
Saturday, from 7:30 a.m. – 4 p.m., the permits will be issued at the refuge’s maintenance shop, located 3.5 miles south of the Okmulgee city limits on the east side of Highway 75. Any remaining permits will be issued 7:30 a.m.-4 p.m. Sept. 23 at the refuge headquarters office located at 21844 S. 250 Road, Okmulgee. For more information, call 918-652-0456.
Tulsa Bird Dog Association “Buddy Hunt:” If you want to get your pup warmed up for bird season, the Tulsa Bird Dog Association has its annual event open to all on Saturday at its training grounds near Inola.
For $40 you get a chance to hunt the grounds as part of a two-person brace and get treated to lunch. You can hunt with a buddy or come and hunt with another person by random draw. Each brace hunts for 45 minutes with birds planted between each brace. A winner is declared at the end of the day based solely on number of birds collected – no judges or points awarded for style in this event. It’s just fun for you and a buddy.
Club president Shane Bevel said the event starts at 8 a.m. “and we go until we’re done or the sun goes down.”
For information on the buddy hunt see the club’s web site at
tulsaworld.com/birddogclub or find Tulsa Bird Dog Association on Facebook.
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