Dave, the McAlester hunt is a very organized function now. There are approx 200-250 hunters picked for each weekend hunt there from early Oct to the end of Dec. Lots of rules and guidelines to follow but that is a trade off for getting drawn and hunting one of the best if not the best deer populations in Oklahoma and some other states. All tradtional. I have heard the stories from years past.
Jim, you can either choose to drive your vehicle and some others ride with you that are hunting in your area or you can ride. I like to drive. If you have some idea of where you want to hunt, get to the map after the orientation you have on Thursday morning. If you want to be a driver they will divide up the drivers from each area, Deer Creek, Boggy and Hominy. Then you will be asked to take a pin on the map and place it where you want to hunt and the whitehats (workers for the hunts) will tell you where the designated parking areas are for that hunintg spot.
Then if you are a driver and you don't have your vehilcle full, they will ask if any others are wanting to hunt in that area.
You will eat lunch, gather at the camp fire area in the order the groups go out and will get to go the area you want to hunt, in a convoy, so you can scout. When you scout, make a mental note of several places you want to put stands. Put a stand up in your favorite spot and then if by Saturday afternoon you have not scored, maybe move to the other spot. Your group leader will head the convoy and you will follow until you get to your area and they will put out a cone for your parking area.
You will do this each morning. You can come back during the day if you and your riders are all in agreement on what you will do. If you get a deer down, you can use one of the many phones all of the base to call and they will come get you and the deer, take you to the camp check in area and take you back out. Ice will be on site if it is warm weather. Processors are in town not too far from the camp. When it gets dark, you can drive your vehicle back to camp on your own without a convoy.
Just follow the rules and have fun. Make sure you go through your vehicle and packs with a fine tooth comb to remove matches, lighters, binoculars, cameras, gps units, Flares in veh. There are spot checks along the road sometimes when coming back to camp after dark.]
It is a great hunt. Enjoy and listen to the whitehats. They will drop suttle hints where the deer have been seen recently.
It ia a rare privilage to hunt the base so take advantage of it. Stay in the woods as long as you can. Take lunch, snacks and plenty of water. If you don't stay in your stand all day, move to an area to each lunch and go back to your stand for the afternoon hunt. Lots of hunters get restless and start moving around looking for deer or another spot to hunt in their area and they move the deer. That is how I have taken several deer. Find water, acorns and thick cover for them to hide.
There will be hogs and turkeys. The hogs move early morning and evenings. I have taken hogs my last two trips. Take plenty of arrows and a file if you sharpen your own heads. You may shoot at some turkeys, hitting the ground and you will need to get down, retreve you arrows and sharpen them. It happens. HAH
Oh and about the taking a doe first. The leaders at the orientation will tell you if that weekend is for getting quality passes. This means if they decide, you can shoot a doe first and bring it in you will get to come back next year to hunt without having to draw in. They do this about every other weekend during the hunts. Sometimes they ask you to concentrate on shooting bucks inthe 115 class and they will give you another buck tag for that weekend. It just depends on there herd.
Never hunted Hominy so I can't help you there.
Good luck and keep us informed. It will be a trip to remember. I have hunted the base 8 times in the last 15 years and have taken some nice deer.
Mike
Topic: Am I going to be the only tradganger at Mcalester on 4,5,6 Oct? (Read 444 times)
