Oklahoma Outdoors

This week on the Oklahoma Outdoors Podcast, John is joined by fellow Sportsmens Empire podcast hosts Nick Otto and Nate Rozeveld. This podcast was recorded as Nick and Nate were driving down from Michigan to Oklahoma for a few days of exciting hog hunting action. The Michiganders were loaded down with firepower and coolers and ready to take on whatever may come their way. Nick was able to come down and hunt with John in 2023, but this was Nate's first trip down to hunt hogs. 

The guys talk about some of the stereotypes around hogs like the crazy population numbers and how tough the animals are. They also have a discussion about different firearms and calibers that are used to hunt wild pigs. Nick voices his goal of changing the negative perception hogs have at the dinner table, and vows to change the minds of Oklahomas and others about what a great gift these tasty creatures can be if taken advantage of. 

Don't forget to check out Nick (The Huntavore) and Nates (Michigan WIld) podcasts also available on the Sportsmens Empire Podcast Network!

Welcome to the first turkey hunting episode of 2024! Keith Hagen joins the Oklahoma Outdoors Podcast again but instead of mule deer the guys chat about wild turkeys. Along with Keith's taxidermy business, he has been a turkey guide in Oklahoma for several years and has helped beginners and experts alike bag big 'ol Toms. 

This episode covers a little bit of everything. Keith and John talk about map scouting, the importance of camouflage, calling and reading birds, and more. Keith talks about his decoy preferences and again, reading the birds to give them what they want. Towards the end of the episode they cover actually killing a bird and all the different weapon choices out there. From a trusty ol 12 gauge to the new .410's on the market that are quickly growing in popularity.

This week on the Oklahoma Outdoors Podcast, Tyrell Roy is back to talk about his Kansas public land whitetail adventure. Tyrell is a very accomplished whitetail hunter, and consistently kills mature bucks on his family farm and permission properties in northern Oklahoma. Like many of us whitetail nuts though, he was looking for the next challenge. He found all the challenge he could handle a little ways north on Kansas public land.

After not drawing a tag in 2022, Tyrell set his sights on 2023 and was determined to make it happen. After the buck he scouted all summer was taken by another hunter on opening day, it was back to square one with the season already under way. With Kansas's recent trail camera ban, Tyrell had no other way to scout than boots on the ground and dirt on the tires. It took all season, but after a tip from a friend he was able to make a play on a great whitetail buck. If you have ever wanted to chase western whitetails, this is an episode you need to hear!

Spring is here and gobble filled mornings are just around the corner. This week on the Oklahoma Outdoors Podcast, John is bringing back an old turkey story from a few years back. John and his good friend Stiles headed to the Texas panhandle with Stiles's son, SV. It had been many years since the guys had driven out to Stiles's grandmother's place to chase big tom turkeys, but when they got there things fell right into place again.

Not only were they successful at tagging a couple nice birds, but John also got to learn a lot about hunting with kids. SV is a trooper, and has never met a stranger, but when it comes to being quiet and still, it's hard to ask too much from a youngster. John got to see first hand that fruit snacks and peanut butter crackers could be just as important on a hunt as box calls and decoys.

John is fresh off the dozer and this week on the Oklahoma Outdoors Podcast he is talking about manipulating habitat to put mature whitetail bucks in shooting range. There are a lot of videos, podcasts, and articles about habitat improvement, but this week John takes it one step further than just making a hunting property better for wildlife. While you are improving the landscape, why not also improve your hunting? This is an interactive podcast where John uses drone photos of his actual hunting locations to talk about how you can improve your property while also improving your hunting.

Be sure to check out the Oklahoma Outdoors Podcasts social media accounts on Facebook and Instagram before hitting play on this episode. There are 4 pictures with labels that will help create a visual of what John is talking about during this episode. From the drone shots, you can see how John creates food plots, bedding areas, and travel corridors that all work together to put John in a position where the deer feel completely comfortable but also offer him shot opportunities. Don't want deer coming from the east because they'll get your scent? Manipulate the landscape in such a way that makes them come from the west. And don't think you have to have hundreds of acres to use these strategies. The three locations John uses in this podcast are all in a 140 acre area.

This week on the Oklahoma Outdoors Podcast John hosts traditional bowhunter Nathan Lattimer. Nathan grew up hunting with a compound bow, killing his first deer at only 12 years old. After years of hunting and taking several nice bucks, he began to feel some of the challenge slipping away. Looking to shake things up, he gave his compound bow to his son and picked up a Bear recurve and never looked back. Nathan doesn't claim to be an expert at traditional archery, but his journey into hunting and being successful with his recurve is a great story of determination.

John and Nathan start out by talking about some of the obvious differences between compound and traditional hunting. Next, Nathan talks about his mindset going into the woods. John asks about his "standards" and if they changed after limiting himself to trad gear. John then asks Nathan to talk about some of the things he has learned that would translate back to hunting with a compound if he were to switch again for some reason.

One thing that makes Oklahoma so unique is its wide variety of game animals. This week on the Oklahoma Outdoors Podcast, John talks with Keith Hagen of Southern Plains Taxidermy about hunting Oklahoma mule deer. Keith grew up hunting whitetails like most of us, but after spending some time chasing mule deer in western Oklahoma and Texas, they have become a huge part of his yearly hunting routine. Keith strictly hunts mule deer with a bow, making it all the more challenging.

Keith and John go over some of the differences in mule deer behavior, and the differences in hunting them versus whitetails. Keith talks about his equipment and what he thinks is important for specifically hunting Oklahoma mule deer as opposed to states further west. Keith also uses his experience as a taxidermist to give some pointers on field care for your trophy if you plan to get it mounted, and some good and bad strategies for getting your animal out in the sandy brush country of the Oklahoma Panhandle.

This week on the Oklahoma Outdoors Podcast, John takes some time to cover a wide variety of topics that have been on his mind. First up are a few exciting events coming up that any outdoor enthusiast should be attending. After that, John digs into the 2023-24 deer harvest numbers published by the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservations, and a new thought he has on why this deer season seemed a little odd. John also discusses some turkey harvest numbers and why he is optimistic about this upcoming spring season.

After nerding out on some numbers, John goes over a recent news article he came across about how wild hogs may be good for the environment. While hogs have their place, John is afraid this particular article had a hidden agenda in its midst. To round things off John touches on a few other topics like using forestry mulchers on hunting properties, preference points, and planning ahead for this upcoming hunting season. 

If the term "hard work pays off" was ever to describe an individual, it might just be talking about Bryson Ziegler. Bryson joins the Oklahoma Outdoors Podcast this week to talk about his awesome 2023 season which saw two great mature bucks hit the ground. The first buck Bryson took broke all the rules of big buck hunting. He killed the 7.5 year old on a morning hunt in the middle of the "October lull". If that isn't impressive enough, Bryson then took an even larger buck on a small permission property. He didn't just fool this buck once. After missing the buck with his fathers recurve, he put in the work to relocate the bruiser and again got him within bow range and made it count.

We hit something a little different this week on the Oklahoma Outdoors Podcast, sandhill crane hunting! John's good buddy Charles just returned from a bucket list hunt and one that John was quite jealous of. Sandhill cranes are present in large numbers in western Oklahoma and Texas, and as Charles will discuss in this episode, make for a fun and engaging hunt. The "ribeye of the sky" are not as easy as you might think to hunt, and possess a keen eye for anything out of the ordinary.

Charles and his buddies were able to hunt cranes and geese on this trip, which makes for a great comparison of the two species and helps people relate to something they may be a little more familiar with. Charles talks about the strategy they used, the decoy set ups, the size shells, and the hides the group used to put a 14 man limit on the ground one day, and a stack of geese the next. If a crane hunt isn't already on your list, it definitely will be after this episode!