Show Notes
The 2022 Oklahoma hunting season is underway! To celebrate, we have a very special guest this week on the Oklahoma Outdoors Podcast. Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation Director J.D. Strong joins John to talk about all things big game. Right out of the gate the two tackle one of the big issues creeping up on Oklahoma and surrounding states, chronic wasting disease aka CWD. JD outlines what the state is doing to combat a potential spread of the disease, and also talks about some best practices for people to implement to help keep our deer herd safe.
After the CWD talk, the conversation takes a much more light hearted turn. The guys talk about the state's two elk herds and how the state tries to manage them on both private and public land. Black bears are also a topic of conversation and JD discusses the growth of Oklahomas population and why the state manages the hunting seasons the way that they do.
You can't talk about Oklahoma big game without spending some time on white tail deer. John asks the controversial "one buck vs two buck" question and JD offers some very insightful responses. JD also talks about the states mule deer population and how it can be challenging to manage such a small and varying herd on the edge of its natural range.
