ODWC 'Rack Madness' Give Hunters A Shot At The Record Books

Oklahoma hunters will get to swap stories and even have the chance to make it into state record books during the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife’s Rack Madness event Tuesday.

Rack Madness is where hunters can have their deer antlers professionally measured.

Once measured, the buck gets a score and, depending on the size, it could be recognized as a Cy Curtis Award Buck.

The Cy Curtis Program recognizes Oklahoma trophy animals and the hunters who harvest them.

This is the third year for the event, and it's expected to be the biggest one yet. There are already 132 hunters registered, which is double last year’s attendance.

ODWC Assistant Director Wade Free says deer hunting is about harvesting the meat and spending time outdoors.         

He says scoring the antlers is just a fun thing to do to celebrate all the hard work a hunter does in the field.

“It's a chance for hunters to showcase their successes from not only last year, but from anytime,” Free said. “And it's also a chance for the department of wildlife to showcase some of their great management from across the state in quality deer.”

The event also reinforces one of the Wildlife Department’s push for hunters to take mature deer.

“You just win a little bit of pride knowing that you succeeded in harvesting a quality animal,” Free said. “Quality means a mature animal. Years ago the bulk of the deer that showed up in harvest were a year and a half old or less. Now Oklahoma is averaging 3 and half years old on the average harvested buck.”

ODWC is also offering several seminars this year, like how to score and age deer.

There will also be food trucks and a free fish fry.            

The Oklahoma Wildlife Conservation Foundation is also giving away a free lifetime hunting a fishing license -- worth almost $800.

Rack Madness is free from 1:00 to 8:00 at the Department of Wildlife Headquarters in Oklahoma City.

Walk-ins are welcome, but you can also register online here.