Those looking for adventures on land will find it at the Cookson Wildlife Management Area, a 14,725-acre paradise of dense timber and rolling hills. Here, spot elk, cottontail rabbits, turkeys and even bald eagles in the winter.
Head up to Cookson Wildlife Management Area near Cookson and try your hand at capturing a range of animals, from hard-to-spot bears to populous cottontail rabbits. Explore all 14,725 acres of this uplands wildlife area, scattered with meadows and low-elevated openings. Search through the dense oak-hickory timber and the rolling, steep hills to find white-tailed deer or bobwhite quail. Hunters can camp out in primitive tent sites before waking up to look for elk, waterfowl, doves and turkeys nested within the management area.
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You can even head to Buzzard Lake to catch a glimpse of bald eagles in the winter or to fish at the area ponds.
A Catoosa man who bought a Cookson Hills elk hunt in the Wildlife Department's first big game auction says he got his money's worth even though the permit cost him $10,000.' It was worth the money,' said Bill McAnally, owner of a backhoe company. 'If they would let me buy another one today, I'd do it.' McAnally bagged a 750-pound bull with an 8-by-7 rack Sept. 20, the day before he had planned to start his hunt on the Cookson Hills Wildlife Management Area in northeastern Oklahoma.'
We were just out scouting,' he said, 'but they told me if I saw something I liked to go ahead and take it.' McAnally's expensive permit allowed him to hunt anytime this fall.McAnally said he and a buddy, Rich Stull, had spotted a few smaller bulls and some cows before the big one walked into the open.He said Stull hit a note on a cow call and the bull turned broadside at 250 yards.
It was dropped in its tracks, McAnally said.Taking a rest against a tree, McAnally collected his first elk with a.300 Weatherby at 250 paces not far from the game management area's headquarters. He had only been on the area an hour and a half, intending to start hunting the following morning. He plans to have the rack mounted.The Wildlife Commission has approved another auction for next year. It will include another Cookson Hills elk; a rifle permit for deer at the McAlester Army Ammunition Depot, home of the state's best whitetail herd; a spring turkey hunt at the Western Wall Unit at the Osage Wildlife Management Area; and a two-person quail hunt at Packsaddle Wildlife Management Area.
The first auction included only elk and turkey, but raised $10,700 for wildlife management.Richard Hatcher, the Wildlife Department Game Chief, originally planned to auction next year's hunts to organizations, but the Wildlife Commission didn't like that idea, so the auction is open to any individual. Permit purchasers can set their own dates.Applicants should send their name, address and phone number, the hunt they have selected and the amount of their bid before Jan. 1 to Wildlife Department, Box 52465, Oklahoma City, OK 73152. Attn: Auction Permit.