Oklahoma’s youth deer gun season is Oct. 18-20. The three-day season is an opportunity for young hunters to get into the woods before other deer gun hunters. And this year, a new hunting license in Oklahoma is making it easier for youth to get started.
It’s called the youth annual super-hunting license, and it covers hunters under 18 for all the deer hunting allowed for the year.
We’ve compiled everything you need to know in our Youth Deer Gun Season Guide, whether you are a youth hunter or an adult who plans to accompany a youth.
This will be the first year that hunters under 18 who are participating in the youth deer gun season will do so with the state’s new youth annual super hunting license. It’s actually the only annual hunting license option for youth, and it offers an immediate advantage because it’s valid for all of the deer that can be taken during the youth deer gun season. In fact, the license is valid for the youth hunter’s entire combined season bag limit! For more on the new youth annual super hunting license, including a list of frequently asked questions and answers, check out this blog post on the Outdoor Oklahoma Journal.
There are several more advantages for young hunters and their adult mentors who participate in the youth deer gun season. For one, on these days youth can go rifle hunting for deer with adult supervision before the regular deer gun season in November. While all deer taken during the youth deer gun season are included in the hunters’s combined season limit of six deer, they are not included as part of the hunter’s regular deer gun season limit of four deer.
The youth deer gun season is open to hunters 17 years old and younger, who must be accompanied by an adult 18 years of age or older. The adult cannot gun hunt, but may archery hunt provided they have the appropriate licenses. No prior hunting experience is required; not even for the adults who plan to accompany a youth hunter.
HUNTER ORANGE
The safest color to wear while hunting is solid hunter orange. In Oklahoma, individuals hunting deer, elk, bear, or antelope with any type of firearm must conspicuously wear both a head covering and an outer garment above the waistline both consisting of hunter orange color totaling at least 400 square inches.
Camouflage hunter orange is legal as long as there are at least 400 square inches of hunter orange. All other hunters and trappers (except those hunting waterfowl, crow, crane, or dove, or while hunting furbearing animals at night) must wear either a head covering or upper garment of hunter orange clothing while hunting during any antelope, bear, deer, or elk firearms (muzzleloader or gun) season.
