Rutcations with Lindsay Thomas Jr.

05/01/23 • 61 min

We have a really good one this week on the Oklahoma Outdoors Podcast. Lindsay Thomas Jr. is the chief communications officer for the National Deer Association and joins John to talk about a recent article he wrote about "rutcations" and if they are actually effective. Lindsay, like many others including John, had never been able to take a true rutcation until his work situation changed in 2021. After two seasons of taking a full week off of work to do nothing but hunt during the rut, Lindsay made a few observations that any whitetail deer hunter should pay attention to. He observed that factors such as inconsistent winds and added human intrusion might hurt hunters more than most realize, even during the peak of breeding season.

On top of the rutcation observations, Lindsay and John discuss a few other things that greatly affect hunters in the sooner state. One bright spot in the conversation comes when Lindsay talks about a few statistics that he recently learned about Oklahomas deer herd. These statistics are quite encouraging after all the recent talk about laws and regulations and other worrisome topics. Most will be encouraged to learn that the state of whitetail deer hunting in Oklahoma is far better than most realize.

There is a little bad news in this episode however. Be sure to stick around till the end, when John asks Lindsay about a recent research study done on wild hogs. Lindsay discusses the study and how to everyone's surprise, they have found that wild hog populations are growing at an even faster rate than previously thought. The age at which sows can begin breeding is staggering, and so is the survival rate of piglets!

Check out the Sportsmen's Empire Podcast Network for more relevant, outdoor content!

Check out the Sportsmen's Empire Podcast Network for more relevant, outdoor content!

Previous Episode

5 Things to do Before Summer

John is back in the mobile studio this week bringing you a pre summer check list. Before long it is going to get hot and dry, so there are a few things every game manager needs to get done before that time gets here. From tree stands to trail cameras, no matter if you hunt public or private, many of these things will apply to you.

After the to-do list, John also shares some stories from his Sportsmens Empire hog hunt from a few weekends ago. Fellow podcasters came from Michigan, Ohio, and Missouri to hunt hogs in southeast Oklahoma. Many of the guys had never even seen a hog, much less hunted them, so it was a lot of fun for John to take them around and turn them loose on some wild hogs.

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Next Episode

Private and Public land Turkey Stories

John has been chasing turkeys all over the place the last two weeks, but finally takes a break to sit down and record a few of his top Stories. On this episode of the Oklahoma Outdoors podcast, John shares three separate hunts that took place in an 8 day period. John headed to the complete opposite side of the state from where he normally roams to chase public land Rios. Even with what seemed like an unusually early start, he still managed to be the second person to his spot. After that hunt, he joined up with the Oklahoma Outdoor Outreach Foundation for a one of a kind turkey hunt with a 9 year old boy named Brock.

After heading home and getting back to work for a few days, John then headed to his buddies place in west Texas to once again try to get a Rio Grande turkey in shotgun distance. Unlike his other hunts, this one happened extremely fast! Though he had his gopro rolling, John would have loved to have had a camera man along on this hunt. Give the episode a listen and find out why!

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