Rutcations with Lindsay Thomas Jr.

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!

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