Please tell me about the Oklahoma scene

[gar-dog]

I am interviewing for a new job that is in Tulsa of all places.... funny thing is I went to kindergarten and half of first grade there in the '60s. How far do you have to go for decent hunting? I hear quail numbers are down. Kansas is nearby as well. Good places to train and work dogs? Oh, as for my family.... Good schools? Can I get good Mexican food? (It's been 10 years since I left TX and would love to have that in my life again). Two of my kids are in high school and junior high, a tough time to move. It is a great job but we are kind of freaking out about uprooting. I am pretty much a city-fied redneck, but my kids have the NJ/NY thing going on...

[topher40]

Wow GarDog, dont get picky or anything! :roll: WHO CARES if there is good hunting close, its A LOT closer than NJ! Actually I wanted to wish you luck and let you know your kids will get over it and be better off for it. Let us know how things progress.

[Russmill84]

10 years since you left Texas!! Wow you must be hurting! Been 6 for me, and am going back soon enough. Been to Tulsa on many occasions...you will like that place.

[ACooper]

About 4.5 hours to Beaver WMA or Sanders WMA 3.5 hours to Cooper Wma near Woodward. There are quail this year if you are willing to get out and burn some boot leather. You are only about 1.5 from some decent pheasant hunting if you can get permission.

[ezzy333]

10 years since you left Texas!! Wow you must be hurting! Been 6 for me, and am going back soon enough. Been to Tulsa on many occasions...you will like that place.

Someone in Cheyenne wanting to go to Texas is just as unbelieveable as someone in NJ not sure of moving any place west. We need to get a shrink for the forum to see if we can help you both. :roll:

Ezzy

[Russmill84]

quote="ezzy333"]

10 years since you left Texas!! Wow you must be hurting! Been 6 for me, and am going back soon enough. Been to Tulsa on many occasions...you will like that place.

Someone in Cheyenne wanting to go to Texas is just as unbelieveable as someone in NJ not sure of moving any place west. We need to get a shrink for the forum to see if we can help you both. :roll:

Ezzy[/quote]

aint that the truth!

[SwitchGrassWPG]

Phenomenal year for pheasants. Quail did take quite a bit of work to find. Not too bad if you can gain access to private land.

If you do move to Tulsa, be sure to look up OKNAVHDA. The majority of our training and testing takes place just south of Tulsa and in the Enid area.

[romeo212000]

Oklahoma had better bird numbers this year but they are down a bit still on public land. I was still able to go out on public land and move about 5 coveys a day and put a few birds in the bag. The numbers on private land don't seem to suffered much. I was able to move no less than 8 coveys on all of the private land. It has to be better than NJ. You have an opportunity to move to one of the principle states for upland bird hunting. Do it. give me a holler when you get there.

[prairiefirepointers]

Lots of crimson and creme... (if you're in the better part of the state)

[romeo212000]

Boomer Sooner.

[prairiefirepointers]

Boomer Sooner.

You deserve an "atta boy"

[ACooper]

If you're lucky you won't have to hear people yelling "boomer sooner" in real life.

[gar-dog]

Boomer Sooner.

I went to the University of Texas, so you can imagine my feelings about OU. Regarding hunting in NJ - there are essentially no wild populations of pheasant or quail anymore. They do stock both, however. There is plenty of woodcock and within 90 minutes there is good grouse hunting. Waterfowling is fantastic, but I don't do that, and I can hunt deer in my backyard. They are pests here because there are so danged many. We have about 335,000 acres of public land to hunt (and given the small size of the state all within about an hour's drive). Throw in PA and NY regions within 90 minutes and there are probably another few hundred thousand acres. So hunting is actually pretty good up here, you just have to focus on other types of quarry - grouse/woodcock - if you want wild birds. And of course the beloved English Setter Club I belong to... 350 acres, fenced, full of quail with a cozy clubhouse and barn, and often there's beer left in the keg.

I admit I like it up here, and I used to be one of these guys that was "by God, I ain't ever leavin' the great state of Texas." Biggest problem are the gun laws and cruddy Mexican food and BBQ. Give me a concealed carry permit, a plate of enchiladas from La Hacienda in Houston and Goode Co. BBQ 3 times per week and I'd probably stay put.

Thanks for the input. We'll see how it goes.
G

[ACooper]

Oh man I need to edit my posts I dont want to be caught helping a longhorn.

[gar-dog]

Oh man I need to edit my posts I dont want to be caught helping a longhorn.

The OU police might fine you or something worse !

Yeah, we'll have a hard time in OK. I'll be hazed for being a Longhorn and it would be very painful to me if I heard my kids called "yankees." Luckily they have a neutral accent, and we can tell them never to utter where we moved from.

[tommyboy72]

It gets worse the farther west you come in Oklahoma. I live right in the middle of the panhandle of Oklahoma with half the town in Oklahoma and half the town in Texas and we call Okies from outside the panhandle yankees, city slickers and eastern tenderfeet. At least you are getting away from the plush life in NJ. One of my best friends moved to New Jersey, Princeton I believe, and he has gotten citified since he left so I call him every once in awhile to remind him where he is from and put him back in his place. His wife is a charge nurse at Princeton Medical Center and he is an electronics engineer and together they make big bank but he still wears boots and jeans and has the Okie twang so I call to remind him of the little people he left behind.

[SLO_ROLL]

Not a lot of birds in this part of the state, but its not bad if your not spoiled like most "hunters" are these days. Lots of public land that you will basically have to your self while bird hunting.

[intothewind]

Ok, Ill take a crack at answering the school issue. I dont live in tulsa anymore but was raised there. My mother is a tired teacher from broken arrow(a suburb of tulsa), and i have silings that teach at area schools. First off, STAY AWAY from tulsa public schools. Best schools in the tulsa area are not tulsa dstrict. Get to jenks, union or broken arrow school systems- preferably union or jenks. Try to get to the south side. I was shocked at how the city has gone down hill- tulsa used to be a very nice city almost in every part. now most of tulsa is run down. the south side 81st- 91st and garnett mingo area is the youngest part of the cty whch began explodng n numbers in the late 80's, so its still a young area. Pick the right spot and tulsa is a great place to live. If you love sports and have kids active n it, jenks or union public schools are 2 of the top sports schools in the country to have your kids involved in- coming from a union alum 1986, but true. jenks-union football rivalry named by usa today as the no. 1 h.s. football rivalry in the country. you can also find fine school just outsde like bixby, glennpool, owasso-within 30 mnutes or less to tulsa.

[intothewind]

Oh, also forgot to mention, there are some good private schools there- metro christian, holland hall, cassia hall.