EW 142, Holdenville, OK 74848 - Hughes County

Although there are many good deer hunting properties in Oklahoma, there are some features that mark the dividing line between good and great. Some counties are known for producing better bucks than others, some rivers are better corridors for deer movement during the rut than other drainages, some neighborhoods have larger ranches that keeps the hunting pressure lower than in other areas, and some owners have done a better job managing the wildlife than their peers. If you are looking for a ranch that has a combination of these features, then we’d like to welcome you to the Land Doctors latest listing, Oakridge Ranch.

Oakridge Ranch is a 160-acre wildlife haven located in a secluded part of Hughes County, Oklahoma, eight miles south of Holdenville. That makes it a 90-minute drive from either OKC or Tulsa and only a 2 drive from the northern edge of the DFW metroplex. Even though it is in a county known for trophy bucks and it’s a nice drive from three major metros, that’s not really the best part of the location. More importantly for hunters is the location of this ranch between two of the best travel corridors for trophy bucks in Oklahoma, Little River, and the South Canadian River. The ranch is located just five miles up from the confluence of these two rivers in a narrowing sliver of land that compresses the travel patterns of wildlife and condenses their populations to a higher than normal density. The presence of these rivers also means that better soils, more abundant native forage, and the presence of high protein crops are nearby to support larger wildlife populations. Of course, open farmland along the rivers does not necessarily provide good cover for deer. Many times, elusive bucks will travel up small creeks to areas that provide better cover. Oakridge Ranch happens to have a small creek that drains north to Little River and extends south to a point where it almost touches another small creek that drains into the South Canadian River. The combination of these two creeks creates a low, mostly wooded pathway that acts as a shortcut between the two rivers. One could easily imagine how this would be beneficial during the rut.

What’s even better is when your 160 acres is surrounded on three sides by one neighbor who owns nearly 6800 acres. That certainly helps reduce the hunting pressure. Oakridge ranch has another feature that makes it even more inviting to whitetails, its bordered on the north by a ridge with an elevation of 900 feet and on the south by another ridge that is 890 feet. The creek bottom between is a cozy 780 feet, meaning the deer have a physical buffer between them and any noise or disturbance from the county road to the south or the smaller neighbor to the north.

The owner has done a masterful job of managing a pipeline of quality up and coming bucks. In addition to the heavy acorn crops that the oak forest naturally provides, he has maintained two large food plots that pull the deer into the core of the property and on top of the forage plantings, he has also provided feed as supplemental nutrition. This combined with a strict philosophy of waiting to shoot on truly mature bucks, has led to an unusually large number of quality bucks. Last year, the ranch held as many as six 150-inch bucks. The seller believes those bucks survived and expects them to show up again this fall with even more impressive racks as they have reached full maturity, so far two 150 inch plus bucks have been caught on camera. Water is necessary for good wildlife and this property has a great mixture of mile of creek frontage and four ponds, one that is about 1 acres and two that are roughly acre each. The presence of these ponds also provides a nice opportunity to manage a bass fishery or to toss out a spread of decoys to catch ducks migrating along this natural flyway. In the off-season, the creek and ponds will be great hangout places for friends and family to enjoy the rock formations and ATV trails. If you’ve been looking for a hunting property that has all the features that are so hard to come by, don’t miss out on Oakridge Ranch, call Sean Childress today at 580 320 5791 to set up a showing.