Gun hunters weren't the only deer hunters to do well last year. According to Shaw, the state's increasingly popular muzzleloader deer season also shined in 2006. Again, the ODWC biologist looked for the final figures for the muzzleloader harvest in 2006 to be comparable to the 24,747 deer taken by smokepole enthusiasts in 2005.

"I can't remember a time in the last four or five years where hunters were seeing as much rutting activity as we did last year. Everybody reported seeing bucks during the gun season." -Mike Shaw, ODWC

"Muzzleloader season has become almost as popular as rifle season," Shaw said. "It is a great time to be out in the woods. You can be out there and start to see an increase in deer movement. People are starting to go out during the season to hunt and pattern deer for the gun season. There are really no negatives about it."

Especially when you consider that the state's muzzleloader season -- sandwiched in with an already lengthy archery season, which runs from Oct. 1 through Jan. 15, and the state's 16-day long firearm season -- gives Oklahoma deer hunters ample time to be in the field.

All that's left for Sooner hunters to do then is to "git 'er done" and fill a tag.

Speaking of archery season: The state's stable army of bowhunters should approach and perhaps even exceed the mark of 14,624 deer taken by bow-and-arrow-toters in 2005.

"Our archery season harvest total could possibly top last year's numbers since our preliminary numbers are up," Shaw said. "It will depend on what happened during the second half of archery season after gun season ended. That part of the season usually doesn't contribute that much to the overall percentage, but I think the overall harvest is up."

In terms of which counties stood out a year ago for overall deer harvest, Shaw doesn't anticipate much change from the previous years. "Generally, our top five haven't shifted at all," he said. "Osage is going to be the top county -- it always is and is one of our largest counties. Pittsburgh County moved up into second (in 2005), while Cherokee County dropped to No. 3. That was followed by Atoka and Sequoia counties.

"Those were the top five in 2005 and I don't think there will be much of a change in 2006. The order may shift, but the top five counties will still be the top counties."

OK -- that's a look at where the state's deer herd has been and currently is. But what will that mean for Oklahoma deer hunters this coming fall?

Unless severe, crippling drought reappears late this summer, hunters can probably look for more of the same in terms of good hunting for both quantity and quality.

For starters, thanks to snowy weather last winter and wet weather during portions of the first quarter of 2007, it appears as if the drought is at least easing up. And should that trend prevail, that should mean plenty of food available for Oklahoma whitetails this fall.

Food abundance, of course, is the primary driving force behind the state's deer herd anyway. That's what leads to good overall numbers, solid fawn recruitment, good antler growth, and the expansion of deer into suitable habitat.

"The major food sources for deer in Oklahoma are pretty varied depending on what part of the state you're in," Shaw said. "We have not had detailed food studies for all over the state, so I'd hesitate to answer which foods are most important. But obviously, wherever there are agricultural crops, deer will be there. In the east, soybeans are important, while in the west, wheat is important."

What about the state's abundant supply of oak trees and the various acorns that fall from them each fall?

"Acorns and really any hard mast are important, but it's all gravy," Shaw said. "You can't ever count on it. For instance, a couple of years ago, we had a really good acorn crop. But last year, it was really poor all over the state."

If the short-term deer-hunting picture in Oklahoma looks at least somewhat rosy, what about the long-term outlook? "Since we're an agricultural-based economy, we're losing habitat like everyone else," Shaw said. "But I don't think the pace is nearly as fast as it is in other places. So I think that the future is bright."

Part of the reason for Shaw's long-term optimism is also due to the state's continued fine-tuning of deer hunting regulations, including some new measures that will impact hunters this fall.

"No. 1, we reduced the bag limit of antlered deer from three to two," Shaw said. "I think that will help."

"And in some areas, there is an increased number of antlerless deer that you can take during the muzzleloader and gun season from one to two. That's in Zone 2, which encompasses all of the northwestern and the north-central part of the state."

These measures, Shaw believes, will help improve the buck-to-doe ratio in some areas of the state that are below par in that respect right now, and should "save some of our younger bucks and allow them to get into older age-classes and become better-quality bucks."

All of this isn't to say that certain concerns about the future of deer hunting in Oklahoma don't persist: Take, for instance, hunter recruitment and hunting access, which -- just as in any state where deer hunting is practiced -- will become increasingly important issues here in years to come.

When asked if the days of knocking on doors and obtaining permission to deer hunt were over, Shaw said that he didn't necessarily think so, especially since driving 15 to 30 minutes -- and beyond -- from the state's urban areas will put a hunter in good deer-hunting territory.