To safeguard Oklahoma’s wildlife and prevent unregulated commercial release of white-tailed deer into the wild, the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation (ODWC) has proposed rules for the Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) Genetic Improvement Act.
Hunting white-tailed deer in Oklahoma is a deeply cherished tradition, backed by an avid hunting base. Thanks to years of intentional herd management by ODWC and increasingly selective hunters, Oklahoma’s wild deer population is thriving with a notable rise in mature, older-age-class bucks.
Oklahoma’s first state game warden was appointed in 1907, and ODWC has been intensely monitoring and managing the state’s deer herd since then. What started as fewer than 500 deer has grown to upward of 1 million animals.
Oklahoma: A top-tier destination for hunters
The 2025-26 season marked the second-most successful deer harvest in state history, with hunters taking 133,791 deer. Oklahoma’s Cy Curtis records stand at 194 for typical white-tailed deer and 248 6/8 for nontypical white-tailed deer.
Hunting is an economic powerhouse and sustains conservation
More than 200,000 hunters participate in Oklahoma’s deer season each year. ODWC receives no state general tax dollars and operates as a self-sustaining user-funded agency primarily through hunting license sales and federal grants tied directly to hunters. Maintaining high-quality hunting opportunities is critical to funding state conservation initiatives.
Beyond funding wildlife stewardship, hunting is a vital economic engine for Oklahoma. Wildlife-related recreation in the state supports a broader industry that generates more than $4.1 billion annually in retail sales, including over $906 million spent on trip-related expenses.
ODWC’s authority protects herd health
Oklahoma’s deer hunting reputation faces a serious risk, however. Following the 2024 Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) Genetic Improvement Act — which created a pilot framework for releasing captive-raised deer with specific genetic markers into native populations — questions surrounding biological safety and regulatory authority have come to the forefront.
As the constitutional entity charged with managing wild species, ODWC emphasizes that firm agency oversight over captive-raised deer releases is critical to protecting wild deer herds and hunting tradition. Releasing captive-raised deer is not a viable strategy to manage CWD.
Instead, ODWC believes liberal deer harvest, voluntary testing and limiting human movement of deer could be effective strategies.
To safeguard Oklahoma’s wildlife and prevent unregulated release of white-tailed deer into the wild, ODWC is proposing to make permanent the emergency rules already in place for the Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) Genetic Improvement Act.
Following the public comment period Oct. 1 through Nov. 6, proposed rules will be presented to the Oklahoma Wildlife Conservation Commission for a vote. If approved, rules will then go to the Oklahoma Legislature in February 2027 for endorsement before heading to the governor for final approval.
Public comments will be accepted at wildlifedepartment.com beginning Oct. 1.
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