4 hunt formats · quota 1,000
White-tailed deer
The main event at Catoosa. Four separate formats across archery, muzzleloader and gun, most of them quota hunts that close the entire area to everyone else.
How the hunts are structured
Catoosa runs deer as a series of discrete hunts rather than a continuous season. Archery opens the year, followed by muzzleloader, a young sportsman gun hunt, and two blocks of gun hunts. Each is its own event with its own dates and its own bag limit — a limit taken on one hunt does not carry to the next.
Quota hunts and the Genesis / Bi-Color draw
The muzzleloader and November gun hunts are quota hunts, with 1,000 permits split across the Genesis and Bi-Color stations. If you are not drawn, you are not hunting: during a big game hunt the area is closed to everyone who is not a legal participant.
Bag limits
Archery and the young sportsman hunt allow two deer with a maximum of one antlered. The muzzleloader and gun hunts allow one antlered deer per hunt. Bears may be taken during the archery hunt, with any weapon legal for that hunt.
Antler restriction
On every hunt, an antlered deer must have at least four points on one antler, or a 15-inch minimum outside spread. This applies area-wide and to all methods.
Checking and tagging
Deer must be checked at a WMA station and tagged before you transport them off the area. The Genesis and Bi-Color stations are the two check points.
Dates change every year. The season calendar has the current listing, and planning a hunt covers permits, camping and check-in.