None of us have been overly excited about the prospects for the next president of these United States.  Whether it be John McCains very spotty record on the 2nd Amendment or Barrack Obama’s inability to remember just what the 2nd Amendment was/is like, those of us who adore the shooting sports have been extremely anxious about the upcoming presidential election.

Until now.

Governor Sarah Palin of Alaska has been named to be the candidate to run on the ticket with Senator John McCain and finally, the conservative gun-lovers are excited.  With Palin on the ticket, we not only have a consistent record of 2nd Amendment support, but someone who has demonstrated a long standing willingness to roll up her sleeves and fight with the big dogs to keep our rights sacred.

Palin is not a stranger to the more difficult fights.  She has taken on the interests of big oil in her home state and walked away unscathed.  She is the consummate servant to the people of Alaska and now the rest of the country who enjoys a little of the kill it and grill it spirit can band together and get behind a ticket.

The truth of the matter is that regardless of what issues in this next election cycle you consider to be “yours,” remember that the 2nd Amendment was so important that many states wouldn’t ratify the Constitution until it was absolutely included and made sure that it guaranteed that the “right to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed” meant that every American citizen could have access to the right.

Governor Palin was a very good choice on the part of John McCain and we’ll see just where the Obama/Biden ticket runs to where the 2nd Amendment is concerned.

First, the story:

Saturday, August 16 marked the annual Oklahoma Rifle Association (ORA) Convention and awards ceremony and without a doubt t was one for the record books.  Wayne LaPierre was the keynote speaker and as the Executive Vice President of the NRA, he knows how to fire up the troops.  LaPierre spoke about the Heller case that the SCOTUS recently ruled upon, how though individuals are now guaranteed the right to keep and bear arms, the fight is hardly over.  In Chicago, San Francisco, Detroit and even Washington D.C., city councils and mayors are working to more narrowly interpret the SCOTUS case.  The NRA’s response:  To file suit against those cities to ensure the average citizen maintains the right to keep and bear arms.

The ORA banquet saw what was arguably the largest turnout in recent history.  Three of the five members of Oklahoma’s congressional delegation were present and had time to speak to the crowd.  Congressman Tom Cole, Congresswoman Mary Fallin and Congressman Dan Boren all talked about the importance of the 2nd Amendment to them and to Oklahomans in general.  The funniest quote of the evening was from Tom Cole who said, “It’s ironic that in D.C. turkey hunting guns had been banned for so long because the floor of the house is a target rich environment.”

Lt. Governor Jari Askins also spoke and she did so without notes and without a proverbial net.  It was the first time I had seen her speak in public and she was phenomenal.  Touching all the right buttons on the issues of gun rights in Oklahoma, how we need to ensure that we continue to support our veterans and that without our veterans, we wouldn’t have the rights we do.  She is one impressive lady.

Now to the awards ceremony -there were two awards of particular interest to me.  First, the Mike McCarville Media Award recipient this year was the Oklahoman’s outdoor editor Ed Godfrey.  Second, the Legislator of the Year this year was Guthrie’s Representative Jason Murphy.  Murphy authored the campus concealed carry bill that eventually died in the Senate because, in my opinion, there are too many in the Oklahoma State Senate who are looking to run for higher office and since the university presidents in Oklahoma banded together around their flag of Great Britain and screamed against the individual right to keep and bear arms on their “sanctuaries of higher learning,” many in leadership in the State Senate grabbed their ankles and killed the bill in committee.

Cowards.

While it is true that Oklahomans will get to vote on a Constitutional amendment to protect hunting and fishing in Oklahoma and this was brought about in part by State Senate President Pro-Tem Glenn Coffee, he kissed the proverbial pooch on the campus concealed carry bill by shuttling it off to a committee where the members wouldn’t know the difference between a semi-auto and a revolver if their lives depended upon it.

Last year, Representative Jerry Ellis won the award and I was the 2007 ORA Media Award recipient.

At the end of the day, we got some great film for WILD Oklahoma television and ended up coming home with a new lever-action 30-30 Suzanne bid on.

If you’re not a member of the Oklahoma Rifle Association or if you’re not a member of your state’s NRA affiliate, I highly recommend you join today.

Hunters, Anglers and Sportsmen Pay Tribute to Veterans

August 16, 2007
Contact: Ron Black
gorilla@wildoklahoma.com

OKLAHOMA CITY, OK: An Oklahoma-based paralyzed veterans organization is receiving a lot of attention lately and it’s coming from Oklahoma’s sportsmen and women. Hunters and anglers in Oklahoma are reaching out to raise awareness and much-needed revenue for Oklahoma’s very own Mid-America Chapter of the Paralyzed Veterans of America.

“The MAPVA is comprised men and women who advocate for disabled veterans (many of whom are disabled veterans themselves) throughout the state and hunters and anglers appreciate the sacrifice these incredible men and women,” said Ron Black, founder of WILD Oklahoma - an Oklahoma based hunting and fishing television and radio program. “Without our men and women in the military, we wouldn’t have our right to keep and bear arms, nor would we be able to participate in the outdoors activities we so love – it’s time for us to pay tribute to them.”

The PVA Celebration, as Black calls it, is slated for August 23rd beginning at 4pm at the Del City VFW Hall and will feature food, beverages, face painting for the kids, live auction items ranging from a Buster Boat to guided hunts to a trip to Las Vegas, door prizes and numerous Oklahoma elected officials will be in attendance to thank Oklahoma veterans for their sacrificial service to our country.

Congresswoman Mary Fallin, Oklahoma City Mayor Mick Cornett, Oklahoma County District Attorney David Prater, Representative Joe Dorman, Representative John Enns, Del City Mayor Brian Linley and State Senator Kenneth Corn are just a few on the long list of elected officials who will be opening their hearts and hopefully their wallets to support the MAPVA. Oklahoma radio legend Mike McCarville will be a guest speaker as well.

“I am overwhelmed by the support we have received thus far in this endeavor and each day shows more,” said Black. “The Iron Plainsmen motorcycle club has even scheduled a poker run to help raise funds on the 23rd of August also. Already, we’re planning next year’s event at a much bigger venue.”

“To think this all started with a little turkey hunt in Northeast Oklahoma is almost mind boggling.”

Proceeds from the event go directly to the Mid-America Chapter of the Paralyzed Veterans of America and benefit Oklahoma veterans and members of the MAPVA exclusively.

Future veterans events are being scheduled by WILD Oklahoma Radio and & Television for Northeast Oklahoma, Southeast Oklahoma and Northwest Oklahoma. WILD Oklahoma television is broadcast on Fox 25 in Oklahoma City, KSWX in Lawton and coming soon to the Tulsa and McAlester markets.

www.wildoklahoma.com

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How often is it we find ourselves faced with an opportunity to truly impact the lives of others, and so doing, create a ground swell of enthusiasm?  If you’re like me, it doesn’t come about very frequently.

Fortunately, the proverbial lightning has struck for me and the WILD Oklahoma pro staff this year.

We filmed a hunt with the Mid-America Chapter of the Paralyzed Veterans of America in Miami, Oklahoma earlier this year and as I may have mentioned and as I wrote in the Oklahoma Gazette, it was a life changing and life affirming event for myself and everyone involved.  As a veteran, I was moved by the enthusiasm and excitement of my brothers and sisters in arms who have faced some of the most difficult challenges anyone could imagine.

One soldier we hunted with had taken a head shot while in Afghanistan, serving with Oklahoma’s 45th.  He was and is ambulatory, but emotionally still has some issues and some fine motor skills are problematic, but the enthusiasm and excitement to get out in the woods and slay a thunder chicken was absolutely infectious.

We decided that this was the time to do something for these guys.  We at WILD Oklahoma made the decision to host a fundraiser and awareness campaign for the MAPVA and we’re kicking it off on Saturday, August 23rd at the Del City VFW Hall.  What we thought were going to be around 100 in attendance is now well over 700 - and this from word of mouth, our television program and radio program.  We have seen enormous support for this event and let me tell you, we’re humbled by it.

When opportunities come about to make a difference, I encourage you to pick up the torch and do it.  You’ll be blessed beyond your wildest dreams.

Imagine for a moment what this weekend would have represented were the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) have decided the Heller case differently. What if the SCOTUS decided that the right to keep and bear arms was not an individual right, but rather a corporate right - a right limited to Militias? Would your trip to the lake or state parks have been different?

I know that mine would have been. I would have spent my money at my local Sportsman’s Warehouse, stocking up on firearms before they were taken from the shelves.

Fortunately, we still live in a relatively free country and my families plans are limited only by the cost of fuel to put in our tank. But that’s a completely different topic altogether, isn’t it?

As we celebrate our nation’s birthday, let’s thank our Founding Fathers and our Heavenly Father that we live in a country where the right of the individual to keep and bear arms is intact and that for now, we are a free country.

The alarm goes off, we jump out of bed, grab our gear and we’re out the door to our favorite fishing locale or hunting honey hole.  For most of us, it doesn’t even require much thought - it just happens.

Not so for disabled hunters and anglers.  A couple months ago, the WILD Oklahoma crew headed to northeast Oklahoma to film a hunt with the Mid-America Chapter of the Paralyzed Veterans of America and we got to witness first-hand how difficult it is for disabled hunters and anglers.

The PVA is an incredible organization whose desire it is to see men and women who have served this great nation get back into the swing of “normal” life after experiencing dramatic trauma.  Not all PVA members or participants are paralyzed as the PVA reaches out to many with disabilities.

The turkey hunt was successful for many of the PVA hunters and we got some incredible film and testimonies from the participants and to be honest, it was a life-affirming and life changing event for us.  We often take for granted hunting, angling and the shooting sports.  These men and women do not - they savor every moment of it.

August 23rd, in Oklahoma City, WILD Oklahoma is hosting a fundraising event for the Mid-America Chapter of the PVA.  We are going to have food, live music from the band Eagle Eye Annie, and a whole lot more.  If you’re interested in getting involved, let me know.

Want to be blessed?  Take a veteran hunting or fishing.

He came home with my uncle after a long hunting trip in the mountains of eastern Washington and there was something different about him.  I had seen the look on his face and the aura about him before, actually, one year before when he returned previously with my uncle on another hunting trip.

Every year, my father would go out with his brothers and spend a few days out in the woods and it didn’t really seem to matter just how stressful life had become, that one trip every year charged his emotional and spiritual batteries.

Though my father never took me hunting, we spent many a day out on the lake catching fish.  He and I didn’t see eye to eye on many issues but we both knew that there was and is something spiritual, primal if you will, about spending time out in the woods with friends, family and loved ones.

I’m doing my best to encourage my children to accompany me out in the woods and have actually taken my son and youngest daughter out, but sadly they are at an age where they just aren’t interested.  I love my father dearly, but have learned that now that I’m a father, I refuse to force my kids to participate in my angling and hunting adventures, but I will always make it available to them.

On this Father’s Day, my wish is that through my example, my kids will embrace the Constitution as I have - to fight to protect our 2nd Amendment rights and to preserve our hunting traditions for their children.

I think I’m making progress because during a conversation between my wife and my son, he mentioned to her that he needed to take some video software classes (he’s 12) because if something happened to me, “someone must carry on WILD Oklahoma.”

Perhaps my Father’s Day wish has already been granted…

In Oklahoma, we’ve experienced some of the most bizarre and often horrendous weather and over that past 5 years, the biggest concern has been drought conditions.  Well, we needn’t worry about that right now because we have been overcome with rain.

Some hunters, however, have expressed a great deal of angst over the fact that we have seen flood conditions throughout much of the state but the WILD Oklahoma crew are much more optimistic.  While it is true that spring turkey season presented some unique challenges, the overall kill numbers weren’t terrifically down.  That being said, fall turkey looks to be very, very enticing.

No, I’m not a biologist, but I have watched deer patterns in some of our favorite “honey holes” and what I have noticed is some big, fat deer as a result of the overwhelming food plot growth thus far this spring.  We have a bout of rainfall followed by a couple weeks of sunshine and the plant material takes off like crazy.

Coupled with the fact that the deer kill counts were down 20% last year, we fully expect the fall 2008 season to be wonderful.

That is, if we can afford to gas up and head out to deer camp…

But that’s a different topic altogether.

Imagine for a moment you and a friend are taking your hunting dogs out on public land for a training session. The dogs head out, you mount your horses and then, in the distance, you hear gunshots. As you get to where the shots came from, you see your two dogs lying dead and the man who shot them is smiling at you. The police are contacted, reports filed and the District Attorney decides not to file charges.

What do you do?

Well, you notify the alternative media because there isn’t a whole lot else you can do. The story can be found here, and it is up to you in the blogosphere to create problems for the District Attorney in Logan County, Oklahoma. Don’t think that because you’re not in Oklahoma that you cannot make a difference - you can. Read this story and send it to all your friends and families.  Below, is the District Attorney who has decided to bury his head in the sand.

PAYNE COUNTY COURTHOUSE
606 S. Husband, Room. 213
Stillwater, Oklahoma  74074
(405)372-4883
FAX: (405) 372-4590

LOGAN COUNTY COURTHOUSE
301 E. Harrison
Guthrie, Oklahoma  73044
(405) 282-0655
FAX: 405-282-8159