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.