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.

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.

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.

Elitists hate us.

You can find them hanging out at the rowing club, at the country club and at all the finest events where the “beautiful people” spend time together. They see us as bottom feeders, as the unenlightened in our ever-increasingly sophisticated culture. They find our pick up trucks to be laughable, our desire for the off road experience to be offensive and damaging to our environment. As they gather around their luncheon table wearing watches more expensive than our homes, we become the topic of conversation. The effete women with their finely coiffed hair and expertly treated nails sneer outwardly and furrow their brow at the possibility of being seen in public with us. But deep down inside they know that their ire is spawned from the desire to be us, to be with us, to taste the sweet nectar of freedom we experience every time we let loose our arrows and drop our target.

We’ve all seen them and have at one point or another been confronted by them only to find after a very short period of time that they really desire to be us. Sure, their watches and European sports cars are of more value than most everything we own combined, but you can feel it - you can sense that they are missing something in their lives that nothing can fill. Except the hunt.

I remember doing a radio remote at a local KFC in Oklahoma City on the day that PETA decided to protest. There were no more than 8 or 9 PETA protesters, most female, and they were clearly outnumbered and realized that Oklahoma City was probably not a good choice of locale for their protest. This particular KFC experienced their busiest day in the store’s history and was pleased to see us there. One young lady who was relatively attractive (except for the 15 pounds of metal she had hanging from various body parts) was exceptionally angry with me. First, for having the audacity to broadcast live from a location where PETA was simply trying to get out their propaganda. Secondly, she hated the fact that every syllable out of her mouth was so easily refuted. Third, she hated that I drove a 4WD truck designed to go off road and carry plenty of animal carcasses in the back. Lastly, she hated the freedom I experience and the joy of the hunt.

This young lady looked deep into my eyes and struggled to hide her envy. Being considerably shorter than me, I crouched down a little bit and smiled a genuine smile and whispered to her, “I know what you want and more importantly, I know what you need.” She was taken aback by my concern for her and I could sense her softening a bit. She smiled, tipped her head back and to the side, looked down her nose and attempted to be fierce. “What do I need?” she asked. I responded, “All you need is a weekend with a meat-eating man…he’ll make you see God.”

Her smile disappeared for a moment, lowered her head so I couldn’t see her blushing and walked away, taking with her the rest of her PETA clan.

Yes, it is an uncomfortable truth for those who hate us. The truth is that jealousy is an ugly emotion. They despise us but at the same time, want to be us.

Ron