Page 7 - 2019 MAR/APR Outdoor Oklahoma

Dear Wildlife Department,
From the briefing, to them showing us our hunt area, to them tak-
Game Bag ing us out to hunt — a special thanks to Dan McDonald, his staff (at
Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge) and the many employees from the
Department of Wildlife Conservation. It was very professional, infor-
mative and well done. This group of people was outstanding and made
us hunters feel welcome and wanted us to be successful. All of them did
a great job and made many sacrifices coming from different parts of
A COLLECTION OF LETTERS TO THE WILDLIFE DEPARTMENT the state to assist us. Two gentlemen from the state helped me bone out
We’d like to hear from you! Send your letters to Outdoor my cow elk and pack it to the road. I cannot thank them enough. From
Oklahoma Letters, P.O. Box 53465, Oklahoma City, OK 73152, the beginning to end, this was an example of the professional people
or send e-mail to donald.brown@odwc.ok.gov. who represent the Department of Wildlife Conservation. Everyone did
a great job and needs a pat on the back for a job well done above and
Dear Wildlife Department, beyond. Thanks to all of you.
Congratulations on the building remodel! You did the right thing Edward J. Burt, controlled elk hunt participant
in using Oklahoma people in all aspects of the project. For that, as
a lifelong Oklahoman and sportsman, I applaud you.
Steve Grogan of Bartlesville, via email
Dear Director J.D. Strong,
I am writing to you to express my sincere appreciation for your
staff’s assistance with The Last Bass fishing tournament. I would
Dear Outdoor Oklahoma, especially like to acknowledge Keith Thomas, Michael Hollie and
I enjoy reading the Oklahoma wildlife magazine. But I never see
anything about wolves or coyotes. David Bogner. Your staff was very helpful, knowledgeable, and I
could count on their advice. Thank you for assisting us in having
As a teenager growing up on a cotton farm back in 1956 and
’57 in eastern Muskogee County, near Webbers Falls, I would a great bass tournament this year. Jeff Saxton
ride my bike to a country school (Neff School) each morning,
and on my way I would go by and check my “wolf traps” I had
set. I caught a few back then. I believe that was the best years of Dear Director J.D. Strong,
my life as a teenager. I wanted to let you know that
Bobby Lipe
we had a great time on my son’s
controlled hunt to Beaver River
WMA. It was due, in large part,
Dear Wildlife Department, to your staff. Weston Storer,
What a trip on my morning crew! Made a move and hit four
big fish in 45 minutes with one being a TANK! Thank you to Cody Crisswell and Mike Baker
were all very helpful. They fed
all the Game Wardens out there! I give away a trip every year to us as the meeting, gave us great
the Three-State Game Warden Convention, and my good friend information and helped us get
Jason Badley won it and brought his son and his friends with him. the deer ready to take home.
Jason is a state Game Warden WAY out in Harper County by the Weston told us in the meeting
Panhandle. Make sure to thank a Game Warden. Because they that if we shot a deer far from
protect our resources, we get to have the great fisheries that our the truck to let him know. That
great state of Oklahoma provides for us! … It’s getting BETTER turned out to be a life-saver because we were about a mile from the
and BETTER!! truck. Weston also took the photo and it is one of my favorite pic-
Rusty Pritchard, via Facebook
tures of Hayden. He smiled like that for the entire four-hour drive
back home. Cody gave us multiple tips on how to store and prepare
RUSTY PRITCHARD/FACEBOOK the meat. I always process my deer and have been doing it for a while,
but he knew so much more than me, and he is a great teacher. He has
a lot to offer others and is eager to share his knowledge. Weston and
Cody even help me bread down the deer and get it in the cooler. It
is very apparent that these guys are passionate about their jobs and
were very good with the kids. I can’t say enough good things about
the way they handled everything.
After experiencing the youth controlled hunt, I believe it is a
very important program. It allowed me to teach Hayden a lot about
deer hunting, and it was a great environment. He learned some very
good lessons that day, and I appreciate the opportunity the Wildlife
Department and its staff gave us. It is a very special day that I will
never forget. Please share this with anyone involved in these pro-
grams; they are greatly appreciated.
Richard O. Starks

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