Kelly Bostian: Grand National quail hunt has rich tradition
Posted: Tuesday, November 12, 2013 12:00 am | Updated: 4:54 am, Tue Nov 12, 2013.
By KELLY BOSTIAN - Tulsa World OutdoorsAs this column hits doorsteps, I'm either on the road to, or sitting in a duck blind that is on the way to — sort of — the site of one of Oklahoma's greatest hunting traditions taking place Tuesday through Friday in Enid.
World Pro Tips contributor Jack Morris and I have an invitation to attend the 47th Grand National Quail Hunt. Jack is a "new shooter" and I'm sure will raise the level of the shooting competition this year. I'm going as a "special guest" to cover the event and give Tulsa World readers a fresh look at this grand old tradition that persists while quail populations struggle to hold on.
The hunting event is intended as a showcase for Oklahoma's wildlife and hunting opportunities, but it is much more. Put it this way: it's the only hunt I've ever been invited to that included a reminder to pack a suit and tie.
The Grand National is a hunt with a membership roll of about 400 past shooters that includes a wide range of celebrities and leaders in business, industry and government. This week Jack and I will be part of an invitation-only group of 31 past shooters, 16 new shooters, and six special guests, which includes three Wounded Warrior Program hunters. Dozens more will be involved conducting the hunt and attending nightly fundraisers and functions that are all about the birds and all that Oklahoma has to offer.
The 150 dues-paying members of the Grand National Quail Club keep the hunt running year after year. Enid-area business leaders and ranchers host the hunters and provide hunting locations, transportation, meals, ammo, handlers and gun dogs. No quail hunt is a real quail hunt without good gun dogs. Shooters are judged on their performance in the field and in trap-shooting competition. The event wraps up with a Friday night awards banquet.
The governor of Oklahoma is the honorary chair each year. Gov. Mary Fallin and Wyoming Gov. Matt Mead will attend this year's hunt — though I'm told Fallin will only be able to attend a Wednesday evening function. No wing shooting for her this year.
Mead's presence is significant because it harkens to the unlikely origins of the hunt. In 1966 then-Oklahoma Gov. Henry Bellmon was chatting with Dr. E.E. Chambers of Enid and Wendell Bever, then-director of the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation around a campfire at Wyoming's famed One-shot Antelope Hunt.
As the story goes, Bellmon observed that Wyoming's antelope were nearly as plentiful as Oklahoma's quail and wondered aloud, "Why couldn't Oklahoma have a celebrity-type quail hunt?"
Oklahomans jumped on the idea and the first hunt was held Nov. 20, 1967.
Dozens of celebrities and sports figures have attended over the years. Roy Clark was a regular. Lee Majors attended several years and of course his bride Farrah Fawcett drew attention when she joined him there. Slim Pickens, Tennessee Ernie Ford, Roy Rogers, Dub Taylor, Dale Robertson, Robert Stack, Al Unser, Johnny Bench and Goose Gossage are a few recognizable names on the rolls. Well-known professional hunter and author Craig Boddington apparently put on a shooting clinic out there in 2008 as records list him as top shooter in several categories that year.
The hunt doesn't attract as much "Hollywood" as it used to, but former Redskins defensive lineman Dave Butz still is a regular at the hunt and TV personality Jeff Smith of "HeeHaw" fame will be there this year.
Quail, also, are not as plentiful in Oklahoma as they once were. Reports from the Enid area have a few more birds around this season than in recent years, but the population is a shadow of what it once was. The Grand will be a gathering place for a lot of individuals who are concerned about that. The Grand National Quail Foundation, formed in 1983, is the conservation arm of the club and has put thousands of dollars into research efforts over the years.
Look for my story about this grand old tradition and the new problems faced by its target species in Sunday's Tulsa World.
