Reeling in business in Oklahoma

Journal Record, The (Oklahoma City), Feb 7, 2008 by Kirby Lee Davis

Carlos Gomez came across the three hunters in a field of winter stubble - a father, mother and young son, all with brilliant smiles shining through their camouflage tarps and overcast sky.

"I just couldn't resist taking their picture," said Gomez, the state game warden for Tulsa County. "They were just so happy out there, together. It seemed like the perfect picture of what this is all about."

Like that family, many Oklahomans enjoy hunting and fishing for the sport. Many also count on their fishing tackle or shotgun for supper.

"I try to put in the freezer 10 to 11 in a year," said Ron Miller, a Eufaula hunter of deer and other game. "It's my preferred meat."

What's often forgotten is the bottom line. Oklahoma's estimated 602,000 hunters and anglers spend about $1 billion per year in pursuit of their quarry, on everything from bait and shells to guides, motels and docks - an amount that exceeds state commodity revenue from hogs and wheat, according to a report by the Congressional Sportsmen's Foundation. The 20,000 jobs linked to hunting and fishing exceeds the employment of Baptist Medical Center, St. Francis Health System and St. John Medical System combined.

Although not recession proof, the combination of leisure and necessity often provides a steady revenue stream for support businesses even in the face of rising fuel prices, election rumblings or credit uncertainties.

"You know what they call a boat, don't you?" said Sterling Bougher, the owner of N-D-N Hunting and Fishing Supplies in Mannford. "They call it a hole in the water you throw money into. I agree with that 100 percent."

Mother Nature often proves the biggest stumbling block. With Lake Texoma closed six weeks last year due to heavy rains and high water, Ray Farrior saw his revenue at Snowgoose Striper Guide Service drop 20 percent. N-D-N business fell 35 percent for the same reason.

"We survived," Bougher said of the Lake Eufaula operation. "We own other businesses than just the bait shop."

Four-year-old Dave's Marine Parts and Service of Tulsa also charted a 20-percent decline last year, which owner David Lewis pinned on the shortened boating season. But he expects to see a reversal this year from maintenance and service needs delayed by 2007's high waters and winter ice storms.

"I think it's going to be one of our better years," said Bougher. "I really do."

Farrior's already seeing improvement for 2008, his season running from the first of March to December.

"People need to call now if they want my services for June," said Farrior, who started Snowgoose after retiring from his Lucent post in Oklahoma City seven years ago. "I'm already pretty much booked up through May."

Many of these firms tap tourism dollars as well as local spenders - a factor Gomez said Oklahoma is improving on.

"A lot of my business is from relatives coming in," said David Clark, who enjoyed a 30-percent increase last year operating Fish On Guide Service for lakes around Tulsa. His advance bookings for 2008 are running ahead of 2007 results. "They want to take their relatives on fishing trips."

For several decades the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation has nurtured such tourism options by stocking more sport species, like the striped bass and walleye, and acquiring more acreage for public use. With 95 percent of state land in private hands, the owners often restricting or leasing hunting and fishing rights, Gomez said such programs as the Legacy fee help preserve more acreage for the sport.

Oklahoma also has seen dramatic increases in several game species. Once known for its rabbit and quail, Gomez said the Sooner State now boasts some of the nation's best opportunities to hunt deer and wild turkey.

"We've got people coming from all over the United States to hunt turkeys in Oklahoma," he said.

Even with rising fuel prices crimping budgets, Gomez said most Oklahomans don't curtail their hunting or fishing trips, but tone them down. They may not travel as far or book as many motel nights, but their base spending continues.

"A guy who's going to hunt for one day still needs camouflage clothes even if he's not going to hunt two days," he said.

Bougher doesn't downplay the cost of fuel. The 225-horsepower Mercury engine on his Triton TR-21 boat taps a 72-gallon fuel tank. He tows it with a Ford F-150 that holds another 30 gallons.

"I probably use 100 gallons of gas every weekend," he said.

But people who love to fish buy those toys to use them, Miller added.

"Why complain?" he said of gasoline prices. "You've got to buy it."