Hitting Your Target

Hunting remains a popular activity for Oklahomans.

Hunting wild game has evolved from an ancient tradition to the formal process it is today, replete with licenses, formalized hunting seasons and more than one hundred legal hunt sites in Oklahoma alone.

To be legal to hunt, licensing depends on the season, resident status and age of the hunter, says Kelly Adams, the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation’s communications and education supervisor.

The most popular hunting season is the deer gun season, which opens the Saturday before Thanksgiving and runs for sixteen days.

The types of prey most readily available in Oklahoma include deer, elk, antelope, bear, turkey, dove, crow, woodcock, gallinule, various waterfowl, squirrel, rabbit, quail, pheasant, coyote “and other various fur-bearers,” says Adams. “Some species are more abundant than others and some are only regionally abundant.”

Both experienced hunters and those new to the sport should be concerned with what makes for good hunting weather – and what kind of weather is best for just staying home.

“It depends on the hunter’s skill, the species they’re hunting and the method of hunting,” explains Adams. “For example, extremely windy days are hard to hunt, but especially difficult for archery hunters.”

When it comes to the do’s and don’ts of hunting apparel, weaponry choices, and even how much noise to make during a hunt, Adams suggests educating oneself on how each specific season of hunt-

Gun Safety 101

• Be sure the gun is safe to operate. Use only the correct ammunition for your gun.

• Wear eye and ear protection as appropriate.

• Never drink alcohol or use over-the-counter/prescription drugs before or while shooting.

• Store guns so they are not accessible to unauthorized persons.

• Understand that falls tend to be the most common cause of injuries.

• Always check equipment and stands, and use safety belts to prevent falls.

• Avoid permanent tree stands, as they are more likely to deteriorate.

• Treat every firearm as if it is loaded. Place your finger on the trigger only when you’re ready to shoot.

• Always control the muzzle. Keep your muzzle pointed in a safe direction, and remember that wherever the muzzle points is in the cross hairs. Don’t overlook the possibility of a ricochet.

• Be sure of your target. You’re responsible for knowing what’s in front of your target, near your target and beyond your target. If you aren’t certain about any of the three, don’t take the shot.

ing has different requirements.

For example, “turkey hunters should not wear red, white or blue,” she says. Not for patriotic reasons, but because “red is the color most hunters count on to differentiate a gobbler’s head from the hen’s blue-colored head.”

Want to be effective in time spent hunting? Check out the territory you’re in carefully before you start.

“Scouting is the single most important thing a hunter can do to ensure success,” says Adams. “Being properly licensed and familiar with the rules and regulations is important. If hunting alone, make sure to tell somewhere where you’ll be.”

To learn more about the state’s hunting seasons, visit wildlifedepartment.com.

TRACY LEGRAND

South Tulsa

Broken Arrow

Sapulpa

Muskogee

Ardmore Tahlequah

Bartlesville

McAlester

Okmulgee

Durant

Sand Springs

Mustang

Pulling the Strings

and crew of e Lion King work to make the show as magical as ever.

As far as stage musicals go, e Lion King is the highest-grossing Broadway show of all time, and the North American tour returns to the Tulsa PAC courtesy Celebrity Attractions from June 1-17.

Michael Reilly, the puppet supervisor for the show, always knew he wanted to work with his hands. Taking classes at a technical school, he studied a variety of subjects, including woodworking and automobile repair.

“I kind of fell into theater,” he says. “As I went along, it became more and more technical.”

He worked on The Lord of the Rings musical – a show that only ran for a year on London’s West End –as the sword and armor prop master.

“I’ll tell you this, it was great and it was terrible,” he says with a laugh.

As puppets eventually came into regular play in the theatre world, Reilly found his niche. He began working on The Lion King in Canada in 1999 and moved to the American tour in 2006, where he’s been ever since.

Nick LaMedica, the actor behind the beloved hornbill bird character, Zazu, got his start early. After seeing his first Broadway show, Jekyll & Hyde, LaMedica waited for lead actor Robert Cuccioli to come out back; he then asked Cuccioli how to get into the field.

“He gave me really practical advice,” says LaMedica. “Take dances class, join chorus, take singing lessons, learn to play the piano. I came home from New York and started doing all of those things.”

Although initially overwhelmed by stage fright, LaMedica eventually took a shine to the art form in high school. Puppetry came later with his first big professional job working on the 2011 film War Horse.

“Since then, I’ve ended up doing a lot more puppetry,” he says.

The pre-show prep work for both Reilly and

LaMedica is hefty. There are 230 puppets, and Reilly looks over all the principal players each morning. On a weekly basis, he looks through every other puppet.

“My philosophy is if we do our job correctly during the morning and afternoon, the show goes much smoother at night,” he says.

LaMedica does his vocal warmups before coming to the theater and then spends 45 minutes in the makeup chair.

“It’s wonderful because I get to have such a great relationship with the makeup artists,” he says. “It’s like a relationship you’d have with your barber, but it’s every single day.”

Working with puppets lends itself to a few risks. During a previous The Lion King stint in Oklahoma, an elephant puppet snapped a leg, and there were no spares. After calling around to aluminum shops, Reilly convinced one to sell him a 24-foot piece, cut into fourths.

“I came back to the shop, bent it, and with ten minutes to spare, I got that thing back on the elephant and down the aisle,” recalls Reilly. “It was a tough day!”

For LaMedica, working on The Lion King truly is his most prized theatrical memory.

“To have the first piece of theater I do out of the pandemic be the world’s No. 1 musical, that’s been seen by millions of people ... if I woke up tomorrow and this was all a dream, that would seem completely reasonable.”

DREW JOSEPH ALLEN