About ODHA

The Oklahoma Dog Hunters Association is working to secure the future of hunting with dogs in the great state of Oklahoma and to promote and advance the opportunities to use dogs for hunting through educational programs and political action. Educational programs will promote hunting with dogs to the general public, the sportsmen’s community and elected officials. Political action may include all state and local offices and will include lobbying the members of the Oklahoma Legislature in support of the right to hunt with dogs. ODHA supports and will fight for any and all dog hunting activities inside the state.

ODHA is a member the Southern Dog Hunting Alliance.  The SHDA is a loose knit collective of dog hunting associations across the south.  The SHDA is lending a collective hand in helping the Oklahoma Dog Hunters Association get on our feet.  We are pleased and honored to have their support!

In the near future the ODHA will be re-organized as a non-profit with a board of directors that will be elected by the individual members of ODHA. One of the boards jobs will be to oversee the finances in order to ensure the money paid in as dues is going towards the fight for our future. In order to get to that point we have to have structures in place and a member base. At this point dues will go into a 'war chest' until the permanent board is elected and can choose where the funds will be directed. Dues could be used to hire a lobbyist to get our voice heard at the capital or be used to hire a lawyer to defend members against wrongful game citations and to help in cases of dogs being shot or stolen.  
If anyone has ideas or suggestions let us know.

As a new association we have setup a temporary board of directors, which include Stuart Joslin, Chuck Allen and Ed Barnes. In the near future a new board will be elected comprised of Coon Hunters, Hog Hunters, Squirrel Hunters, Fox/Coyote Hunters, Rabbit Hunters, Big Cat Hunters, and Bird Hunters. We want to ensure that all dog sports are equally represented inside this board of directors.

We also plan to set up 4 main ODHA chapters across the state with Highway 40 and 35 being the dividing lines creating a chapter east of 35 and north of 40, a chapter west of 35 and north of 40, a chapter east of 35 and south of 40, and a chapter west of 35 and south of 40. We will keep everyone abreast of this forward progress.

The long term objectives of the ODHA include:

1. Building relationships with our state representatives.
2. Working to get ODHA representatives positions on key state boards.
3. Using media to clean-up the reputation of dog hunting with both the general public as well as with legislators.
4. Forging alliances with other hunting groups outside of dog hunting such as trappers, still hunters and agricultural groups.
5. Beginning lobbying to pro-actively impact dog hunting legislation. I.e. - regain our "Right to Retrieve!"

There is much work that needs to be done! Oklahoma has long needed a dog hunting association, and to be honest we are behind in the battle. We NEED everyone's support. We also desperately need helping hands, so if you have any talents or just a desire to help please reach out to ODHA!