Convention season is winding down. Booth displays are being put back in storage, and no doubt taxidermists across the country are restoring their studios with all of the full and shoulder mounts they have trucked across the country. It has been a good season of shows for sales and safaris. It is always so wonderful to meet all of you hunters, huntresses and young guns too.

Seeing your faces and listening to your stories is a pleasant reminder of why I got involved in this entire mess in the first place. A lot of us look different, speak differently with funny accents and come from all walks of life. But I know when I'm at the SCI show or the Dallas or Houston shows, all of us in that convention hall, regardless of backgrounds have one thing in common. That is a desire to preserve our hunting heritage and make sure the generations who come after us will be able to enjoy the same rights we have.

Sable Trail Productions was tucked away neatly at booth #5419 in Reno and despite the lack of an ideal location, thousands of you made it by to see us. Many of you came by to purchase Delta Royale and The Royal Showdown. Some stopped by to pick up other products of ours, for example: shirts, hats and DVD's they didn't have. Some came by to see the eland. Some came over just to say hello. Whatever the reason was, the production team at Sable Trail thanks each and every one of you.

The seminars went well both days. Maybe with a little bit of luck, if the reviews were good, SCI will allow me to do it again next year. And then there was the auction. The friday night auction to hunt with Bwana Moja and Bwana Moja Jr.

To say the auction went well, as impressive as that sounds, would be an understatement. Let's just say it went spectacularly. A Wyoming man bought the opportunity to hunt with my son and me in Namibia for $100,000.00. The hunt will take place in August of 2009. Partnering with me on the auction package was Hunters Namibia Safaris, one of the finest safari outfitters in all of Africa, owned and operated by the Lamprecht family. The Lamprechts were in full force at SCI decked out in their fine-looking green jackets. Thank you Marina, Joof and Jofie. I couldn't have selected a finer group to team up with. My son, me and the rest of the guys are all looking forward to our safari.

But what about before then? Well, the success of our first book has prompted me to write another one. In the introduction to The Royal Showdown, I wrote about the other books that I had started writing that were partially completed on floppy disks etc. Well, I've picked up where I left off on one of those partially completed manuscripts. I hope to have it completed by safari season show time next year.

As far as another video goes, I'm just not sure. The commitment to produce a hunting DVD is a major undertaking. I don't like to make killing videos, which I could slap together in a matter of days. I want to release something a hunter enjoys having in his video library for the rest of his life. A keepsake, a classic...not something he watches one time and never watches again. That takes a lot of time, and I thank each and every Sable Trail customer for realizing quality when they see it. In other words, what I'm saying is, that I'm not sure I have the time to keep cranking them out to the quality I'd be happy with. Most of my sponsorship agreements came to an end with the release of Delta Royale. I've lived up to my commitment regarding video product.

I'm hoping our Perfectly Shot Videos line has raised the bar. I'm seeing less and less staging and re-enactments, but still too much of it on The Outdoor Channel and VERSUS. There's no place for this in the hunting world, for it robs the viewer of the integrity and honesty of the hunt. If the host is going to fake or re-create something in a hunting sequence, who knows what else he's not being truthful about? A cameraman can't ask an animal to back up and walk forward again to the spot where he was shot, so why does he do it to a TV show host? Any person who does that on TV becomes an actor. Hunting on TV should not involve acting. Entertaining yes, but if one has to rely on acting to present an entertaining hunting program, his content, camera-work and cinematography must be very poor. Maybe I'll do a TV show on one of those cable channels. Who knows?

Speaking of TV shows, I do miss the news, and from time to time, entertain thoughts of going back to my life as a network news correspondent. We'll see what happens.

I've accomplished the things I've set out to do as a safari hunter. I've finished the big five, got my Lord Derby (actually got two) and launched my AIDS project that I'm hoping all of you hunters get behind. If you're saying, "AIDS project, what is this?" please go to our home page on this website and click on Hunting for a Cause. I need your support badly and so does AFRICA.

In November, I'll be hunting with Ethiopian Rift Valley Safari, Nassos and Jason Rousos. The Mountain Nyala hunt is the featured attraction there. And really that's all that's planned until the auction hunt in Namibia in August of 2009. That safari will be videotaped for a DVD titled, "Passing it On." The title has two meanings: The first of course to the reference of fathers passing on their tradition of hunting to their sons and daughters, and secondly it will likely be my last video release. So I will be passing on my baton as well. It's been a great ride and a great journey.