Hedge for what? If Boren has any desire at all to be a Senator then I would assume that a special election for the seat would be his best shot at it, given how Oklahoma is the reddest of red states. If he passes on this chance then it'd have to be seen as having no interest in the Senate at all.
My personal suspicion is that he might try to run for Governor against Mary Fallin. They've got to have someone. The fact that he's trying to get himself elected to the NRA board tells me he still has political ambition and is trying to (falsely) burnish his credentials as a conservative.