Wounded Warrior Hunt

[Circle C]

In mid January there was a post on ETHD about some wounded solders with the Wounded Warrior Project that would like to go on a hog hunt with dogs during contest weekend. After talking to the coordinator a few times, we were able to get things all setup for the hunt. Team ETHD was going to take 4 wounded soldiers (along with one of their girlfriends) on the Saturday of the TDHA contest hunt in hopes of showing them a time they wouldn't soon forget. We arranged through some contacts to have each soldier set up with a mag light and  Buck 119's along with a personalized granite plaque to commemorate the hunt.

   We met the soldiers in Flatonia at 6:30 am, then headed out to the ranch. The ranch manager was there waiting with extra UTV's and once we all got situated, we headed toward a hardwood bottom with a nice flowing creek. Not 5 minutes into the hunt the dogs opened up. Knowing we had swine bayed in the creek, we sent the catch dogs in and covered the short distance to the bay with a couple of the soldiers. The other soldiers were driven in the mule right to the edge of the creek looking down on the bay. It was totally perfect for getting all of them a front row seat at an awesome bay and catch of a really nice fat sow. The guys were stoked. They helped us winch the sow up the steep bank and get her set up for photos. We took some pictures, then hunted in the cold and wind for a few more hours until lunchtime. While the high wind and cold made the rest of the morning hunt unproductive, the Ranch Manager's wife had a huge spread of barbeque, homemade swine sausage, beans, tater salad, cookies, and brownies waiting for us at the main house. There was a crowd of folks there for the party including a rival team of contest hunters (good friends of ours), and lunch was amazing.

We had an awesome time with the guys from Wounded Warrior Project. I know nothing we could ever do would be enough to thank them for their service and sacrifice, but we hope that they got a sense of our gratitude. We surely wouldn't be able to hog hunt and enjoy our freedoms over here if it were not for them, and it really meant a lot to all of us to have the opportunity to take them out on a hunt. Before they left, each of the soldiers got to stick a hog. After quartering out and filling a couple of coolers, the guys headed back to San Antonio and we headed out for another round of high wind hunting.

Here are some pictures of the Solder's hunt.
Creek Sow and Soldiers




Group photo taken during the lunch break


Closeup of the granite plaque


Hogs being quartered for the soldiers to take home

[BMichalak]

that is a neat little program yall got goin on there! shows a lot of respect towards out soldiers!

[catchrcall]

What can I say guys.....    It's folks like you that make doing what we do worth it.  Thanks for showing these  soldiers a good time

[Dirtydog]

GREAT JOB GUYS !

[hank]

That is awesome!

[Black Gold]

WELL DONE!

[cody1offroad]

im a member of the wound warrior project and thank you guys for that alot time there is not many guys willig to do stuff like that for us we really apreciate that kinda stuff i know alot of the guy in my wounded warrior just sit around and that makes stuff alot worse because are wounded warrior have a very high suicide rate because they just sit around thinking of there injury. thank you guys very much

[Mike]

I would like to send out a big THANK YOU to Chris and Mandi for setting up this hunt and getting those plaques made for the soldiers. It brought a tear to their eyes and ours when we presented them. I'm very honored to have been a part of this and look forward to the chance to be able to do it again.

[Sean]

great job guys and gals! those plaques are reallly nice, and i'm sure this hunt meant a lot to them. really great to see stuff like this, we owe so much to those young men.

[doublel]

great hunt

[matt_aggie04]

I would also like to thank Chris and Mandi for setting this up.  There were so many people willing to help and all of those efforts combined to make a day for the soldiers.  It is awesome the way the hunt worked out so that all the hunters could see the catch and all the action.  I am looking forward to doing this again as well, these guys were all very appreciative.  It is hard to put into words how much I appreciate their sacrifice.  I was talking to our friend Ben at lunch on Saturday and he put it best when he said their loss is our gain and that is very true, freedom is not free.....

Matt

[Clay]

Heres some action pics of the sow.

[clint]

Thats very special there... congrats

[muleman]

thats cooler than a box fan! way to go guys!!

[Clay]

Im glad chris and mandi set this up it was very awesome geting to watch those guys stick there first hog after all they gave im glad i could be a part of it.

Matt....
Did you notice we have the only off colored dogs    maybe next time we can get some hair dye 

[matt_aggie04]

Yeah thats all right, them yella dogs still work every now and then though  ......and I did have one black dog in the mix    That picture of me mid slide down that bank turned out pretty neat.

Matt

[mex]

Great job guys!

[dabutcher]

that's awesome guys.  it was nice meetin ya'll this past weekend.  keep up the good work.

[Circle C]

Dang Clay,   

Those pictures are making me cold again just looking at them

[Clay]

Ya you looked cold from high up on that creek bank