Wounded Warriors in Action hunt
Bears
This has been quite a spring, with my wife having a horse wreck and breaking her hip the candle had been burning from both ends for the last 5 weeks. As the client s that come here know Julie keeps everyone well fed.
The two Marines we hosted this year were Josh Krueger and John Keeney. Both these men had planned long military careers until deployments to Iraq changed their future. We could not have asked for better and more deserving hunters as both spend time with WWIAF helping others.
Josh was first up and was hoping for a brown color phase to go with a black one he shot at home in Wisconsin. Day two he got lucky with a beauty treed after a hot fast, dog screaming race. After Josh made a great shot he had his color phase bear. 6'4 is what the bear measured for anyone who was wondering.
John was next up, he was looking to kill his first bear. John was able to bring his wife on this hunt. Little did she know her first experience hunting was to be a wild one. To make a long story short the dogs bayed up this giant time and time again but breaking each time we closed the distance on him. With daylight leaving faster then we cared I planned to set an ambush on this boar. As the dogs crossed the opening John being the kind of guy he is he thought it was only fit to give it a warning shot. Off we charged after the bear, with his wife and fellow marine in tow. As we crashed into the trees after the bear, the pissed of bear turned and came to settle the score. At 10 yards a dog intercepted the bear turning it for a brief second which was enough for John to close the deal.
I want to thank some of the guys off the site who donated to this hunt. Between my hunters and the guys on this site (some of you are both) we were able to raise enough money to pay for flights, license and tags for not only JOhn and Josh but Keeley as well.
the bay up those boys experienced and the close up kill was compared by both of them as exciting as their first combat engagement. Hard for people like myself who never experienced combat to see the comparison. Charging bears are just of the job description.
Thanks Doug for doing this. The quality of your area is only exceeded by the quality of your heart.
Doug: All involved in these hunts have a life changing experience. Thanks for doing this each year! C
Excellent Doug. Congratulations to the warriors. Thank's to them for their service.
Great pictures. Thanks to the WW's for their service and sacrifice and thanks to the outfitter for such a terrific gesture.
