S-Live, Wounded Warrior, IL, Deer Hunt
Whitetail Deer
Many of you Bowsiters have help support our Wounded Warrior hunts in the past and it is greatly appreciated by the Recipients. This is our first Deer hunt with two Purple Heart Recipients in the famed "Golden Triangle" of West Central, Illinois.
Our host is a new Bowsite Outfitter Sponsor, "Hero Shot Outfitters". Jason Selman and his wife are both Veterans and have started this Outfitting business to offer Veterans and First Responders a top quality deer hunt with a 20% discount. When I approached Jason with this idea he was all in! See his website for more information.
Many of you will follow along on this hunt and I urge you to post your thoughts about all our veterans as we go along. Thanks again guys!
Charlie, Thanks for taking the time to put it all together. Bob
Meet the Purple Heart Recipients for this hunt. Ryan is on the left and Grady on the right.
Grady grew up in Western Oklahoma on a farm. He is married with two kids. As a Marine squad leader he was involved in the initial assault in Iraq. His squad was clearing buildings and he was shot in the leg.
Ryan grew up in Connecticut and now lives in Tennessee. Ryan is married with three kids. He was Army, 101st Airborne and a squad leader. He was in the surge in Iraq and then the surge in Afghanistan. He survived 2 IED blasts there which injured fellow soldiers and resulted in several deaths.
The WWIAF.org is the organization we work with and they provide hunting and fishing events for Purple Heart Recipients. They actually pick the Hero which helps greatly to match the event and Heros dream.
If any of you are Purple Heart Recipients please consider registering with them and perhaps you could attend one of these bow hunts. Also, if any of you land owners would be interested in hosting an event on your property send me a PM.
PS: As you can see from the picture Sitka Gear has provided each Hero with a complete outfit for this hunt. Sitka has done this with each Purple Heart Recipient we have taken so far and speaks to the appreciation they share for those that volunteer. THANKS Sitka, The Heros really appreciate the Gear.
Really appreciate all of our Vets, and you doing all that you do for them Charlie. Thank you!
My truck was parked between these two license plates. An honor for me to spend time with these young men!
Here is a picture of all four of us. Jason Selman, Owner of Hero Shot Outfitters is on the left.
This is a picture of the four of us at our dinner the night before the first hunt.
Judging by the smiles I'd say we're having a good time talking DEER along with a great meal provided by Jason's wife.
Jason at Map
Jason at Map
White board Jason uses to keep us "in the know"
White board Jason uses to keep us "in the know"
After Dinner Jason goes over the spots for the am hunt. I will sit with Grady the first day to hopefully get video and then alternate over to Ryan.
Thanks to everyone involved and good luck men!
Big thanks you to our vets and to you to Charlie for this.
Grady/Ryan, Charley has recorded some darn good hunting videos over the years. Be sure to smile for the camera if you should have a reason to do so!! Keep your nose in the wind....Good Luck....
Harvest time
Harvest time
The Golden Triangle of West/Central Illinois borders the Mississippi River. There are more recorded P&Y bucks in Pike County, Illinois than any other County in Illinois.
When we arrived the farmers appeared to have about half the corn harvested and were also cutting beans. Watching the farmers run "full out" during the harvest season triggers our passion for the rut. The weather has been unseasonably hot but we're going to have a 30 degree drop in the am so that's usually a good sign.
Grady in stand
Grady in stand
Day 1, AM hunt. Grady and I are on the edge of a long clover field about 50 yards wide. It is between two big corn fields and a bedding area. Temp has dropped but it is real windy.
Good luck, guys and thank you for your service!
Great post Charlie, thanks for all that you do.
We ended up seeing 4 small bucks wondering around looking for does and 4 does looking to avoid the bucks:)
Ryan saw two bucks and almost got a shot. Temperature drop was there and not a bad start considering the heavy wind. We'll go to the same stand for the pm hunt.
Good patriot Charlie...good luck to you 2 fine young men,,,hope you both slay giants!!
For the pm hunt the wind has died and the temp is 30 degrees lower than yesterday. Usually a big temperature drop gets them on their feet. Mid-October can be tuff for daytime activity with big bucks. The trail camera photos confirm this so Grady and Ryan will be ready if one makes a mistake.
We are back on the field edge. After an hour we start to see small bucks coming to the field. At one point there are five young bucks in the field under 50 yards. Some are clicking antlers. We see a total of 8 young bucks and three does. Towards last light the field clears and we think that's it for today. We are wrong it's just about to get going:)
Good luck Grady and Ryan! Can't wait to see the trophy shots. I'd say hero shots, but any picture with you guys in it is a hero shot! Thanks for your service!
Charlie, thanks for all you do for our vets!
Grady looks to his right shooting hole and all of the sudden a big bodied buck appears. After seeing a bunch of small bucks this guy gets our attention.
Any of you who have videoed hunts knows there's a small window between camera light and last shooting light. This is where we are right now and both Grady and I agree it's a shooter if he comes closer but my camera is off.
The buck is feeding away from us so it doesn't look good but all of a sudden out pops a small buck which heads to our left. It gets the big guys attention and he turns to walk by us to push the small buck out of the field. Whoa, it's going to happen. Grady has his bow ready and just as he comes broadside I soft grunt and he stands perfectly still at 40 yards. After about 3 seconds the arrow goes off and we hear that liver/paunch sound. Grady has a lighted nock so we get down to quickly check the arrow.
The arrow has blood and gut so we gather it up and start walking out. It looks like a dead deer but he'll have to wait until the am.
Here is my text to Jason! This is the magic time and why we love bow hunting!
Blood and guts on arrow
Blood and guts on arrow
We meet Jason and pick up Ryan. He did not see anything but is very happy for Grady.
Here is a picture of Jason, Grady and Ryan back at the lodge looking at the arrow. It will be a long night but we're pretty optimistic.
Best of luck to you guys. Thank you for your service.
best wishes to both hunters, hope the recovery is successful
Good Luck guys!!!!! Go get em, and Thank You From the Bottom of My Heart for Your Service and Sacrifices!!!!
God Bless!
So we get Ryan on stand early for his morning sit, come back, have a coffee and head out to the stand to hopefully find Grady's buck. We get to where we marked the arrow and find enough blood to get us going into the woods. After 100 yards we lose blood but Jason looks through his binoculars and bam, he spots a dead deer. We head over and here is what we find!!
Grady and his buck!
Grady and his buck!
This is Grady's best bow buck to date and he's stoked! Huge body! Dreams do come true!
Jason, Grady and me.
Jason, Grady and me.
Uphill drag but the lads are young:)
Back at the lodge for more pics.
Ryan is seeing a few deer so he decided to do a long sit and we then cut up the deer.
Great job. A deer to be proud of by a true hero
That's awesome!! Big bodied deer he is, the hunter looks happy as can be too:). Thanks for your service and the sacrifices you've endured fellas, and thanks for Organizing this for them Charlie!
Awesome Big Buck Deer Grady. Charlie you truly are a Big Buck magnet! Great story and even better ending! Hope Ryan gets one too!
Thank you Ryan and Grady for your service. Congrats on a great buck Grady and good luck Ryan hope you kill a bruiser as well. Charlie thanks for doing this and keeping us updated.
Damn straight Grady!!!! Congrats to a great shot!!get um Ryan!
Wow, Beauty.... Congrats!
Congratulations to Grady!
Good deal....congrats, Grady!
Did Ryan have any action this morning?
Way to go Grady! A huge congrats as well an even bigger thank you to you and Ryan for your tremendous sacrifice for all of us and our country! Good luck Ryan!
Charlie, for all of these WW hunts, are you guys able to use tree stands/ladder stands to hunt out of? Or, due to obvious physical limitations from their wounds, do you and the hunters use more ground blind type setups? Are there any other special accommodations needed to assist these guys?
Day two is done with no shot for Ryan. I will sit with him tomorrow.
t-roy: Both Grady and Ryan have no limitations for tree stand hunting and are very experienced bow hunters. The beauty of the www.wwiaf.org is they profile the Warriors experience, desired hunt/fishing event and then match the hunt to the Warriors physical ability. So I profile the hunt to them and they go to their data base to pick the Wounded Warrior.
Day 3 am hunt no action. It has become very warm again with a high of 80! Not good for buck movement.
Here is Ryan on stand!
No luck this pm. Here we are talking about the hunt and some of their experiences while deployed.
Any action this morning boys??
Here we are set up on a field edge with clover and beans. Jason has done a great job with his food plots and stand set ups. Warm again today.
We only see one small buck and a couple does at a distance. Back to the lodge and another fantastic meal prepared by Jason's wife Amber.
Tomorrow is the last day of hunting so maybe that one big buck will appear.
Good luck Ryan! I'm pullin' for you.
Tonight's the night Ryan! Good luck!
On Ryan's last sit he saw 4 deer at a distance and one big bodied deer at last light but no shot. All of us wanted Ryan to connect but the warm weather kept movement to mostly nocturnal.
I can tell you being around these young Combat Wounded Heros you understand that getting a deer is not any where near as important as the comraderie shared between us and general ability to relax and enjoy the beautiful outdoors. It is a powerful experience to spend time with these men. Hearing their individual life stories is humbling to say the least.
Jason and his wife did an excellent job and were gracious hosts. I have no doubt this Veteran owned and veteran first responder discount will be very successful.
Here is a picture of the three men at the lodge!
Sunrise at the lodge! CARRY ON!!
Sunrise at the lodge! CARRY ON!!
Since I started this thread I've had two Bowsite members PM me and offer their hunting land to host a future Wounded Warrior Hunt. Fantastic!
PLEASE if you are a Purple Heart Recipient or know someone who is register at www.wwiaf.org We need more bow hunters for these events.
Lastly, many of you have graciously donated to these hunts. Sponsors as well as community members have made this possible for these young men. I have now worked with WWIAF.org for a couple years and they are top notch folks doing great work. THANKS to all and mostly THANKS to these modern day American Heros and ALL the past Heros that know "Freedom is not Free"!
Well said Charlie. Sadly, I'm not sure the majority of society shares that sentiment. Congrats to Grady & Ryan on a successful hunt. Both men are a success in my book. As for the deer, well I'm sure there is one coming your way in the near future Ryan. Best of luck going forward.
Good follow up on the hunt Charlie. thanks for getting on board with the WWIAF. Bowsite has made a difference in the lives of several hero's lives with plenty more to come. Thanks
Grady and Ryan, hank you for your service and sacrifice. Charlie, thank you for putting together another hunt for wounded warriors. Jason, thank you for hosting these heroes.
Sounds like a great hunt. Congratulations to everyone involved. Good stuff all around.
It was an Honor to get to spend a week @ Hero Shot Outfitters! Not only was I able to Harvest a great Illinois Whitetail, but most importantly i made some life long friends along the way. Thank You Charlie for your friendship, wisdom & continuous support of the WWIAF! I appreciate everyone’s comments and for following along with us during our hunt!
It was an amazing week in deer camp to say the least! Thank you Jason, Charlie, and WWIAF for putting together an outstanding week. Thank those of y'all from bowsite who out of the kindness of your hearts supported us, please know that it is deeply appreciated. It's doing things like this that make you realize just how amazing our fellow hunters/sportsman really are when we can all come together and show an appreciation for the great outdoors! Thank you guys
Great to see the two Wounded Warriors follow and post above! Thanks men!
Awesome! Thanks men and thanks for sharing the hunt. Looked like a great place to hunt. Kevin
Thank you to the WWIAF and to Bowsite for their help in organizing this event. Amber and myself had an absolute blast hosting Ryan, Grady, and Charlie. Hero Shot Outfitters was founded on the principal's of giving back to our men and women of the armed forces. We couldnt be more pleased on how the event went. We are already looking forward to next year. We also will be hosting Ryan again in January. Hopefully, we can seal the deal on an Illinois bruiser.
How awesome is this! Congrats to everyone involved.....you guys deserve the best life has to offer. Thank you for your service, and thank you Charlie for doing this!
