[SnwbrdrRm]

John Littleton of Maryland and I have been trying to coordinate a vet hunt for some time now. This past week everything finally came together and he hosted 2 vets for a 3-day hunt down in MD and this is what he had to say:

“I got Jamie and Dan out by boat on Monday went to the Pocomoke River and got 2 Mallards. I cooked the guys up hamburgers on the boat. Next went to Crisfield and set up in the open water hoping for some sea ducks. Had no luck at that even let them walk the beach hoping to jump up some ducks. Called it a day at 2:30 .Tuesday took them to a private farm to hunt out of shore blinds. We hunted almost all day there. They got 3 green wing teal, 2 buffleheads and 1 Ruddy duck. Capt. Jim the land owner had a grill set up. He had hot dogs and I brought tuna steaks and goose wrapped in bacon. Last day went to private farm in Easton for a goose hunt out of a pit. We got 9 geese there and the men were pumped up. After the hunt I treated the guys and our host to breakfast. They left to head home around 11:30.”

John also reached out to some members that he knows on the RefugeForums and received a donated duck mount for Dan to get on his drake buffie done up!!! Dan and Jamie are military buddies and Dan drove from Ohio to come and hunt. Jamie is a retired USMC 1stSergeant and Purple Heart recipient himself!!! Another big thanks for John hosting this whole thing, the taxidermist involved and the men for their service!!!

Here are a few shots from our 2 day hunt New Jersey bay hunt...on day #1 William Mills (NJH member: Bubblehead), a local NJ supporter took out USMC vets Chris and Jason for some action!!! They ended the morning with two drake buffies, a hen broadie and a hen old squaw. On day #2, the Hunters Helping Heroes Secretary Chris Fazio and I got Jason back out on some more ducks bagging a nice drake broadie and a drake wigeon. I just wanted to thank William and Chris again for helping out with this whole thing and making hunts like this happen for our nation’s heroes, its help like this that allow us to do so many hunts a year. I also wanted to give a hunt thank you to John Barton (NJH member: johnyb1) of Avian Artistry who donated his time and talent to mount up one of the beautiful butterball drake buffies that Jason shot!!!

I know a couple guys, John (NJH member: Reward Band) with Mike (NJH member: mssmith4) and his dog Hank who have been dying to get some vets on some birds. We took Buddy and Joey down to South Jersey and met up with John and Mike yesterday morning for a little late season goose action. It was a cold morning and we had to wait a while for the birds to move but when they did, they cut em' down. We decided to pull an all dayer and hoped to limit out in the afternoon but the birds wanted to move too late. We had a great time out there eating goose chili and jerky and all sorts of snacks that they brought for the men and it was a blast to share conversations, stories and a lot of laughs with these guys!!! I just wanted to give a huge thanks to these guys for taking us out instead of hunting themselves this close to the end of the season. Also, a huge thanks to Rich Santomauro (NJH member: rgswildlife) of RGS Wildlife Taxidermy who graciously donated up his time and efforts to do a goose mount for Buddy. Buddy is a Silver Star and Purple Heart recipient with 20+ years in the Army and is still Active Duty. Thank you for your service men!!!

 

[Jason1]

Looks like fun, nice work.

 

[AYFS]

nice job guys!

 

[Vincent]

God bless all you guys.[up][up][up][up]

 

[BROWNING11]

[up][up][up]

 

[NJPAhunter2413]

very cool, thanks to all the guys that helped to get our fighting vets out there on some huntin' action..thanks to all the guys who served [up]

 

[B B]

Semper Fi

 

[Semper Fi Hunter]

Great job![up][up][up][up]

 

[birdup]

truly awesome[up] that pic with the dog,i guess he's catching some shuteye,is priceless.[up]

 

[bubblehead]

I had a ton of fun with this hunt and really hope to do it again. Chris and jason were great guys with a great sense of humor. The whole process was so painless thanks to you ryan who did so much to coordinate a date and despite not being a great day as far as number of birds killed, certainly a hunt i will remember for a long time

 

[jpiney43]

[up][up] Great looking pics.

 

[322Woody]

nice job william

 

[woodsman21]

[up][up][up]

 

[Reward Band]

Thanks you to Ryan for bringing the guys down to hunt with us. It was our pleasure to host you guys. The guys were great and wanted to learn decoy set up and placement. They asked alot of questions and I hope now have the sickness of waterfowling. To all the guys out there thinking of doing this you definately should host a hunt for somebody who really sacrifice there lives for us. Its not about limits or even harvesting some birds its just getting the guys out in the outdoors and hang out. Buddy ,Joe and Ryan are real gentlemen and just good family men. So if you got some time and just want to give alittle something to show your apprication then give Ryan a shout. Even if you cant take someone out try to support him buy a shirt donate some money what ever you can do. We already are planning some hunts for some CO snows and I honestly cant wait. I just want to thank Mike and my buddy Hank for there help. Thanks to Ryan for taking his time to put all these hunts together he a good man.

 

[mssmith4]

Great hunt! Great guys! Ryan, you are a great person for putting all of this together. Looking forward to hunting with you and many other vets in the future.

 

[runangun]

Hell yeah!

As a vet myself how can I get involved with taking other guys out? I would love to help!

 

[bubblehead]

I want to add to what i said earlier and what reward band and mssmith4 said. If you get a free day and have a chance to participate i would highly recommend giving ryan a call and setting something up. The whole process is super easy and im pretty sure i had as much if not more fun than the guys i took out. I dont think they would have cared if we didnt see a bird. They were both very appreciative of every thing and just wanted to be out there spending time with the guys

 

[howell boy]

[up][up][up]

 

[nj15]

Great job! Semper Fi [up][up]

 

[parkrod]

Thanks to those who made that happen and a BIG thank you to the Vets. SEMPER FI ![up][up].