The world-class outdoor sporting adventures that our combat-wounded Veterans participate in would not be possible without the generosity and support of our event Hosts. We have a remarkable team of WWIA event Hosts across North America who work with their local communities, friends, and businesses to honor and serve our Purple heart Heroes throughout each year. These Hosts do this voluntarily, rallying support, resources, and coordinating their community base because they want to give back, to recognize and thank America’s combat-wounded Veterans for their tremendous service and sacrifice. Our event Hosts are a critical part of what we do, and we could not be more grateful to have them as a part of our WWIA team and family. Today, WWIA Founder and CEO, John McDaniel is honored to introduce you to one of our valued event Hosts, Mr. Andy Wilson.

Andy is the Host of the Great Creek Hunt Club events in beautiful Alberta, Virginia. Great Creek Hunt Club proudly hosts two events per year, a turkey hunt in the spring, and a deer hunt in the fall. This will be their 12th year of hosting the deer hunt, and their 8th year of hosting the turkey hunt. Andy was born and raised just outside of Richmond, Virginia and has been married to his beautiful wife Abigail for 17 years. They have 2 amazing daughters, Kynleigh, who’s about to turn 10, and the youngest, Annistyn, who just turned 7. Whether it’s hunting, fishing, riding 4-wheelers, or checking trail cameras, they both love spending time with Andy in the great outdoors. Andy has hunted at the Great Creek Hunt Club since he was old enough to carry a gun. His grandfather and friends started the hunt club back in 1965and it is still thriving today. Andy says his best hunting memories have been made at the hunt club. It’s a special place to get away and commune with nature, and the hunting in this area is exceptional. Having the opportunity to hunt with some of the same people for over 30 years has been a tremendous privilege, and the members of the Great Creek Hunt Club are honored to be able to host these events in honor and recognition of America’s Purple Heart Heroes.

Takeaways:

• The Wounded Warriors in Action Foundation is dedicated to honoring and supporting combat wounded veterans through outdoor activities.
• Our community of event hosts plays a pivotal role in facilitating unique hunting experiences for Purple Heart recipients across North America.
• The significance of camaraderie and connection among veterans during these events fosters healing and appreciation for their sacrifices.
• Every event is not solely about the harvest but rather the shared experiences and bonds created between participants and their guides.
• Engagement in outdoor activities provides veterans an opportunity to reconnect with nature and find joy in shared interests.
• The Foundation's success relies heavily on the generous contributions of local communities and individuals who support our mission.

Companies mentioned in this episode:

• WWIA
• Great Creek Hunt Club
• Fort Myer Thrift Store
• Bonaire Exteriors

Foreign.

Hello and welcome to the WWIA Podcast. We're honored to have you join us in our mission to bring honor, connection and healing to America's combat wounded Purple Heart heroes.

If this is your first time listening to this podcast, we welcome you if you're a returning listener. Thanks for coming back. Please be sure to tell others about our podcast and leave us a review if you're enjoying what you're hearing.

The world class outdoor sporting adventures that our combat wounded veterans participate in would not be possible without the generosity and support of our event hosts.

We have a remarkable team of WWIA event hosts across North America who work with their local communities, friends and businesses to honor and serve our Purple Heart heroes throughout each year.

These hosts do this voluntarily, rallying support, resources and coordinating their community base because they want to give back to recognize and thank America's combat wounded veterans for their tremendous service and sacrifice. Our event hosts are a critical part of what we do and we could not be more grateful to have them as part of our WWIA team and family.

Today, WWIA founder and CEO John McDaniel is honored to introduce you to one of our valued event hosts, Mr. Andy Wilson. Andy is the host of the Great Creek Hunt Club events in beautiful Alberta, Virginia.

Great Creek Hunt Club proudly hosts two events per year, a turkey hunt in the spring and a deer hunt in the fall. This will be their 12th year of hosting the deer hunt and their 8th year of hosting the turkey hunt.

Andy was born and raised just outside of Richmond, Virginia and has been married to his beautiful wife Abigail for 17 years. They have two amazing daughters, Kenley, who is about to turn 10, and the youngest, Aniston, who just turned 7.

It's where Andy says his best hunting memories have been made and it's still thriving today. It's a special place to get away and commune with nature and the hunting in this area is exceptional.

Having the opportunity to hunt with some of the same people for over 30 years has been a tremendous privilege and the members of the Great Creek Hunt Club are honored to be able to host these events in honor and recognition of America's Purple Heart heroes. This is a great episode, so let's jump into the conversation with John and Andy now.

Hi, I'm John McDaniel, founder and CEO of the Wounded warriors in Action Foundation. And this is our podcast, Honor Connect, Heal. Well, it's today I have another special guest with me and I guess Andy.

Would you say we met like 12 years ago, something like that?

Yeah, probably 12, 13 years ago.

12 or 13. Wilson is with.

Yeah, Andy Wilson is with us on the program, hailing from Virginia, and he's been helping the foundation out with his team doing deer hunts and turkey hunts in Virginia. Right. Right. Now where exactly in Virginia are you?

So we are. The club itself is located in Albert of Virginia. It's about. About an hour south of Richmond.

Yeah. And we were talking in the pre show about, you know, where we first met, and both of our memories are a little bit Shaggy.

But 12 years ago, you know, on an event, you know, it was probably a brief meeting. I don't. I don't think we went out and, you know, and drank any beers or anything like that, you know, but. But which would.

Would not be necessarily uncommon back in those days. But anyway, yeah. So welcome to the program and tell us, Andy, about. About your. Your mission and what's going on.

You know, how this whole thing started and. And kind of bring us up to date because I think it started out just as a deer hunt. And then you guys added a turkey event, didn't you?

We did. So it started out as a deer hunt, and it actually started the time that reference that you and I kind of met down there in Carolina.

I got invited to go guide a turkey hunt with a buddy of mine. His organization was running it at the time. And I got to meet Tim Spence, who's an associate, and I met you as well.

And I just started kind of brainstorming, thinking. I was like, hey, you know, this would be something awesome that our club, the Great Creek, could do. Just a way to give back.

So I ran it by the club, our organization, and of course, you know, I brought it to you guys and filled out the application. You know, we received our first deer.

Hunt and we did a couple deer.

Hunts then I was like, man, you know, my passion. I love the turkey hunt. I would rather turkey hunt the deer hunt. I was like, I want to do a turkey hunt as well.

So probably a couple years went by, we. We added a turkey hunt as well. And. And since then, I think we're close to close to 20 events total now, which is. Which is awesome.

Yeah. Wow, that's crazy. Yeah, that's great. Well, thanks for. Thanks for all you do, man. I mean, it. It takes a village Right. I mean, I'm sure that.

That I remember the great creek hunt club and if my memory serves me. Me proper and, you know, just a bunch of. A bunch of great guys and it was a great club, and I think it's a really good fit for us.

But, you know, tell me about your team. I mean, that's. That's. I love to always hear about guys, teams, you know, people's teams that are supporting this because it's.

You might be the guy in charge and the, you know, the leader of the. Of the event or the events. But there's always a great team behind you. Right? So tell us about your team.

So obviously my name's on the event, but it takes so many people between. I mean, it's different people for the deer hunt, different people for the turkey hunt. It takes a village. I mean, it really does.

So for the deer hunt, a lot of individuals, there's. We have a member of our club, Mike Tripp. He is.

Is always Johnny on the spot for us, whether it's picking guys up from the airport, getting dinners and st. Stuff that first night, getting. Getting people down, because I say we're about an hour south of Richmond. So he drives them and brings them in.

Mike has been, I mean, probably the most important piece for me in the club itself to. To. To helping us out. But between Mike, you know, landowners. We have landowners that don't normally allow us to hunt their land.

But when we run the event, hey, you know, they don't allow anybody to hunt really.

And they.

When we run the event, they're like, hey, y'all have access. Y'all come on and hunt. So, you know, Ms. Williams Urban Jr. They are all like. They are all in on the event.

You know, for us, obviously, we're a little different deer hunt wise because we dog hunt. We're dog hunting club. So for me, I mean, we have all our dog drivers, all our dog handlers, the guys that, you know, run their dogs.

I mean, they're taking off work to do the event. I mean, they're sacrificing their time, you know, to come in for the event. We have a couple of guys that come from a club next to us that.

That, you know, they. They take away from their own club to come help our event out. Obviously, the dog guys, the. The individuals who take stands with.

With our heroes, you know, they're sacrificing their time as well, you know, to help them out because, you know, 99% of these guys have never dog hunted. So for them, it's something new. And, you know, they're kind of walking through telling them everything, what to expect, what to do.

So those guys are a huge, huge asset to us then. You know, we have several people who live in the community that live down there. You know, Dwayne Hawthorne, he's actually our club president.

He's got a house down there that he allows us to stay at. Him and Dee Whitaker own that house, so they allow us to stay at the house, which is. Which is awesome because the setting is just.

It's back in the woods. It's in the middle of nowhere. You know, you don't have anything else. Like you can just relax, unwind, you know.

Roger Engelking is a huge one because he.

He.

We stayed at his house for years before he actually moved down there. I mean, his house was way back. It was actually my family's house way back in the day, and he's fixed it up and just living there.

Really?

Yeah. It's pretty cool. It's. It's pretty cool.

We still hunt.

Like, the land that we have is. Was my grandfather's family's land. So for me, it's a lot of history involved in it. But. But, you know, all those guys from people who cook.

Who cook food, cook dinner, you know, we couldn't do without them. I mean, the turkey hunt, obviously is a completely different event because we've mixed in a little fishing with it.

So we'll have guys that bring boats down to go fishing that don't even turkey hunt. But for the turkey hunt.

Right.

You know, we like same thing. We have the landowners allow us to use their land, which. Which is awesome because we've always been very successful there with the turkey hunt.

Like I said, Ms. Williams again. And Irvin Jr. Has been Irvin Moore Jr. His full name.

They've been awesome about it.

You know, my. Actually my. My dad is. Is a men's group from church.

Every event they come down, whether it's, you know, Friday afternoon, they bring lunch to the guys. It's about seven or eight of his group from. From church that come in and. And it's. It's pretty awesome. So, like, I say it takes.

It takes a huge team, and I say my name's on the event, but it's far from me. It's. It's. Everybody associated with Great Creek. It's members of the community. It's, you know, my dad's church group. It's.

It's amazing the amount of support that we get.

Yeah. Well, what's. What's amazing about the foundation. A lot of these activities that we do, events as. As we call them is, you know, you do you have these.

These communities that are now that, that, that otherwise communities within communities, adjacent communities, neighbors, you know, start to. To pour in on something. Like you mentioned, hey, you guys can use our land on this on that weekend, no problem.

They probably wouldn't let their, Their, you know, some of them won't let their brothers hunt on it, you know, but when they find out that our. Our nation's combat wounded, you know, are coming to enjoy a weekend of hunting, they're, you know, they.

They open up the doors and they access to their. To their property and their facilities. It's really amazing. So thanks for sharing that story.

You know, it's the same thing with me, like at Camp Hackett, you know, I mean, it started very small, and then it just.

Every year it just that the ring kept expanding, you know, more people would get, you know, in on this thing and it just added to the, you know, to the richness of the event and it, and it brought the community together. It strengthened the community and has a bond.

There's a bonding agent, if you will, that, that brings everybody together and it's, you know, it's this common cause. It's. It's pretty neat, man. I appreciate you sharing that, that with me.

So tell me, Andy, about, Tell me about what happens, because if you said you were going to run dogs on deer in Wisconsin, you know, you'd find yourself in jail really quickly. You know what I mean?

Absolutely.

And so it's like, it's. It's like sacrilege in some places. It is, you know, like, I never hurt. Yeah. You know, and. And it's a sensitive topic.

You know, it can be, you know, and, And I, I've been. I've hound hunted before, you know, not. Not for deer, but, you know, I've hound hunted before for.

For cats, you know, big cats and this kind of thing and for coon, you know, and I, And I, you know, I've actually been part. I wasn't the hunter, but I've been part of dog hunts that involved, you know, bear, you know, up in British Columbia. So I, you know, I'm not an anti.

By any means.

It's just a little unorthodox when you come from a traditional, you know, stand hunter or still hunter, you know, this idea of loosen the dogs on deer. But let's talk about that because I'm sure there are people out there that are. That are interested and knowing how this works.

And so if you would, you know, explain that to us, I'd appreciate it.

So we've been running dogs for them down here. It's. It's been a way of life, obviously. You know, it's always. It's always been a. A hot topic, if you must. But basically, the way it works is.

I mean, you mentioned Wisconsin. You guys probably do man drives, you know, where you have standards and you have pushers. Yeah, something very similar.

What we'll do is a group and organization. We meet up every morning. We look and say, okay, we got, you know, X amount of guys, X amount of dog guys.

We're going to go hunt, set whatever, whatever block we decide to hunt. And the way we do it is we try to surround it safely, just like you would in a man drive.

You know, we have our standards set, and then we have our dog drivers that will take and walk their dogs, hike their dogs in the woods. They'll, you know, jump a deer, cut a track, whatever it is, and they're pushing the deer, you know, by the standards, is the way it is. So we.

We try to. Obviously, people don't think there's a lot of strategy involved in it, but there is. You know, we try to have our standards that, you know, the best.

The best routes, the best crossings. You know, if we think of deers, lacrosse, a creek, a certain place, like, we want to make sure we have a standard there.

So there is, you know, you can't just walk into the wood and say, I'm going to stand here and I'm going to kill one with a dog. Run it. Like, you have to be truly a good woodsman.

You know, you're crossing, you read your sign, you can kind of figure it out, you know, which way is the wind. The wind blowing that day. And a lot of it could. Could be the dog, too, whatever dog is pushing it.

Of how fast the deer might, you know, get out of there, whether it be a walker running it maybe a little bit faster, a beagle, maybe a little bit slower, you know, whatever it is. So there's a lot of strategy invol. And I think that's been the awesome thing about our deer hunt is, like I say, 99 of the guys have never done it.

I think we've had two. Two people that I can recall in the 10, 11 years of deer hunts. So, I mean, 40 some people that we've had have come in.

And only two of them have ever done it. And every one of them have walked away with a. With a new appreciation of it and kind of seen how we did it.

Like, it's kind of great because you're meeting with your buddies, you know, so in the morning. You're joking. You're messing around. Okay. Hey, we're get serious. We're going to go hunt.

At the end of the day, hey, we're going to get together, we're going to come back if we kill some deer, we're going to skin some deer, we're going to clean some deer, you know, eat a little dinner, whatever it is. So it's great because it's. There's a lot of camaraderie involved in it. And, you know, for us, it's like it's been a way of life.

Dog hunting got me into hunting. I mean, my grandfather did it. He was never really a. He never bow hunted. He was never. Because we have a season, you know, both season of black powder.

He. He never really did any of that until me and my brother kind of started hunting with them.

So if it wasn't for dog hunting, and who knows if I ever got into hunting, I. I don't know, maybe eventually at some point, but it's what got me in the woods. So, like I say, down here, it is a way of life.

I mean, you take, you know, dog guys, they are some of the most dedicated. Yeah, they're very dedicated. I mean, they're not just, you know, they want to make sure their dogs are, you know, in shape. They're running.

They're, you know, they're. Those guys are. They put up a lot of time and money. They sacrifice a lot. So it's like I say, it's. It's awesome. It's a way of life.

We got good relationships with them. So it's. It's not like we're, you know, I know sometimes people feel dog hunting people can kind of trample on their land. Like we.

That's not how we do things. It's not how it works with us. So it's. It's a great time. It truly is.

You know, in my mind, you know, I. I try to think through, you know, what, what might this, you know, what might this event that I'm getting ready to do, what might this be like?

You know, and, and as I think about it, I'm like visioning, envisioning myself standing in a location where I've got good fields of fire and I can hear the dogs coming. And. And so I'm. I'm tuned up and I'm. I'm ready to take a shot.

But then this deer comes by me at Mach 4 and I don't get a shot because he' on a dead sprint. And I'm like, wow, that was fun. You know, I mean, I, you know what, what?

You know, I mean, we're all trained, you know, as a stand hunter or as a deer hunter, you know, the, the least most preferred shot, like I won't even take a shot at it. Yeah, that's running.

Yeah.

You know, I mean, I, I mean, when.

And I've never taken a shot unless I should say, not say never, but, you know, I've taken that first shot and then as the deer is running away, you know, of course, you know, if I've got a good shot, I'll. I'll take a second or perhaps even a third shot.

But, you know, so I would imagine that, that probably, I don't, I'm guessing, but the high percentage of those shots that guys that are, you know, deer hunting with dogs, with you guys are taking shots at deer that are. That are moving. Right. I mean, they're probably not standing still.

Yeah, I mean, something. It really depends on where they're at. And we kind of learned, you know, through the first.

Probably, actually, probably our second event, we kind of set them up in some places where the deer were. It was a big, like, wide open field, deer were crossing it. And the shots were a little bit. They were moving a little faster.

And we kind of said, you know what, like, we gotta, we gotta do a little bit better. We gotta take them down into the woods.

On some of these crossings, like, whether it's a creek crossing or whatnot, I would say 50% of them are probably run them.

A lot of them, the deer might just be tipping through the woods because, you know, the other thing is some of these deer we kill or what we call slipping deer, so you might have, you know, a dog or a pack of dogs running, two or three deer, and you might have a deer that got up and slipped away from them. And one of the standards, you know, it comes, you're trying to slip by, slip out of the hunt.

And so it's it's just sneaking, it's just tipping through the woods. So I mean it's probably a 50, 50.

But right.

The way we've tried to do it is okay, hey, let's make these shots where it's, you know, 40, 50 yards or less. We don't obviously we want high percentage shots is what we want.

Like I said, we learned, we kind of learned on the, on the second year that we did the event, those guys, man, we had deer crossing this field and they shot a lot. And it was, it was, you know, it was, it's not easy shooting if you're not used to it by any means.

So we said, okay, you know what, like in the woods, we're going in the woods on these crossings and it's like I say it's probably 50, 50. Some are running, some are still. But you got some guys that get used to it.

Next thing you know they're, they're making some shots that are incredible that they never thought they could make. And of course, you know, it's shotguns and buckshot. That's what we're using. So it's, you know, we're not using.

So you got to be close really.

Ideally 40 yards, 50 yards or less is what we try to do.

Right. It's like bow hunting. It's up close and personal.

100. That's right. So yeah, that's right.

Right. Cool, Cool. All right, so what kind of dogs are these guys running?

So most, most of what we have are walkers and the walkers and beagles is what we have. So we'll have a little bit long legged dog and we'll have, you know, a beagle, shorter legged beagle and they, they run a little different.

You know, a walker is going to be a little bit, a little bit faster obviously. Long legged dog. A beagle is going to be a little bit, a little bit slower but known to have a better nose.

So you know, it's not that they're any, any. It really depends on, on the dog guy of what their preference is.

You know what they like, they like a little bit faster, they like a little bit slower or better nose, whatever. So it's, it's mainly just walker and beagles is what we run.

You, you, you said you think the beagles have a better nose.

Oh, yeah. By far, by far my opinion. By far.

Yeah, by far.

Yeah. Really?

You can see where a walker more deliberate.

Yeah.

A walker will kind of wind a deer as it's running.

So it's not if a deer, you know, cross One certain spot, he might be 10, 15 yards off the track because he's winding it where a beagle will have his nose right there where that, where that deer ran. And he'll, you know, run right behind, right on the track of where it is. He won't be off it. He'll be right on it.

So definitely, definitely a better night.

My opinion, some people and reporting and. Yeah, and reporting the whole time, right?

Yeah. I mean, both of them, like, say. Yeah, absolutely. If they're, if they're on a deer.

And they're running, they're. They're going to give mouth.

They're going to be. You're going to hear them coming.

Yeah, right on. So, you know, I'm curious. If you wanted to, you know, if you wanted to take your, your, your, your deer dog and go coon hunting, could you do it?

Or are these dogs just like, they're ate up from the ground up with deer? What's going on there?

Yeah, so I mean, most of your dogs, like, they might get off and run a, a coyote tracker. They'll even get on a bear and run a bear. But yeah, we try not to. If they're a deer dog, we're gonna run deer with them.

We're not gonna mess with them on a, on a coon or anything else like that. Like they're gonna be strictly, strictly a deer dog, hopefully.

Okay, very good.

And, and you guys also, you were, we were saying in the pre show, you were talking to me about how, you know, you, you started on a turkey hunt eight years ago and so now you're doing, doing two events there at the Great Creek. And. But you're, you're a turkey guy. So tell me, tell me how that's going.

I mean, I love turkey hunting and I love to talk to guys who, who love to, to turkey hunt because there's nothing else like that. I mean, there, there, there, there really isn't.

You know, that, that moment when you know that gobbler's coming in and you know he's coming in and then he presents himself, you know, and maybe in full strut and, and you're really close to him and, and there's that moment of tr. Like that, in my opinion, and you're a turkey hunter. Tell us about, tell us about that part of your operation.

So that part of the operation, like obviously way different than the deer hunt. The way we do things.

It's not normally a big a group as during our deer hunt, but I have, I mean, what I consider some of the best Turkey hunters around. Between my brother Neil, guy, Chris Vaughn, Jim and Bob, Major ball, Will Morgan, David, Chris, his brother Jordan.

These guys are, I mean, extremely knowledgeable. I mean, we're, we're going out before the season and we're listening. We're, you know, we're looking for sign.

But the way our turkey hunt works is, you know, we'll generally take for each hero, we'll have two guys with them. And the way we try to do it is obviously one guy. Depending on their level of, level of hunting experience.

If they've turkey hunted a ton or, you know, not, not hunted a whole lot, you will usually have a guy sit with them close by to kind of walk them through, you know, the situation.

And we'll have a gu behind them calling, but outside of them, we have four or five guys that will, will ride around and listen in the morning, you know, first thing and try to hear a bird get a bird goblin and, and you know, we're, we're talking to each other. Hey, if nobody's on a bird, hey, y'all come over here. I got a bird goblin over here. So It really, that one is like 10 of us.

You know, it might be, it might be four guys hunting, but it's 10 of us that are trying to find birds for everybody else. And, and I would say in all honesty, our, our success rate with the turkey hunt is phenomenal.

I mean, I never would have thought, I mean, my goal was always, you know, if we kill two birds in event, I think that's a great weekend. But we're having, we're having weekends and events where four or five, I mean, you know, I think, I think five or six might be our most.

But you know, we've killed, you know, four or five several times. And it's like, I say it's my passion just because it's one on one with the bird, but I always contribute that to the knowledge of the guys.

That, the guides who are, who are.

Taking our heroes and just how good they are at what they do. I mean, they're extremely incredible. I mean, as big as I am of a turkey hunter, they're even bigger. So it's awesome.

I, I think I got, I think I got a pot call from you guys. A slate call years and years ago, I think. I think I did. I do. I have it in my collection. I should have dusted it off this morning and brought it in.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know you, I, I know you did. I, I, I, I, I, I, I treasure it. It's, it's sitting at home in my collection. That's. That's right. You sent it to me. I think I. I actually just got.

The one from you guys. The. The boscal that has, like, the turkey wing up top. Like, that thing's pretty awesome. I told. I told my brother.

I showed it to him and I said, man, I don't like.

He made that.

Yeah, I got the card with it, which I really appreciate that and you guys sending that. But I told him, I was like, I don't know if I want to try to call one in with it and then retire it or if I just want to put it in.

Like, I'm a big turkey call. I like collections, you know, of them.

And I'm like, I don't know if I just want to retire it right away or I want to try to call one in with it first.

Just give it a little, you know.

To try it out. So I appreciate it.

I think Trent. I. I think Trent would want you to. Yeah, I think. I think he'd want you to try to. To.

Well, since he wants that look, you stay dust off two weeks. So I'll try it out with. With my daughter trying to get her own one.

There you go. Did you get a piece of chalk with it, too? I think we tried to do.

I think I did. I'm pretty sure I did. Yes.

Yeah. Yeah. So, yeah, anyway, that's a pretty special call. And, you know, everybody. Every. Every person that makes a call has got a.

A way of doing it, you know, And I. And I used to have. I used to have it. So it was like this, you know, when the feathers towards you, the working end is towards you.

That's how I've always worked it. And Trent said that with that one, you should be using it where it's away from you, where the. Where the. That.

That cock feather, the end of it, the quill, if you will, is. Is away from you.

Okay.

And I. I mean, I was like, wow. I was glad. Glad I asked that question. But, you know, hey, it is what it is. I mean, you know, what.

What it sounds like, what it should sound like. And, you know the interesting thing about turkey hunting, biologically speaking?

Well, there's a lot of things that are interesting about it, but it was put to me once upon a time by. By a gentleman who had a lot of experience and was explaining to me, you know, what.

What's actually happening out there in nature, you know, and when you start to study the turkey and you realize that, you know, these toms you know, have a brood essentially of hens, and. And, you know, they're gobbling, and the hens naturally, you know, go towards, you know, the gobbler, you know, I mean, they're. They're attracted to.

To. To, you know, his sound, you know, his acrobatics. And, and what you're trying to do in. In. In turkey hunting is reverse nature, essentially.

Pull him away from his hands and get him close to you, which is. Which is really not the way it happens, like, in nature. So if you get him, you know, to.

To entice him to come to you, you've really accomplished something. I just always. I always thought that was cool.

Oh, yeah, yeah. That's always. It's. It's the challenge of it, for sure. Then you get that. That one stubborn. That'll hang up for. For no reason.

It won't move in and just where he's. He's where he wants to be that day.

That.

That's.

That's what makes it fun. It's. I don't ever feel like it's. They're gonna do the same thing two days in a row. It's always something different.

No, it is. Yeah. I always refer to him as the smartest dumb bird on the planet because. Yeah. One moment you'll see him do something that. It just blows you away.

Like, I. I can't. I can't crack the code on this dude, man. And. And, you know, he's just hung up. I just can't get him, you know?

Yeah.

Or you got everything you think is perfect, and he spots something he don't like and he's gone.

Yeah.

And that's it. You're done. He's done. You're done for the day with that guy. He's not coming back. And, you know, he's. He's picked out something that's not right.

You know, they're very. They're masterful with their eyesight in being able to determine, well, of course, motion, of course that'll kill you.

But also I've learned that if something's out of whack, like, it just doesn't look right to him. He's not coming, you know, and so, you know, I don't care how good of a caller you're. He's, you know, you. You've spooked him to the point where.

Where he's not coming. And then on the other side of the coin, I've had him come in where you got two really nice Toms, a couple of Jakes, you know, whatever. And they're.

They're coming in on your decoy, and, okay, I'm like, okay, get ready. Get ready. You know, and the guys I'm with, you know, he's all ready, and I could take him when you want, you know, and then.

And he shoots the turkey, and turkey's on the ground flopping around. He ain't going anywhere. And the others don't even leave. They just, like, go over and start kicking his ass.

They're like, you know, he was the big shot of the. Not. Now they're taking their turn at him, and they're working them over right in front of you, and a shotgun just went off.

You're like, I just spent 30 minutes bringing you in here, you know, quiet and, like, whatnot. And I just killed your buddy, and all you want to do is pummel his ass. It always just. I. I don't know. I always just get such a. A hoot out of.

Out of that bird, man.

Oh, yeah. It's crazy when they do it.

Well, I always tell people, you can be the best car in the world, but if you ain't where he wants to be, you ain't gonna kill him, so. That's for sure.

Yeah, that's right. That's right. I love it. I love it. If everybody could see the smile on your face, you know, that's because you're. You know, you get excited about it.

You know, only sportsmans who've been. Who've been there and done that, you know, get that. You know, get that smile on their face. So I can appreciate that for sure.

Oh, yeah.

Hey, tell me, Andy, you know, I mean, you've been doing this now for quite a while, you know, 13 years or so, which is incredible. And again, I want to. I want to make sure that I thank you personally and your entire, you know, community of support.

Hopefully, you get a chance to share this with them and they can, you know, enjoy this podcast. But I want to thank them, and it's the little things that count.

You know, it's like your dad in his church group making lunches and showing up, you know, I mean, I can imagine that whoever made those lunches that. That morning, you know, put extra care into making sure that the sandwiches were right.

And maybe there was an apple in the bag and, you know, maybe a treat or something like that, you know, and.

Or maybe they went to the local diner and they, you know, enlisted the support of a local diner that they've known, you know, the guy who owns the thing for 30 years. They can Be going in there and getting coffee and this guy made the sandwiches, you know, just by way of example.

And, and, and it's always the little things, you know, in life that make such a big difference.

And, and I want to thank all of your community and the people that are making this, these events happen because they're really the unsung heroes and many hands make for light work when you are surrounding these combat wounded veterans with people and communities who genuinely care about their well being, who appreciate what they did for this country in some far off land, in some scary dark place so that we could enjoy the, you know, the freedoms that we have in this great country.

As they were defending freedom in some dark corner of the globe and now they're back home and everything has changed and here they come to a, you know, a little place in Virginia, you know, in Alberta, Virginia. And you know, that's a unique culture right there. I mean, it is.

And many of them might not ever have had the opportunity to meet a Virginian or to hunt with dogs or to hunt turkeys on this beautiful property of yours in this beautiful club, you know, and, and that's what makes it special because they get there and they're having an experience that they otherwise would never have with people they would otherwise never know and on train they would otherwise never get to walk or enjoy.

So I want to thank everybody in your community and I got to give a shout out also, you know, to the folks that, that help, you know, support and fund, you know, this very important mission. And, and so thanks to everybody for all that you've done to, to help make this be a very special event for our heroes.

Because I can guarantee you that they're walking away from this event and they're going back to their homes, you know, getting on planes or getting back in their car and driving home. And I'm sure that you've given them memories for a lifetime.

So thank you, Andy, and your entire extended community for helping make this happen for so many consecutive years.

And I'm sure you've got some stories, something that maybe you want to share with us in the audience about some of your experiences with the wounded veterans. Obviously, you guys wouldn't be doing it year after year if it didn't mean something to you.

So the question to you is, you know, on behalf of your team, what's it mean to you?

I mean, really, I mean, to me it, I guess, I mean, it sounds bad to say, but where's Candace Crowd what it means, because I've always said I'VE done the event, and we've done the event just as a way to show our appreciation to those have sacrificed so much. I mean, let's face it, you know, we wouldn't be able to have the.

The freedoms we have without them, without the sacrifices they've made, you know, for their country, for. For everybody. So for us, I mean, it really means everything we love. You know, obviously, the giving back. And. And I always, always kind of said is.

I mean, I don't have. It sounds bad. I don't have anything to give you but a passion for the outdoors, right? If I can.

If I can take a guy one day and meet him, turkey hunt, and we connect and I give him a passion for the outdoors, and that's a way for him to. To kind of get out and get away and. And maybe get a new hobby, bring some other joy to his life, whatever. Then.

Then I've done what I feel like, you know, I kind of set out to do, you know, even if it's getting away for a weekend, fishing, hunting, whatever it is. I mean, so, I mean, I think everybody at the club and everybody who helps out, from my dad to the, you know, the.

The members of the community, I mean, all of them, it's just a simple way of saying thank you for everything you've done, everything you've gone through, the sacrifices you've made. So, you know, for. For all, for us, it's just, you know, it means the world to us that we can help out and do everything for sure.

You know, I was just right. I'm writing this down because it's a great quote. Just let me finish this here. This is what you said.

You said I don't have anything to give you other than my passion for the outdoors. And that's just one of the best quotes I've ever heard. You know, that's really good, man. And. And that's true, you know, when. When I as.

As you know, one of the. As the original host, if you will, and I still run this event up in Northern Wisconsin at our camp every year.

And, and it's like, man, if I had to knuckle it down to one thing, you know, at that. The very bare roots of what, what, what can I do, what am I doing and what can I do for this.

This thing, this event, you know, it really boils down to just that, you know, I. I can really, you know, the most meaningful thing I can give you or share with you is my passion for what we're about to go do.

Absolutely.

You Know, and, and that right there, man, that, that, that, that hit. That hits hard, you know, and, and because that's why you're doing it.

And, and some of them, a lot of these amazing men and women, you know, they don't have it because they've never seen it. Like, they know they don't have that passion because they've never experienced it.

They've never been around people that, you know, have that to give, and this might be their first opportunity or you might be setting a standard for them to see and feel what it's like to be around somebody that has that level of passion for that particular thing. And then once you've been successful at it and you've seen it and you've experienced it, now you want more of that. And that, that, that's contagious.

You know, it. You know, the enthusiasm is contagious. You know, passion for something is contagious. So that, that's, that's. That's great.

That's really a great way of saying it, and I appreciate you sharing that, Andy.

I always, you know, I think.

Yeah, that's great for, for me, from.

The first, the first event we had, I kind of. I think I looked at. Looked at it and went about it the wrong way. I was more worried about the, you know, the success of the harvest, of the kill.

So I was too caught up in that, like, the first event. And then I realized from that first event that, you know, the harvest was just. That was icing on the cake. It was everything else. The comments.

That's like a byproduct. Yeah.

I mean, you get like. You get a little piece of the testimonials and see, and hardly ever does somebody mention the harvest.

Hey, I was able to take my first deer, my first turkey. Like, everything that's mentioned is, you know, the individuals that help out, like, what, what it meant to them outside of the. The harvest.

So, I mean, for me, like I said, I kind of. I say the first event, I went about it the wrong way just because I was so worried about, you know, the harvest to kill.

And, you know, that's what kind of. Yeah, that's. Yeah. So.

Yeah.

But.

Well, to, to that. To that point, you know, I'll. And again, I'll.

There may be a future host out there that's listening to this and says, you know, I think I'd like to do that. You know, but for those people that are worried about the, you know, the results, like how many ducks did we kill?

Or how many deer do we kill, you Know, I always say that's, that's incidental, you know. Yeah. Hey, we, we brought them together to go do this thing and they're going to go out there and they're going to do it.

But at the end of the day, you know, these guys, when they start telling the story about what happened, well, when they get back to their family or when they write their, you know, when they write their testimonial, like it's almost forgotten whether or not or rarely is it mentioned that they shot a deer or got, got, got, got a duck or killed a turkey. You know, it's always about.

And it all starts with, you know, thank you, you know, thank you for what you did for me this weekend. You know, the child was amazing. The people are phenomenal. You made me feel like, you know, like I was part of your family.

You know, you made me feel like what I did for our country was valued. I was lost and, and, and, and you guys helped, you know, redirect me. You know, I've made friends for life.

You know, you've read it and you've heard them and you've seen it. And that's what it is, man. It's it. They have a place and a connection, a common connection to people that they just met.

You know, Americans that they just met and they were together on a weekend. But it was all good, you know, it was a safe place. You welcomed them.

There's lots of camaraderie, you know, there's lots of honor, you know, there, you know, there's lots of, you know, connections and hence there's also a lot of healing. Now that healing might not take place right there and then, but, you know, and we're not talking about, you know, the clinical type of healing.

It's non clinical, you know, it's this idea of, you know, helping restore the psyche. It's about, you know, helping them to, to, to feel good about what they did, what they had to go do, you know, what they did.

And, and it, it was appreciated. Right?

And this is an expression, this is a collective expression of our appreciation for, for what they did while they were wearing a uniform, full stop. And you know, you Guys are doing great with that, man. And I want to. I want to thank you for. For making it such a special event.

Well, we certainly appreciate the opportunity and everything. So it's. It's been a blast, for sure.

Yeah. Yeah. Do you have any. Any. Any really cool, like, any stories or something you want to share with us? Any highlight? Because some.

Some of the highlights are. Are things that, you know, you're like, you can't make it up, man. I mean, I don't want to.

I don't want to sit here and tell stories, but, you know, if we were sitting together, if we were sitting around a fire and had a glass of brown water in our hands or something, I think that we, you know, we could talk, we could tell some stories.

Now, they're all hilarious, and they're all so impactful, but they always involve, you know, a soldier or a Marine or, you know, somebody doing, you know, something or something that, you know, really, you know, stood out. Do you have anything like that he'd like to share with us?

Man, I actually. I got two that. Two that, when I started thinking about it, kind of stood out. And the first one is just. Just a funny.

This kind of shows you the personality of the individual. But Peter and I would. I would butcher his last name. So I'm not going to say it, but Peter was from Australia. He was in the Australian Army.

I came, you know, came over here, joined the army here. But he came up here on a. I want to say it was our very first turkey hunt.

And I remember our phone conversation because I call all the heroes, you know, prior to them coming in, just to, you know, set expectations, ask them questions, whatever. And I was like, hey, man, you got any questions? He was like, well, do you have snakes up there? And I said, yeah, you know, we do.

We, you know, black snake, copperhead. The odds of you seeing one, I mean, slim to none. You'll probably be okay. And my thinking was, like, man, he's scared of it or whatever.

You know, he's got, you know, something going on. Like, he just doesn't want to be around it. He's gonna. He's gonna take off and run if he sees it or something.

But the very first night, we just met everybody, and we go out and. And we go to roost turkeys. And somehow he. He goes with another one of our. Our members of the club.

Somehow they come across a copperhead, of course, you know, poison snake up in Virginia. And I don't know. I don't know what they did, but it Serious?

Serious viper. Serious. Yeah, yeah, serious pit.

I don't know. Know the. The whole story, but somehow they wanted to play a joke on me and they contemplated what they want to do, but the snake ended up in my.

My turkey decoy bag the next morning. So we go to. We go to get out the truck and hunting and I'm sitting there and I'm like, what is this in my bag?

Well, dag on if that snake's not in my bag and I flip it upside down and here comes a snake. Keep in mind this is like 5:30 in the morning, and I'm standing by the truck, getting ready to walk into the woods and a snake flopping out my bag.

And I'm like, man, you. You got to be kidding me, man.

But.

But right then I knew I could tell Peter's personality. And the guy was. He was awesome, incredible guy. And a day later, I actually called in a bird for him.

Was actually probably one of the cooler turkey hunts I've ever had. He ended up killing a turkey. And the next day what happens? Me and him walk up on a black snake as well.

So the guy who asked about him, we hardly see him some weeks some for some reason finds two snakes that weekend. So I don't know if he's some sort of snake whisper or what, but it was just.

It was just a funny story because he, you know, trying to play the trickle. Me just met him, you know, that day and trying to play a joke on me, which I thought was. Was pretty fun and pretty cool. But you know, the second.

The second story was the second story.

And this is what kind of, I guess chain changed my mindset a little bit about, you know, when I talk about like the harvest and how these guys really, truly, when they come in, they. They root for each other. They're wanting them to. Hey, man, like, what'd you see? Did you kill like in. In usually when.

When they kill a deer, you know, they all want to be involved in it. And this kind of started with. With Tim Spence and Daniel. Daniel Newman was one of our first guys. He was the. The first deer hunt event that we had.

And me and Daniel want to stand. And I never forget Tim calls me and.

And Tim had shot a pretty nice buck and you know, timid had dog hunted before, so he was going to stand by himself. And he says, hey, this is what happened. You know, the deer kind of ran this way. You want to. You want to try to get.

Sometimes if we maybe try to get a dog one or whatever. And I said, well, hey, you know, we might come down there. Give me a minute.

And I looked at Daniel and I had given Daniel the option because, you know, on our deer hunt, if our dog hunt kind of fizzles out by 3:30 or something, we'll go still hunt. I said, hey, you, you want me to take you still hunting or do you want to go over here and look for Tim's deer?

And without hesitation, Daniel's like, I want to go look for Tim's deer. Like, he wanted to be a part of it. And that just kind of showed me. And granted, whenever I found it, Tim really nice eight pointer he killed.

And just the excitement that Daniel had for, like I say, somebody he had just met two days prior.

And you could tell it meant so much to him, you know, to be there with Tim and, and everything, that's what kind of changed my mindset of like, you know, okay, like these guys, you know, how they, how they were around each other, how they were rooting for each other, you know, was. It's pretty awesome. So, yeah, those are the two stories that really stuck out to me.

Like I said, Tim, we still see Tim all the time, so we still talk about that, that hunt in that day, you know, to this day.

So it was pretty cool.

Yeah. Timmy's a great American and, and I, I, I have a lot of respect and admiration for him and our friendship.

And if it wasn't for him, I don't think we, you and I wouldn't be talking, for starters.

Probably not.

Yeah.

But Spence is. Yeah, he's just great American and has done.

He's one of our guides and one of our senior guides, and he certainly has paved the way for a lot of heroes and has done a lot to advance this cause. And I appreciate you sharing that story because.

And as you were telling snake story, made me laugh because I won't tell my snake story, but I have a similar experience in my past that made me, that just brought a smile to my face with snakes. But this idea of asking a hero, what would you rather do? Would you rather go still hunting with me or would you rather go help Timmy find his buck?

And he without hesitation says, I want to go help Tim find his buck, you know, and, and it's because, like you said, like you aptly put, you know, they want to help each other, you know, that's, it's all about that, that, that friendship and that, and, and that, that teamwork, that idea of, of helping your brother out, you know, because how many times have we been alone out There trying to do something by yourself and, and, and, and, and whether you're successful or not, it's amplified when you have somebody supporting you in the field, like, hey, I have a wounded animal, you know, I can't tell you how many times I got up in the middle of the night after spending, you know, till way past dark looking for something and then just couldn't sleep and said, you know what? I'm going back out there. You're doing what? I'm like, I'm going back out there there, you know, and so that's what I do.

I go back out there in the middle of night, you know, with the, with the bear, the wolves, that doesn't matter. The rain, the sleet, the snow. You know, I, I just. I'm ate up with it.

But, you know, when you have somebody who will choose to do that and be with his brother that he just met versus doing something for himself, that, that tells that. That's a powerful story right there. And I, I appreciate you sharing that. And that's. That's the good stuff, right? That's the stuff that you could.

You can't make up. That's the stuff that you experience when you're out there that makes it so meaningful and so powerful, these experiences that we have.

You know, it's everything in between the lines, right, that, that, you know, that, that. It's the spaces in between the notes, if you will. It's those pauses in between, you know, the, the notes that make the. That. That make the.

The music, if you will, so interesting. And. Yeah, so. So I appreciate you sharing that with me, Andy. That's a great story. Those are a couple great stories.

Yeah. Like I said, there's. We could spend all day talking about them, but there's. We.

We got a pile of me doing events for, you know, 10, 12 years, whatever it is. You get a bunch of stories, but those are the ones that stuck out to me the most. For sure.

Yeah. Well, listen, I. I wish you and your team all. All the best moving forward. You know, I thank you and praise you for your work. It. It's.

It is a lot of work. I know you guys rearrange your schedules every year for it, and, and you carve out some space in your personal life to.

To help these heroes, and, you know, it means the world to them, and it certainly means the world to me, and I want to again, you know, recognize you for all that you've done and thank you and wish you guys all the best. And, you know, we're here for if you. If you ever need anything, we're a phone call away.

Well, we certainly appreciate the opportunity we've been given and, you know, we enjoy every event, everything.

You guys are first class from everybody in the organization, you know, from Corrina, to you, to David to every associate, you know, we've ever had, everybody has been, you know, first class. I've always said it would be awesome to get an event with just all the associates we've had just to reconnect with some of them.

And it would be fun to do at some point in the future. But we certainly appreciate everything like, say, the opportunity. It means the world to us and we look forward to a bunch more events for sure.

Yeah. And I almost forgot, I got to give a plug in here to the Fort Myer Thrift Store in Fort Myers, Virginia.

It's a small little postage stamp post, army post. And I think it's joint today where there's more than just army guys there, but they do. The little thrift store there does.

Collects money and resources and then they give grants. And one of the grants that they have given us for many years, we write it every year. We just got done writing it.

Again, requesting funding support for your activity and for all Virginian soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marine Purple Heart recipients. And that grant funds helps fund your operation and helps fund getting Purple Heart recipients from the great state of Virginia out to our events.

So to the Fort Myer Thrift Store, thank you for all your continued support through the years.

You're enabling this great activity and we're going to share this with them so that maybe they can get a better snapshot of what, what it looks like and feels like to be part of your mission. And you've done a great job with that, Andy. Thank you.

Well, we certainly appreciate it. One, I forgot to mention one person, and if I don't, she'll. She'll probably. If she listens to this, she's probably going to call me and get on me.

But April Woody and her brother Mike Woody from Bonaire Exteriors here in Chessfield, every year they pay for the license of the guys. And I just want to make sure I made note for their donation every year, both events. So April and Mike, I really appreciate it.

Thank you. April and Mike, God bless you. All right, buddy, listen. Fair winds and following seas, go out there and get them, man.

I appreciate it, man.

Keep. Keep being you and leading from the. Yeah. Keep bleeding from the front money. That, that. That's what it's all about.

I do appreciate it. I appreciate the opportunity and. And everything. So it's been awesome.

Yeah. All right, buddy. Good luck.

You too. Thank you.

All right. Thank you. Bye.

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