Wounded Warriors Guide Service

After returning from Iraq in 2007 I found that the only therapy that I found successful in relieving my stress was being in the outdoors, whether it was hunting, fishing or just being outside. The idea of WWGS began after taking a close friend that had been injured out hunting; he had been injured in an IED and was recovering in the Minneapolis VA after being transferred from Walter Reed Medical Center. He made a comment about how he felt so much better after being in the outdoors, and instantly the light came on, not necessarily a business at first but just the idea of taking disabled vets out hunting with me, as I had a lot of equipment. After a year of doing that I was approached by someone that wanted to donate some money and they suggested we start a non-profit so that they could donate and receive tax benefits, so I went to work and made the necessary contacts and the rest is History… 

The most memorable trip was a few years ago with a Korean War Veteran, Don was a very special person, he suffered from the effects of asbestos exposure from the navy and only had one lung, he was on oxygen and his wife said he was having a hard time finding anyone that would take him on a hunt due to his current medical conditions. He had not been on a deer hunt in over 15 years and he was desperate to get back out one more time before he passed away. I told her we would make it happen and opening morning of the season Don and I were on my in-laws property in Bemidji set up in a ground blind ready to go, his oxygen tank and all. It wasn’t 30 minutes into legal shooting hours and out popped a really nice adult doe, don looked at me and I gave him the thumbs up, it was a very difficult shot as it was about 25 yards away! LOL and down went the doe, I went out and grabbed her and drug her back to the pickup and informed Don that he could in fact shoot one more, he smiled and reloaded his 7 mm mag. Approximately 15 minutes later out came another nice doe; I again gave the thumbs up and down went the second deer, almost exactly where the first one met her fate. Now for the most part this is a not so exciting story, but most of our hunts are not about the kill, they are about the experience and this one will stick close by me for a long time.

This hunt took place in November and that following summer I received an email that informed me that Don had passed away, it was the first time that I had a veteran that I had guided that passed, and I took it pretty hard. About 3 months after the funeral I ran into his wife and she began to cry, she said it was the first time she had broken down since after the funeral, she then began to tell me about how the morning before he passed away he was in the hospital and he was not doing so well, but he was smiling and telling the nurses and doctors about the deer hunt he went on with me, and she said he repeated that story to everyone that came in the room, it was the last story he would tell. This to me is why I do this, I had the opportunity to give this honorable person something that would be one of the last great memories of his life, and it meant the world to him, if I can help others have those same memories I will do this until I die.