Outdoor Friends Forever Hunt: PART 2

I think Clayton said everything that needed to be said about the OFF weekend. But i thought i would share with you about how it affected me as well. To say that this past weekend was humbling, would be an understatement. No, this was more along the lines of a life changing weekend. I have the privilege of working with kids everyday at The Children's Hospital of Alabama. You could pretty much say I've seen it all. With that being said, ill be very honest. When i walked in on Friday night, i was expecting to see kids that were "down." In other words, tough to get smiles out of because they may be depressed about their specific situation, or just flat out not feeling good. And this is because i work with them everyday. I was very much mistaken though. These kids were absolutely incredible!! Spirits high and ready to hunt. I have never seen 6 different faces filled with so much joy in anticipation for a hunt.

My hunting buddy for the first afternoon was a young man named Tyler Templeton. Tyler is for lack of a better phrase, one of the coolest people ive ever met. We got situated in our stand the first night and waited patiently for deer to start moving. It wasn't until about 4:50 we saw our first two deer. Needless to say, thats all i took.....Tyler was in kill mode. He picked out the one he wanted and made a perfect shot dropping deer right in its tracks. Tyler could have shot a 150' buck and been just as excited. And of course i was going nuts, I was so excited!

The next day i got to take my new friend Jordan out to hunt. Jordan was one of these kids who you can't help but like. He just brought joy to everyone around him. The only thing different about Jordan compared to some of the other hunters in camp was that he had never killed a deer. So there was somewhat of a pressure on us to get the job done for him. And at the same time, praying we could get it on film.

We had a doe come out around 4:30 that put on a show. She was running all over the place. Which was actually a good thing because it gave time for Jordan's dad to help him get his gun up and ready. Once he was finally steady, Jordan squeezed that trigger and what we thought was a miss turned out to be a great shot. The deer only ran about 30 yards out of the field. What a great hunt.

It's hard to put into words what this kind of experience will do for an individual. I was talking to my dad on the way back to Birmingham and filling him in on all the great stories i had. I told him, "dad, this was one of those weekends thats just good for your soul." I've always told people that working at Children's Hospital will make your park your attitude real quick. The reason is because you walk in that place, and you see people and families that have real problems. Like Clayton said, it will make you rethink all your petty selfish problems. My heart was overjoyed when i left the OFF hunt. It reiterated how much i have to be thankful for, and how lucky i am to be able to enjoy the outdoors whenever i want. Not everyone has that luxury. These kids don't get the chance to hunt and fish as much, and to be able to share hunting camp with them was one of the highlights of my year. The Outdoor Friends Forever hunt is something that i will definitely be participating in for many years to come. Do yourself a favor, and get involved. Very few things are more precious than experiencing the wonderful outdoors that God has provided. However, one thing is better......and that's sharing it with others that do not get to experience the outdoors everyday. Im thankful for what Jim Hardy has done with OFF, and Im thankful for all the friends I made through such and awesome organization.

-John

Outdoor Friends Forever Hunt

Outdoor Friends Forever Family Hunting Weekend
Posted on December 12, 2011 by backroadsoutdoors

When we arrived Friday night I was floored at how much this event and organization has grown because there were so many people volunteering their time to help. The chaplain gave a devotion on Friday night that slapped me around and made me remember why I’m here.
We got up Saturday and shot targets at the range. The quote of the morning came from Kainon, our comedian who is blind. He was shooting an AR-15 semi automatic rifle and had shot a few rounds from his clip. He stopped shooting for a second and yelled, “Hey Big D hold your coffee, I can’t see what I’m doing!” Then he proceeded to pop off the remaining rounds in his clip as fast as that gun would reload another shell. Pop, pop, pop, pop, pop…you get the idea. It was the funniest thing I have heard in a long time and everyone there was dying with laughter.

Joshua was my hunter for the first afternoon, so we spent a little time together on the range. He was a dead eye. He said he’s killed two deer before. He then took the .22 and painted a snowman on one of the targets! The target had two eyes, a nose, a mouth, and buttons. All he was missing was a corn cob pipe! We set up that afternoon in a hay loft of a barn. It made it tough on the lighting for the camera, but we made it work. We had two deer come out but they got spooked when we were trying to get set up for the shot. A minute later, a button buck came out. He grazed behind a branch for what seemed like an eternity. Finally he cleared the branch. Then he ate his last bite! Joshua nailed him. He dropped, got back up, and left the field. We weren’t sure how good the hit was, but we found a good blood trail. We came back later and found him 50 yards from the field. Saturday afternoon, 4 different hunters killed 4 deer! 2 of those kills were on camera.

Sunday morning I got to hunt with my buddy Cody. He and I are the genesis of the Oreo legend of Outdoor Friends Forever. We didn’t have any luck Sunday morning, and I think Cody got a little cold. I told him later, I bet it was because we only put one Oreo in the field instead of more. Cody was able to kill a deer the previous afternoon.

After the hunt, we setup at Jim’s pond to do some interviews with some of the guides, hunters, and parents. We wanted to hear about their experience with Outdoor Friends Forever. Then things got emotional. Listening to some of the kids and parents talk really got to me and made me start thinking about my “problems”.

It is weekends like this that make me question the “problems” that I have. My car is falling apart. Work is tough right now. Money is tight. My toddler is pitching a fit. If only we could have a little bit more room in our house. My back hurts. The guys that we were able to hunt with at the Outdoor Friends Forever family deer hunt would love to have these “problems”. Some of them struggle with simply walking. Some of them cannot walk at all. Some have trouble speaking. Some cannot see. And I complain about MY “problems”. This weekend we were able to do an interview with Kainon, who is blind and has cerebral palsy. He was clearly the comedian of the group, but he got serious when he knew he was on camera. He talked about how his dad drove him over 4 hours from Mississippi to Alexander City, AL to be able to deer hunt this weekend with Outdoor Friends Forever. I saw 3 grown men tear up as he sat there talking about what it meant to him to have his dad do this for him. I was one of those 3 and I don’t know how many others that heard him choked up also.

The saddest part about the whole weekend for me is that most of the kids that were hunting have no idea the type of impact they have on their guides. You can quickly develop a bond with someone sharing a shooting house for 6 or 7 hours over the course of a weekend.

I was able to guide two years ago and there were a handful of guides and other volunteers, and maybe 5 or 6 hunters. I missed the event last year, and as I reflect back on the weekend I ask myself, “What did I have going on that caused me to miss the weekend?” I could not recall at first, but then I remembered my entire family had a stomach bug. What can I do to make sure I don’t miss it again? When I walked in the door Friday night I couldn’t even get in the door of the lodge that may have been about 2000 square feet. I was completely floored seeing the number of people who were there, all for only 6 kids who wanted to hunt! There were 6 kids who were hunting, and there had to have been at least 50 people in the lodge!

….And I have problems!? I cannot wait for the video John and I will produce from this weekend. I cannot wait to show people the kids, the personalities, and the characters that we got to share deer camp with. They literally made us laugh and made us cry all weekend. The food was unbelievable. I do consider eating a hobby you know. I especially want to thank the ladies who worked the kitchen to make sure that our stomachs were not growling in the deer stand.
To be a part of a weekend like this changes you. It changed me two years ago and it changed me this year. Now I have a daughter, and another on the way. I got home and hugged my wife and my daughter a little bit tighter. I’m going to go home and think about my “problems”. And I’m going to go home and mark my calendar for next year. I’m going to go home and tell people about Jim Hardy and Outdoor Friends Forever. So maybe next year we’ll need 100 volunteers to guide 12 or 15 kids. And I have “problems”?!

Sure, we’ve all got problems. You know, keeping up with the Joneses type problems. But when I think about what God has given me; a beautiful wife, a beautiful daughter, another one on the way, and good health for all of us; and then I go participate in a weekend like this… I don’t have any “problems”! I’m just selfish and greedy. Weekends like this help you remember that I’m blessed by God more than I thank him for.

On the way home, I listened to a song by Matthew West called “Strong Enough”. I thought about those kids, and how some are not strong enough to use the bathroom by themselves. But what is boils down to is that I’m not strong enough either. You cannot go through life on your own. You must have God. Period.

I know this is long and I cannot wait to tell the stories that we captured on camera. So, I will close with a verse that is so often quoted and some times quoted with complacent sincerity. “I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me.” Phillipians 4:12-13 (NASB)

Thanks to Jim Hardy and all the volunteers who made this weekend special for all involved, and thank you for allowing me to be a small part.

-Clayton

You can see more photos from the weekend by visiting our website http://www.huntbackroads.com/ or our Facebook page.