District
staff volunteered their time Dec. 14, 2013, to support the second Wounded
Warrior Hunt at Eau Galle Recreation Area, near Spring Valley, Wis.
Volunteers
with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service and a few outdoor enthusiasts also helped.
Jon Sobiech,
planning, said the event was a great opportunity to support the veterans and
get outdoors.
For many of the
volunteers, the event began weeks earlier. Sobiech said the volunteers scouted
several areas within the park to determine where tree stands and ground blinds
could be positioned.
Despite these
efforts to get the veterans an opportunity of harvesting their own deer, the
cold weather forced the deer to hunker down during the hunt. At the end of the
day, none of the veterans were able to harvest a deer.
The six
veterans braved the cold and the lack of deer didn’t sightings deter their
spirits. Josh Walker, an Army veteran, said it was great to just get outdoors
and be with other veterans and outdoors enthusiasts.
In addition
to Walker, the other veterans included Travis Vliet, Dan Hinze, Shawn Plante,
Matt Goetsch and Tom Drinken. They were assisted by Paul Sickman, Dave Hausman,
Jim Devlin and Brad Peterson, all with the DNR, and Jon and Jeff Sobiech. Corps
employees Bryanna Sauer, resource management; Steve Clark, planning; and Kelli
Phillips, operations, provided food for the hunters.