My Nonprofit Reviews

I am a disabled veteran that, by chance, had the privilege of meeting David and Ryan Winters along with all of there volunteers a couple of years ago. Since then David, Ryan and the entire BDHC organization has been an integral part of my physical and psychological rehabilitation. By there initial display of selfless service during my first event with them to all of the Veterans, not just the wounded, and to me, it was obvious to me that these men and volunteers are true Americans and patriots and were sincerely there to help all of us out. They exercised and quickly projected to me a sense of comradery that no other organization has personally shown me since my medical retirement. The same comradery I experienced while serving the Teams in our nations Special Forces units is what has earned them my respect and willingness to continue to push forward with my treatment for the physical and invisible wounds that no other organization has successfully helped me or my family deal with over the past decade. In my families eyes they have help me survive where others have failed to reach out to us and effectively do so.
With the encouragement from David and Ryan, I've participated in a few events during 2014 and now early into 2015. This past weekend was, by far, the most incredible event i have personally experienced since my retirement. Everything was perfect, extremely organized and well planned. From the time we rolled into the "base camp", Ryan was there to greet me (although I did not know he was undercover-I didn't recognize him without his beard, lol.) From there I was introduced to Mike from Operation Outdoor Freedom and was quickly registered for the hunt and shown our sleeping arrangements and introduced to the entire staff that was present along with the fellow Veterans that would be participating in the hunt. Everything was provided for us, we were catered to every possible need that came up....these guys think of everything! Mr. Strickland and his wife were generous enough to allow us to hunt on there property and were amazingly hospitable.
Now to the fun stuff, each of us were paired up with a guide, some were from OOV and the Forestry Service and the BDMHC staff. I was absolutely lucky enough to had been chosen to pair up to magic Mike from OOV who is also a Forest Ranger. Right off the bat I felt comfortable around Mike, he immediately explained to me where we would be hunting from and a brief description of the area. He was very detailed and obviously an extremely knowledgeable hunter and guide, I call him the forest ninja. I absolutely love hunting and the outdoors so I felt right at home..guns and woodline, what more can a guy ask for. The most impressive thing to me was the availability of a variety of rifles and hunting equipment that David, Ryan and the BDMHC had at our disposal along with the ammo selection, tailored to each hunter. Ryan was very knowledgeable on the ballistics and capabilities of those rifles and ammunition and quickly answered all of our questions. These are the small things that allowed me to feel that much more comfortable and confident in this organization.
After each hunt, it was as if we each held our own AAR (After Action Review) with our guides, fellow hunters and volunteers, the kind of "unofficial" AAR that we have come accustomed to from being in the military. Of course when you get a bunch of type triple A (AAA) personalities together, the jokes immediate start pouring in so you better have thick skin...We jokingly teasing each other but really used those humorous "critiques" to improve our hunting skills for the next hunt and to get to know eachother that much better..("breaking the "GUARDED" ice") which i can say did help some of the hunters.
The best part and the part that separates the men from the boys was the cleaning of the harvested! We had some of the best volunteers with us for this part. Initially all I saw were two big camoed up gorillas with knives slicing away and heard reciprocal saws cutting away, like a well choreographed room clearing event. It grabbed my attention and quickly asked if they could teach me. Dave and Joey Evans didn't hesitate to hand me the knives and pursued to talking me through the whole process. I didn't know these guys were brothers until David Winters told me but I can tell you that these are the guys you want on your side when it comes to dressing hogs and deer! It was quite an experience and now have a new skill that I could only have experienced with this organization. After the next hunt a doe was harvested and I asked my guide Mike and a fellow Forestry Ranger to teach me how to properly clean the doe and with there guidance it was quite a detailed experience, not as aromacly interesting as the hog cleaning but never the less an unforgettable experience.
All in all I can share with you that I absolutely had an incredible hunting experience. I had the opportunity to enjoy watching 3 large does come within 20 feet of our stand which was absolutely an incredible sight to see. These beautiful animals are so peaceful and like I told my guide, it was a very relaxing to enjoy just watching them feed and walk around us as if we were not there and not a threat to them, very therapeutic.
Once again I want to thank everyone that made this hunting opportunity possible. If I left your name off of this review, forgive me it was not intentional. Mr. Strickland and your family for allowing the use of your property, Mr. David Hunt from OPERATION OUTDOOR FREEDOM, my guide and forest ninja Mike, Glenn from the Forestry volunteers, the Evans brothers for the awesome skills in cleaning the harvested, the COOK for the amazing steaks and meals, Amy for talking to me about another possible opportunity with wounded veterans in the near future, all my fellow hunting veterans that shared there person events with us, the SOCOM Care Coalition for adding me to the list at the last moment, thx Hiriam and last but not least David and Ryan Winters for all that you continue to do for all veterans, no just the wounded...."Leave No Man Mehind"!
LOOKING FORWARD TO THE NEXT HUNT!

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