On Dec 1st and 2nd, Combat Warriors held a deer hunt in Halifax County, NC hosted by Twin Oaks Hunt Club with sponsorship by Busckshot Hunt Club, Ventosa Hunt Club, Wilson Farms and other generous land owners from Scotland Neck to Hobgood (Joey Cotton, Matt Shields, Ricky Edwards, Clay Whitley to mention a few). Thirty-five warriors were hosted, housed, feed and guided thanks to the dedication and generosity of our volunteers.

Months of planning were finalized on Nov 30 at the guide meeting hosted by Buck Shot Hunt Club and their dedicated northerners who make the long trip from New York for each of these events. All the property owners and hunt club guides reviewed available tracks of land, stands, and schedule of events behind the scenes so the warriors just had to show up, eat, hunt and enjoy themselves.

A few of the warriors were able to come in early enough on Friday to enjoy an afternoon hunt. Eight deer were harvested on the opening evening of the hunt from multiple properties. By 7:30 pm most of the warriors had arrived and were treated to fresh steamed oysters and a hearty steak and baked potato dinner with additional fresh sides. Jimmy and Randy from Tarboro have been treating warriors to great grilled meals for several years now, and they continue to please each year as the numbers have grown. Warriors and guides alike enjoyed a full belly and a few libations as the fellowship continued into the night around the bonfire with a moving song performed by Nick Culpepper and Taps played on the harmonica.

Coffee and breakfast was served at 4:30 am to insure hunters and guides were fueled for their morning hunt. By 5:00 am, guides set out in all directions with their warriors to the multiple properties. By 10:30 am when the warriors came back for lunch, five more deer were harvested from several different properties! Prior to lunch we gathered to thank all those that made this hunt possible. Special thanks to the Sportsman’s Box for their donation of gift boxes for the warriors (www.SportsmansBox.com).

The cooks, Randy and Jimmy, continued to impress with Carolina style BBQ chicken for lunch, leaving some warriors in need of a nap prior to the afternoon hunt. However, Ventosa Kennels and local law enforcement provided unique post lunch entertainment to keep everyone awake. Michael Beaulieu and crew from Ventosa Kennels in Scotland Neck (www.ventosakennelnc.com) offered an impressive display of their mulit-purpose canine in an apprehension scenario. We were all glad it was Michael in the training suit after witnessing the power of the K9! NC Division of Wildlife also came to support the event and we appreciate their diligence in protecting all of the natural resources we enjoy as hunters. Plus it’s always good to have the game wardens on your side!

Warriors and guides put in a final hunt Saturday afternoon and five more deer harvested which included our largest buck of the hunt. There were a few that slipped though the woods unobserved, and others that didn’t provide a shot. We won’t talk about the multiple treks into the swamps in search of the ones that “got away!” We do have to make honorable mention of the corn thieving raccoons that met their demise and one that wanted to come back alive in a box as a gift for the unsuspecting! Top prize for largest buck was a Yeti Roadie 20 cooler, and the largest doe took home a Yeti Hopper.

While everyone was out on the evening hunt, Phillip Weeks worked his magic in his “Late Night Porkin” smoker producing some lip smacking pulled pork and pork tenderloin for dinner. The day concluded with dinner, live music by Jerry Cole (@Jerrycolemusic), deer processing, some tall tales among new friends, and what we hope are memories to last a lifetime.

We are truly blessed to have such freedom, warriors who sacrifice to protect it, and patriotic citizens who appreciate it.

The members of the Embro Hunt Club provided 8 Warriors with a great experience. Extremely high winds made it very tough for the hounds to run the deer, but the camaraderie and enjoyment was standard as it is at all Combat Warrior events.  The warriors were able to experience a new way of pursuing deer and enjoy the great food and fellowship that the Embro Hunt Club always offers.  A big thank you to the members and supporters of the Embro Hunt Club who have been a supporter of Combat Warriors for years.  And, as always, thank you to our Warriors who give us the freedom to spend weekends like this together.

Combat Warriors was honored to host another offshore fishing trip on Memorial Day thanks to several great Americans who sponsored this event.  Their desire to host combat veterans on this day of reflection and appreciation made for an unforgettable experience.

Warriors from across eastern NC trickled into Engelhard on Sunday afternoon to meet one another and socialize before sharing a meal at Harris’ Restaurant in Fairfield.  All four branches of service were represented with periods of service spanning from Vietnam to active duty members pending their next deployment.  Conversations flourished as groups were assigned their boats and shared a meal together before retiring early for the night.

Breakfast was ready the next morning at 03:30 and a convoy departed for Oregon Inlet at 04:00.  By 05:30, four vessels loaded with warriors set out for the open ocean. 

Special thanks to the owners and crew of these fine boats for making this event possible:

• A-Salt Weapon, Captain Dennis Endee http://www.a-saltweapon.com/
• Fin Planner, Captain Chris Gornell http://www.finplannersportfishing.com/
• Outer Limits, Captain Jim Rickmanhttp://www.fishouterlimits.com/
• Qualifier, Captain Fin Gaddy http://qualifiercharters.com/

It didn’t take long for these experienced captains to get into the fish and put their guests to work on tuna and mahi-mahi.  The fishing was fantastic and it was a full day for the crews and warriors.  There were some with sturdy sea legs and other that gave offerings to the sea, but all were able to enjoy the open ocean, camaraderie, and freedoms we are so blessed to enjoy in this country. 

As we reflected on all those that paid the ultimate sacrifice for our freedoms, we honor their memory and are reminded to live life to the fullest each day and cherish that which we hold dear.

“There is no greater love than to lay down one's life for one's friends.” John 15:13 

On April 28 and 29, Combat Warriors held its final turkey hunt of the 2017 season in Halifax County, NC sponsored by Twin Oaks Hunt Club, Busckshot Hunt Club, Ventosa Hunt Club and other generous land owners.  Seventeen warriors were hosted, housed, feed and guided thanks to the dedication and generosity of our volunteers. 

A few of the warriors were able to come in early enough on Friday to enjoy an afternoon hunt.  One of our warriors, a 25 year active duty Marine only weeks away from retiring, was able to harvest his first ever turkey, setting the scene for a fantastic weekend of fellowship and chasing our favorite fowl.  By 7:30 pm all our warriors had arrived and were treated to freshly cooked whole pig Carolina BBQ and fixings.  As dinner progressed, guides and hunters were introduced and began getting to know each other.  The night concluded with hunting assignments made and the anticipation of morning gobbles on the roost.

Coffee and breakfast was served at 4:30 am to insure hunters and guides were fueled for their morning pursuit of gobblers.  By 5:00 am, guides set out in all directions to the multiple properties.  By 10:30 am when the warriors came back for lunch with four mature Toms harvested, one being the second for our Friday warrior leaving him tagged out!  Some additional fun was had on the Ventosa Hunt Club with some unique carp fishing techniques - a story best told by those who were there, but bellies were sore from laughing so hard.

The cooks, Randy and Jimmy from Tarboro, continued to impress with Carolina style BBQ chicken for lunch, leaving some warriors in need of a nap prior to the afternoon hunt.  Other dedicated warriors took the opportunity to enjoy an invite to a hidden gem, nicknamed “The Aquarium,” for some mid-day fishing which produced a few trophy bass among the other bent rods.

The afternoon hunt had the additional challenge of warming temperatures, but it did not dissuade our warriors.  After a full day of turkey hunting with multiple encounters, two more warriors were able to seal the deal.  One warrior, who harvested a Tom in the morning filling his second tag of the season, was able to pull a gobbler in range for his son who harvested his first mature Tom. 

A main highlight of the event was having a first time turkey hunting warrior experience the full effect of a boss gobbler respond to aggressive calling and fanning, sprint across 200 yds of open field, jump a ditch and meet his end at 14 paces.  Not only was the hunt exciting, the reward was a double beard – first ever turkey and what a trophy!

The day concluded with rib-eyes, stories from the field, new friendships, and what we hope are memories to last a lifetime.   We are truly blessed to have such freedom, warriors who sacrifice to protect it, and patriotic citizens who appreciate it.

Sacrifice, Honor, & Courage!

Chris Milligan, CWO-4 USMC (Retired)
Combat Warriors Inc. Board Member

It’s Monday morning, the 17th of April 2017.  It’s early and I’m trying to get focused for the busy work week ahead.  It’s proving difficult because my heart and my mind are fighting to keep this weekend from becoming a memory.  If you are a turkey hunter, you know that getting the weather, the birds, the set up, and all the other circumstances to all align for a perfect hunt is the greatest challenge in the sport.  It is the reason that no one will ever master this sport of ours.  Think, if you will, for a second about all the times you’ve said to yourself “Man, if only we had set up this way”, or “If that bird had just walked 10 more yards”, or “If my buddy had just had his gun up when the bird walked out.”  In turkey hunting, there is a laundry list of things that can go wrong, and they usually do throughout the course of a season.  These birds are one of nature’s great challenges and that’s why they draw us in like bugs to a porch light.  But this past weekend in Edgecombe County, preparation collided with perfect timing (and most likely the Hand of God Himself) to create what will most certainly go down as the best weekend of turkey hunting I will ever be a part of. 

We hit camp early Thursday morning, with a few guys having been there since before sunrise nailing down birds for Friday morning’s hunt.  Thursday was mostly a prep day and rest up period for the turkey marathon that was about 12 hours from kicking off.  Our first group of Warriors arrived just before it was time to roost birds Thursday night, throwing their bags inside the cabin and loading up in the trucks to go put an ear to the Spring air to see which tom wanted it first the next morning.  Best options were identified and two groups headed out under the light of the full(ish) moon Friday morning.  By 7 AM, two stud turkeys were flopping in the decoys.  We scouted a few other spots before all gathering for a heavy southern BBQ lunch that would make any man take a nap against a tree. 

Around 3 PM, two more Warriors arrived, ready to hit the woods.  Professionally, these guys have a mission and they don’t let anything get in the way of accomplishing it.  They treat turkey hunting the same way.  Greetings were exchanged and flip flops traded for boots and we were outbound.  We shot back to a secluded field on the farm where 3 toms were seen the previous afternoon.  We drove the truck in and parked, eased doors shut, and walked about 10 yards before seeing a strutting tom down in bottom corner of the field.  Chinese fire drill ensued.  I hopped in the truck, cranked it, and backed it up (about 35 mph) into the next path out of view.  Josh Pelletier and the hunters shoved the strutter decoy into the dirt at about 10 yards and dropped out of sight off the side of the elevated road.  I wanted to witness the act so staying in the truck wasn’t an option.  I sprinted down the road until I remembered I’m too old to sprint anymore and dove into a clump of trees to watch what I hoped would be bird number 3 of the day get piled up at close range.  About the time I stopped hearing myself wheeze, I see a white and red head bobbing across the field and he was, by no means, taking his time.  As he escaped my sight I smiled and waited for the gun report.  Less than half an hour in camp and one of our newest arrivals was toting a long beard over his back and a smile on his face.  There was another hot bird behind us when we shot this bird but he may have been close enough that the gun shot changed his plans from making an entrance. 

We swung back to camp and relaxed for a few before hitting the next spot for the evening sit.  As we arrived to the next spot we expected to see a gobbler in the far corner of the field as he had been the day before.  We pulled in and there he was.  Game on.  We slid down through the cypress bottom and crept up to the field edge and settled in between him and his bed.  The way the day was going so far this should be an easy one.  Josh crawled the strutter out to the edge of the field and started talking to him.  We were maybe 10 minutes into the sit with ears glued to the far corner waiting to hear back from the bird we had seen on the way in, when another gobbler fired back about 75 yards away right where we had walked in!  Josh was calling and he was cutting him off.  This bird was coming.  Josh had positioned himself to watch the bird we’d seen already and I happened to be facing the tree line this bird stepped out on.  Josh and I locked eyes and acknowledged that I had eyes on the bird.  He wasn’t running but there was no doubt he was bound for the skillet.  With another former Marine by my side I knew the turkey was approaching his final resting place.  He strutted in and stopped at the decoy, well within range.  I whispered, “Kill him when you can” and, well, he did.  These guys had been in town maybe 2 hours and were both holding their first gobblers they’d ever shot.  The fact that this weekend was going to shake out the way we had been dreaming about since duck season was starting to set in.

When Saturday morning rolled around we had one Warrior who had yet to bag a bird.  Our mission was singular.  Every man was leaving with a bird, period.  Travis took him and one of the other guys to a nearby farm where 2 strutters had been seen the morning before.  The rest of us fanned out to some other spots with one of the Warriors getting his second bird of the trip.  But everyone’s minds were on the fourth quarter bird that needed to fall to round out the best weekend of turkey hunting all of us had ever seen.  The birds on that farm didn’t show for Travis but he texted Josh with a plan.  “Come to the farm and bring me the strutter decoy.  We’ve got a bird hung up and we’re going to crawl him”.  Josh and I raced to that farm and threw the strutter decoy to Travis and peeled back out to the road to watch what we hoped would be the most glorious ending to the weekend.  Travis and the Warriors made haste through the woods separating them from the strutting turkey.  He was with 3 hens which explains why he wasn’t eager to walk 600 yards through the woods to find one more.  Josh and I watched from the road through our binoculars.  We kept eyes on the strutting bird hoping he would stay put while they made their way to him.  He strutted in circles for several minutes and we finally see the boys belly crawling out of the woods with that strutter decoy in front of them.  You see, when a turkey won’t come to you the only options are to go home empty handed or try going to him.  We were all out of time for option A.  This bird was about to take a truck ride.  We see the guys crawling quickly, trying to crest the ridge in the field so that this bird can see them.  I am 300 yards away in the truck but if you judged my breathing I was laying behind the decoy myself.  Turkeys just do that to me.  They slid to the top of the hill and as the fan on the decoy came into sight of that dominant bird, Josh and I both started freaking out.  This bird dropped strut 150 yards from the guys and ran dead at them until they popped up from behind the decoy and showed ol’ boy what it’s like to come face to face with a Marine at 5 yards.  The shot rang out and you would have thought that we won the lottery sitting in that truck.  I think we’re both still sore from punching each other.  A storybook ending to the greatest weekend ever.

All in all, we killed 7 birds in a little over a day, and we did sleep for a couple of hours of that time after the campfire and the guitar playing died down.  Our goal was to send every man home with a bird and we did just that.  The turkey gods shined down on us this weekend and there couldn’t have been a better time for it.  We have come to live for these weekends.  What started as a one-time thing has become a force in our lives that drives us in more ways than we ever knew possible.  We may never know what some time in the woods does for our guys, but we don’t really need to know.  As long as they know that we appreciate them and that our door is always open, that’s enough for us.  I can’t help but glance over at these men as we spend time together and think back to my grandfather, the Gunny.  A career-Marine, Francis Marion Eddings, he would wait in a parking lot for what seemed like forever just to talk to someone with a USMC sticker on their truck.  He told me stories that maybe I didn’t know how to fully appreciate when he was here but this has become my second chance.  I look into the faces of the men I wish I had become and get to see my Pa again.  He would be thrilled to see the ways in which Combat Warriors gives back to the service members he so adored his whole life.  I can never repay these men for what they do and I can never thank Combat Warriors enough for helping me become involved.  Sometimes a void has to be filled for you to even know there was a void there in the first place.  If you’re not involved yet, we can help you change that.  Contact us via the Facebook page or our website and we will plug you in.

I need to take a minute to thank everyone that helped to make this weekend a huge success.  The guides who put birds in front of the guys constantly this weekend:  Travis Grimes, Josh Pelletier, Justin Cagle, and John Webb.  And the biggest thank you of all to Roger, Nell, and Travis Grimes for hosting our group at your wonderful place.  Your generosity in sharing your land, lodging, and turkeys with us is beyond measure.

The 2017 Chockley – Bullseye Turkey Hunt is in the books. The event was special for all who were there. The Chockleys always put on a great event. The wind was howling, making the hunting tough, but all the Warriors were able to see Turkey’s in full STRUT. Unfortunately they were not able to bring them in close enough to bag one . Sometimes just being out there is enough.

Thanks again to the Chockleys for providing Combat Warriors with a quality event!

Combat Warriors would like to say a huge "thank you" to Heather Gordon (pictured center) who made us this amazing quilt. The quilt has been on display at Big Ed's City Market downtown Raleigh with raffle tickets being sold to support Combat Warriors. The drawing was held and Donna Strickland (pictured far right) was the lucky winner of the quilt. Donna has chosen to donate the quilt back to Combat Warriors for future use. Thanks so much Heather and Donna and also thanks to Sandy Gordon and Judi Bitner who also had a hand in making the quilt. In the end, the quilt raised $3,130 for Combat Warriors and thanks to Donna Strickland it's not done yet! Thank you to everyone involved!!

The Family Outing and Pheasant Shoot was a huge success with Mother Nature threatening again. Hurricane Mathew wiped the event out in October and it looked as if the bad weather would get us again but our prayers were answered. God cleared the skies around 10:00 AM and we were able to have an excellent event.

We had around 70 Warriors and family members attend with many being first time participants. We were able to skeet shoot, rifle and handgun ranges were active and 400 Pheasant were released for the tower shoot.
Numerous Warriors thanked us for a great event and said they could not wait until the next one.

Thank you to everyone who came out, to all the volunteers, and to our sponsors!

Left to Right:  Barry Perry of Perry's Guns, Bill Warren, Faron Cahoon, and Doug Cowan

Combat Warriors Inc. was proud to share our mission with the masses at this year's Dixie Deer Classic in Raleigh, NC.  We had a booth full of board members and volunteers mingling with the many visitors to the deer classic.  We were able to connect with several other local and national vendors and organizations and got a lot of conversations going with the beautiful Browning x-Bolt .308 Rifle and Sig Sauer scope that we raffled off at the conclusion of the weekend.  Tilman Britt of Browning was kind enough to donate the rifle for us to raffle off.    The Sig Sauer scope was donated by our long-time friends at Big Rock Sports.  We were able to raise a good chunk of money from the raffle that will all go directly toward more and better events for our soldiers.  The lucky winner of the rifle was Mr. Faron Cahoon (pictured above).  A former Army Veteran himself, Mr. Cahoon was thrilled to win the gun.  We thank Mr. Cahoon for his service to our nation and for his support of Combat Warriors.  We rolled out some new merchandise at the Deer Classic as well which will be available soon in our brand new online store.  All proceeds benefit Combat Warriors so please support us by making a purchase.  It is always a pleasure and an honor to be able to stand in front of people and share with them what we do as an organization.  Our lone goal has always been a simple one.  We want to take our passion for the outdoors and use it to help our soldiers in any way we can.  It is incredible what a red sunrise and a screaming drag or a nap beside a tree, woken by a thunderous turkey gobble, can do for the soul of a man.  We are all in need of the therapy that the outdoors provides and those of us in a position to help share this with those who need it most should feel honored to be able to do so.  We encourage everyone to get involved.  If you want to know how, please reach out to us via the contact tab on the website.  Thank you to everyone who visited us and supported us at the Dixie Deer Classic this year and for everyone that has supported us through the years.  We are just getting started!

Our 2016-2017 event schedule concluded with a youth duck hunt at the Great Ditch Hunt Club in Hyde County, North Carolina.  Combat Warriors Inc takes great pride in making trips available to our service members and their children. Time afield with a son or daughter is a gift that will be cherished long after the kids are grown. It's often what children reflect on when they think of great times from their youth. The kids shot a variety of ducks with a few kids shooting their very first duck ever.  We could not have picked a better way to wrap up another year serving these Combat Warriors and their kids.

We held 18 events in the 2016-2017 year serving over 200 soldiers and their families.  Our goal is to hold more events every year and reach as many warriors as possible with quality experiences that benefit these warriors.  We have a great line-up of events coming in the 2017-18 year and we can’t wait to share these events with you.  If you’d like to get involved in these events, let us know!