Warrior Hunts Golf Tournament, Wine Tasting and Auction Set for The Memorial @ Frenchmans Bend.

Warrior Hunts Golf Tournament, Wine Tasting and Auction Set for The Memorial @ Frenchman’s Bend

Monroe, LA (May 12, 2015) – For the first time, Amicus presents The Memorial @ Frenchman’s Bend will benefit Warrior Hunts, part of the North East Louisiana Veterans Association.

Warrior Hunts is a locally managed non-profit that organizes hunting/fishing weekends as a way to get combat veterans outdoors. “The outdoors experience has proven time and again as one of the best ways to get these heroes out of the house and help begin the healing process.” Said Lt General Donny Wurster, USAF Retired. Warrior Hunts seeks to provide a stress free weekend for our American heroes and if you’re a witness to it, the “Thank You” given to them provides a lasting impression of our State, Nation and Families in Northeast Louisiana.

Activities are set to kick off at 6:oopm on Thursday May 21^st at Frenchman’s Bend with a sponsor appreciation event. The event will include a wine tasting as well as a live auction and a silent auction, which will also start Thursday and carry on through the weekend. Auction items to include:

• 105mm artillery shells from the Special Operations’ AC-130 Gunship
• Custom Warrior Hunts themed fire pit from Porter Iron Works
• In Home Chef Experience(s) with Chef Pat Nolan
• Golf Getaway to Kingwood Texas (Tin Cup movie location)
• Autographed Boxing Gloves from boxing legend George Foreman, Sports Memorabilia from local athletes
• Hunting Trips and more…

In addition, ULM’s Coach Berry is scheduled to speak prior to a flag ceremony Equipment items sought by Warrior Hunts, including deer stands, and Hunting gear will be on display to show donors how their funds are being spent.

Friday night is “RED Friday”. RED is for: Remember Everyone Deployed. In honor of those in harm’s way, wear some red, or even better. Show your support for Warrior Hunts and Pickup a RED Warrior Hunts T-shirt at T.P. Outdoors.

Flag retirement ceremonies have become a tradition at many Warrior Hunts events. In an era where some in our society are prompting the practice of disgracing the flag, this special time at Warrior Hunts events is set-aside for warriors and friends to retire Old Glory with honor and dignity. A flag lighting ceremony with a new flag will follow the flag retirement and JPS Equipment will fly a large US flag high above Frenchman’s Bend from Thursday through Sunday.

On Saturday and Sunday, it’s golf, golf and more golf. Warrior Hunts will present players with mementos on #1 Tee Box while Local vendors/volunteers feed players on holes 4 and 14, with another “feed bag” location being planned now. Retired USAF Master Sargent John Nolan, Jr., the Director of Warrior hunts said, “Warrior Hunts Alumni and Families will be on hand along with teammates associated with our three year old mission of putting our Nation’s Heroes into Nature. Almost 200 Warriors have participated in Warrior Hunts events so far. We are on track to serve 100 for this year alone. We’re making a difference right here, right now, with the right people”

The Memorial Golf Tournament at Frenchman’s bend is presented by Amicus. Additional contributing sponsors include Skyjacker, T.P. Outdoors, Batteries n Bulbs, Twin City Outdoors and more. For more information about Warrior Hunts, check out their website at www.warriorhunts.com. To register your golf team, contact Frenchman’s Bend at 318-387-2363

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About Warrior Hunts of NELVA

Warrior Hunts of NELVA is an all volunteer 501c Non Profit that started in 2012, with two injured veteran hunters.   Warrior hunts are a way of giving back and helping wounded combat veterans and active duty special operators connect and cope with combat injuries. By 2014 over 100 Warriors and Family members hosted so far.

Warrior Hunts of NELVA P.O. Box 903 West Monroe, La 71294 Tax ID/EIN 59-119-1272 NELVA is a Non-Profit   Organization warriorhunts@gmail.com 318-235-5454

www.warriorhunts.com

Practice Shots with the DJI Phantom Vision+

I’ve been looking at the DJI remote controlled cameras for some time now to add to our arsenal of gear for some really cool camera angles.  But this morning while I was visiting with our friends at T.P. Outdoors, Bill Petrus had just finished showing me his new DJI Phantom and we were discussing upcoming T.P. Outdoors Episodes when I got a txt about shooting some video promos for the new Havoc Boats by Titan Marine.

Tim Scott with Havoc Boats and I had been discussing shooting a promo for some time, but it just hadn’t happened yet. My initial thought was wow, how cool would that be to be able to shoot some arial video for the promo with this type of setup.  What a coincidence that it would work out now.  Or was it?  Coincidences don’t just happen you know.  (Romans 8:28)

So, I was a little elated when Bill offered to let me borrow his new toy, I mean tool, to shoot the video.  But then fear set in. We will be shooting over WATER.

I don’t know if your aware of this or not, but water and electronics don’t really mix very well.  Couple that with the fact that these things aren’t exactly cheap.  Then factor in that even with a GPS guided, gyro stabilization, and built in flux capacitor, more than one of these things have taken a dive into the drink.

So, I spent a little time this afternoon practicing with the new DJI Phantom Vision+ camera drone before setting out to film with it for real. I flew it earlier today but it was a very short flight.  The Phantom has an approximate 15-20 minute battery life, and an hour re-charge time.  to some, that may seem like a short time, but it really wasn’t that bad.  I was able to get quite a lot practice this afternoon.  Practice makes perfect and I’ll need all I can get to make sure I don’t crash and drown in the river.

After playing around with it a little, I was able to get some pretty interesting shots and I was amazed by how stable the camera was.  When holding a camera manually, it can be quite a challenge to get good stable footage from a moving vehicle.  I recently got to try my hand at it from a real helicopter and it was nearly impossible to hold steady.  But, the gimbal on this thing works very well as you can see from some of my test footage. So, wish me luck tomorrow and pray that I stay out of the water hazards.

LSU fans could soon be calling the hogs from the air?

The University of Arkansas and LSU have held a long rivalry on the football field chasing the pigskin, but Louisiana residents may soon control the skies.

Helicopter hog eradication programs are growing.  Texans have been using the practice for a couple of years now with huge success in both the quantity of hogs removed and in economic gains due to commercial activities that have risen form these activities. Organizations like Vertex Aviation Group have grown and adapted to help land owners, outdoor enthusiast and even many tactical enthusiasts like SHWAT control hog populations.

The success of these types of programs could soon have many LSU fans calling the hogs too. All SEC rivalries aside, this week the Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Commission (LWFC) has announced plans to implement regulations that would allow the practice in Louisiana.

According to a recent Louisiana Sportsman article,  “Landowners, or groups of landowners, would have to contact LDWF and provide authorization to the permit holder to take hogs on their property. And the landowners could provide permission to the aviation companies to use ‘subagents’ like gunners or observers to directly participate in hog control activity.”

Interested parties are encouraged to voice their comments and any possible concerns to the LWFC during the open comment period.  Camille Warbington, LDWF Wildlife Division, Post Office Box 98000, Baton Rouge, LA 70898-9000, or email cwarbington@wlf.la.gov prior to Aug. 30, 2014.

Its unclear whether the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission will follow suit, but in addition to Texas, and possibly Louisiana, Oklahoma passed legislation allowing the practice in 2013.  Arkansas, as Ricky Bobby would say, “if your not first, your last”.  All I’ve got to say is AGFC should consider the practice and remove any and all obstacles to help not just control the hog population in Arkansas, but eradicate it.  We’re ready for some cooler weather, some good BBQ and lets win some ball games this fall.  “Woo Pig Sooie – Razorbacks.”

Filming Wounded Warriors

I’ve had the oppertunity to work on some awesome stuff lately for the T.P. Outdoors Adventures TV Show. I’ve been filming some hunts with those guys for Wounded Warriors. Helping people has always been one of my main focuses in life, but these wounded warriors are some special people who really deserve it.

Just being a part of this, I’ve kinda been on a high now for the last few weeks since we first started filming. It’s just really incredible. Not what I’ve done. It’s not about me, but about being with these guys. Hearing their stories while sitting around the camp fire or in the blind.

One of the first things you notice is the camaraderie between these guys. They are truly like close brothers. (I guess you bond pretty quick when the enemy starts shooting at you.) Then you notice how…”beat down” doesn’t quite seem like the right phrase, but how even though they have scars, both emotional and physical, they are eager to get back to normal. Yet there is no normal anymore. You can’t take away the pain that they have, the things they have seen, the things they’ve endured. You can only share your normal and the things you love with them. For me, that’s the outdoors and Christ’s love for us.

Over the course of these events, There seems to be a legitimate healing that takes place. One guy stated that he didn’t really get very excited about anything anymore since coming home, but he sure got excited when there was an 11 point buck standing in front of him. I heard one person mention “this is what we were fighting for. There are good americans here at home. We’re protecting them and this way of life.”

It’s a little hard to think about someone protecting our hunting rights and our second amendment rights while fighting in another country. But the reality is the enemy hates our way of life.

To some degree, I’ve taken hunting for granted. I’ve hunted since I was about 5 years old. It’s hard to imagine that these guys have been fighting for us to have the opportunity to hunt. To watch the sun rise in a free country.

The outdoors is a connection that we share with these guys. It’s something that we both love. Being able to capture that, Bottle it up, and put it in a video to share with others is an amazing experience. I’m privileged to be a part of it.

The first episode aired on KNOE and KAQY last weekend. If you missed it, you won’t want to miss it again this weekend or for the next few weekends. You’ll see some of these patriots hunting and having a good time with their closest buddies.