Sometimes it’s easy to do the right thing, and this was one of those times. Under the leadership and arm-twisting of Tom Taylor, V.P. of Sales and Marketing at S&W, Honored American Vets Afield was born in 2007. With a cadre of industry partners like S&W, Crimson Trace, Hornady, Leupold, PB Adaptive Sports Equipment, Surefire, Yamaha and FMG, H.A.V.A. was created with one goal — getting disabled vets back into the hunting field after returning from overseas.

The only qualification needed is they have a desire to go. H.A.V.A. assures there is no media show, no glad-handing, no self-glorification of the sponsors; nothing but a safe, relaxed place for these heroes to do what they loved before they were wounded — to simply go hunting. And something to keep in mind is H.A.V.A. isn’t a giant corporation with a fat payroll or operating costs that eat up money. Right now, H.A.V.A. is run by volunteers in our industry who take up the slack, pick up the tab for food, airfare, lodging if needed, and supply the guns and gear to make the hunt happen.

The first hunt was at Caney Creek Lodge in Texas in June of 2007. There, vets Luke Wilson, Greg Stube and Richard Russworn took trophy animals and hogs, visited with one another and otherwise had a safe, warm experience back in the field. National/World Champion S&W shooter Doug Koenig took some time to give some shooting tips and training prior to the hunt.

As Luke said: “This opportunity means the world to me. I never thought I would do anything like this. I honestly thought I was going to come and sit in a blind, but here I am climbing ladders, walking through swamps, going through thick stuff to track the boars, and being a hunter like everyone else. I live in a small farming town so not too many have been through the same thing as me. I wear pants and am self conscious (Luke suffered an amputation due to injuries), but being around other veterans, feeling the camaraderie and knowing they have been through the same thing makes it a lot easier.”

In January 2008, H.A.V.A. arranged for four vets to visit the Flagler Ranch in Texas for a hosted hunt for exotics and whitetail. I attended (doing the cooking with Heidi), along with Matt Rice and Kevin Jarnigan from Blue Heron (S&W PR), Clint and Heidi Smith of Thunder Ranch and Greg Stube (representing Crimson Trace). S&W supplied firearms, Hornady handled ammo and Surefire supplied tactical lights. Flagler Ranch was ably represented by Ranch Manager Lewis Scherer and his guides, and they hosted the group with style. The local H.E.B. supermarket donated cart-loads of food for the fellows, too! Southern hospitality at its finest.

Veterans Laval Simons, Patrick Scrogin, Ryan Foster and Brad Alexander were all smiles when they showed up. The guys took axis does and — due to an anonymous donation by one of Clint Smith’s long-time students — all of the vets were able to up-grade to trophy-quality animals, including whitetails, blackbucks and axis bucks. The donation covered the costs of taxidermy and meat processing too.

After the hunt, the vets told us how much they appreciated what we did. “We came here expecting a media show and instead what we found were friends who took good care of us,” said Brad Alexander. “This was the first time most of us were able to just sit and visit with each other outside of a hospital, to talk about our experiences and clear our minds of some stuff,” added Brad. “It’s just been great.”

H.A.V.A. plans on more hunts like this and to expand to offer different ideas to help get these young men (and ladies) back into the field. If you’d like to help, send me an e-mail at: editor@americanhandgunner.com and I’ll let you know how you can help. H.A.V.A. is applying for tax-exempt status and arranging to handle donations. You have our word this will never turn into a money-eating infrastructure, but will remain focused on getting vets into the field where they belong. But we need your help to do it.

(Thanks to Julie Goloski of S&W for help with this column.)