A Hunt Worth Celebrating
April Veteran Turkey Hunt
A Hunt Worth Celebrating
Six veterans arrived at E3 Ranch this April for a turkey hunt they won’t soon forget. By the end of the first hour during the first day, nearly every man had tagged out, with the last filling his tag by noon on day one. But filling a tag was never really the point. For men who spend most of their lives operating at a level most people will never understand, a few days at the ranch is something rarer than a good hunt, it’s a chance to finally put the weight down.
More Than a Hunt
With tags filled and time on their hands, the group headed to Fort Scott Golf Course. For one of the veterans, it was their very first time ever picking up a club. What followed was exactly the kind of afternoon you can’t manufacture: laughter, competition, and at least one veteran who managed to hit a nearby house twice from the same tee box. He earned a special award for the effort.
Back at the ranch, the competition continued at the shooting range. Teams faced off in a plate rack race, a single-elimination shootout where speed and accuracy were everything. Then the group moved to the long range platform, where it became a test of patience and precision, with teams racing to hit as many targets as possible before the clock ran out. Caldwell Shooting Sports, a longtime partner of the foundation, brought out some electronic clay throwers for the competition. In addition, the winning team walked away with a brand-new electronic clay thrower, and Caldwell committed to sending every veteran their own thrower to take home as well. We’re grateful for Caldwell’s continued partnership and their genuine commitment to honoring the veterans who come through these gates.
Later came the crawfish boil, a tradition that, fittingly, nobody planned. It started simply enough: the right person knew the right source for fresh crawfish, and it was too good not to do it again. Then again. And now it’s something the turkey hunt just wouldn’t feel complete without. There’s something about standing around a table that gets people talking in a way a sit-down dinner never quite does. Veterans who had never met were connecting dots, finding shared deployments, mutual friends, familiar names. The kind of bonds that form in those moments don’t fade when the weekend ends. For the guys coming up from the south, this is as familiar as going through the McDonald’s drive-thru. For the Midwesterners, it’s “What is this animal?”
Every detail at the ranch is designed to recreate something familiar: the locker room setup, the team room feel, the sense that you’re back somewhere you belong. Most of the time it goes unspoken. But during the boil, one veteran stopped, looked around, and said it out loud: “It’s so cool to have a locker room setup like this, it reminds me of the team room.”
You Made This Possible
After the weekend, one veteran sent a message that says more than we ever could:
“You guys are a special group of men doing special work and setting positive conditions for men to succeed. More importantly, y’all are living out good examples of Christians, which this world could only use more of. Thanks for protecting the unreachable and bringing them home.”
That’s what your generosity looks like in real life. Every donation to E3 Ranch Foundation opens these gates again, giving the next group of veterans a place where the weight lifts, even if just for a few days.