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Dressed in camouflage and armed with rifles, nearly 60 veterans and Soldiers from around the Fort Campbell area gathered April 9th at Kyle Lake for the annual Commanding General’s Invitational Turkey Hunt.
Building bonds based on shared passions between the young and experienced hunters among Fort Campbell and community partners was the focus of the event – and to hunt turkeys, of course.
Jeffrey Yaeger, a retired Colonel, works as a coordinator for the event with the Military Officers Association of America to organize and fund the hunt.
“This has been going on for probably 60 years and in the past 10 years we’ve reinvigorated the program and shifted the focus to getting active duty Soldiers out here,” said Yaeger. “The great thing about this hunt is we have a lot of retired Soldiers and civilians that go out to guide and teach the Soldiers how to turkey hunt.”
“The whole emphasis of the hunt is to show the Soldiers here at Fort Campbell that there's plenty of outdoor and wildlife recreational services they can participate in on base,” he continued. “Through the time, effort, and support of these civilians and retired Soldiers we can get Soldiers out here to hunt at no cost to them.”
First-time hunter Sgt. Seth Watts, a Soldier assigned to 2nd Battalion, 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) took 1st place for largest bird this year, with a turkey weighing in at 21.4 pounds.
“I was ecstatic, I was glad to have the opportunity to come out here and hunt, and on top of that, to actually bag a turkey was great,” said Watts. “If I get the opportunity I definitely plan to come out to the next hunt.
During the turkey hunt, experienced hunters were paired up with inexperienced Soldiers to ensure the new hunters could tag a turkey while also building camaraderie.
“I’ve never been turkey hunting before, so having the opportunity for someone to teach me and guide me how to hunt, I already knew it was going to be a great day,” Watts said. “My guide taught me everything I needed to know, he called out the turkey and got us in the right spot to take the shot, I wouldn’t have known where to start without him.”
The turkey hunt has many veteran hunters that come out every year and take the time to help younger Soldiers get signed up and involved in the hunt.
“We go to the various units on Fort Campbell and provide them with allocations to let the Soldiers come out here to hunt.” Yaeger said.
After the hunt, everyone gathered to share stories of the day – something Breeden was not expecting.
The Fort Campbell turkey hunting season opened April 3 and will run through May 6.
| Date Taken: | 04.09.2022 |
| Date Posted: | 04.12.2022 15:01 |
| Story ID: | 418323 |
| Location: | FORT CAMPBELL, KY, US |
| Web Views: | 118 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Experienced hunters guide Soldiers in turkey hunt, by SPC Jayden Woods, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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