Our trip to Texas

Justin and I just got back from a hunting trip on a ranch in Texas. We had an amazing time there. The ranch is owned by a couple that are huge supporters of Project Healing Waters – the organization that Justin does the fly fishing with. All of the guests who were there with us were either on staff with PHW or were participants/spouses of participants – the majority being wounded warriors. Some had visible wounds, others not as much, but all have made sacrifices for our country. Many people would look at them with pity, others with curiosity, and some even with disgust. Some might call them handicapped. I look at them and see people who have overcome so much to get where they are today – and have many more obstacles still to overcome. Three of the men were amputees, though two were a lot further along in the healing process and if they were wearing long pants, you might not even know they had fake legs. Another of the men is paralyzed from the chest down. The rest had other wounds that you might not even notice, but all of them had a story and were united through their service, sacrifices and a wonderful organization that helped the ranch owners organize the trip.

After the smoothest experience with airline travel that we’ve ever had, we arrived in southern Texas and were driven to the San Rafael Ranch. We met the ranch owner, Loralee West, Loralee’s friend, Kathy, the ranch staff, and the other guests who had already arrived. We were shown to our guest house so that we could relax a bit before dinner. Every evening, we had appetizers which could have been a meal by themselves. Then came dinner of the five star quality variety. I don’t think I’ve ever eaten such a variety of amazing food in such a short period of time. I even tried elk for the first time and the second time and the third time and it was never prepared the same way twice. After dinner, they had us draw names to see which of the staff would take the hunters out for the early morning hunt. As I’m not a morning person, I slept in while Justin hunted. When the hunters got back in, we had breakfast. After breakfast, there was shooting sessions on three of the days and a horseback ride on the fourth. I skipped the shotgun session, but enjoyed the rifle and pistol sessions. The rifle session was both to have fun and to sight in the rifles we would be using to hunt to the trip. I shoot left handed and was able to use a left handed rifle for the first time. It made things so much easier. I had only shot a pistol once before, so it was nice to get some instruction. We had a little competition and Justin and I did pretty decent. Lunch was buffet style and let me tell you, they put out an awesome spread every day. Before lunch was over, we’d draw names for the afternoon/evening hunt. After lunch we had a couple hours to rest and relax before the hunting resumed. Then after hunting, we’d all meet up at the cleaning station to see what everyone shot. Then back to the main part of the ranch to get ready for dinner.

The first evening of hunting, Justin and I were together in a raised blind with one of the staff. We saw a lot of the exotic/non-native animals. It was so cool to watch them. Once again, I was thankful that I splurged a few years ago a bought myself a camera with a 26x zoom. Toward the end of the evening, a herd of wild hogs came into range, and Justin managed to shoot one (58 lbs). I had them in the sights of my rifle but wasn’t confident enough to take a shot. The next evening, Justin wanted to be in one of the ground blinds, so I went with one of the staff, Eddie, to the other raised blind hoping to get some more pictures of the exotics. I didn’t see as many that evening unfortunately. I saw a couple white tail bucks. One was too young to shoot but the other was a good aged 9 point that Eddie said I could shoot if I wanted. I had him in my sights and he was well within range, but I just couldn’t pull the trigger. He was just too pretty…though I would have had no problem with someone else shooting him. I was afraid I would just injure him and he’d run off. He eventually walked out of range. Then a herd of hogs showed up. They came into range and all stopped. Then they’d walk a little bit and stop. (According to Justin, it’s rare for hogs to stand still, but these piggies seemed to be posing for me.) After a few minutes of tracking them with my gun without pulling the trigger, I know Eddie must have thought they’d just walk away like the buck. I think I surprised both him and myself when I actually did shoot. I looked and saw that I had dropped the pig (43 lbs) and was in too much shock to get off a second shot at one of the others. lol Will I become an avid hunter now? Doubtful. I could take it or leave it honestly, but the look on Justin’s face when I told him made it totally worth it. The next morning, Justin finally got his buck. He’d been trying for years to shoot something with antlers to join his gator on the wall, and he finally got it. He got a nice sized 8 point. That evening, I got him to go back to the raised blind with me in hopes that the herd of pigs would come back. We waited and waited and finally three large hogs appeared about 200 yards away.  I’ve only ever shot at 100 yards, so I wasn’t confident that I could make the shot. Justin was a different story. He shot at the largest one – a boar. He hit it, but it ran away and we weren’t able to find it. Unlike me, he wasn’t too shocked to get off the next shot. This time he shot twice at a sow. She also ran off, but Eddie was able to find her (140 lbs). All in all, between the two of us, we had a successful hunting trip. The ranch owner paid for each person to have something mounted. Mine was too small (though not too small to eat and ended up on the lunch buffet on the last day), but Justin is getting his buck mounted.

By the end of the week, we made a bunch of new friends that I hope we will see again somewhere down the road. It was hard saying goodbye on Sunday. Some we bid farewell to at the ranch. Justin and I were on the same flight as 6 other people from the ranch, so we had a little longer to hang out with them in the airport and one was even across the aisle from us on the plane. After we got off the plane, we were met by the TSA agent who helped escort us to our next gate. We started off as a group heading in the same direction and at each place where one or two people broke off to go to their own gates, we took a few minutes to say goodbye. The TSA guy was pretty understanding at our delays. It was just that good of a time that we weren’t ready for it to end (and the weather in TX was so much nicer than what we were all heading to).

We’ve been blessed with so many opportunities that have helped Justin get back into his hobbies, get us away from the hospital, and just to have fun. Each one has been so different, but after each one, we’ve come away having made new friends, wonderful memories, and enjoyed ourselves to the fullest. I’m so thankful for the people who have given so much to help the wounded warriors and their families. It’s so good to see Justin back outdoors doing things he loves. He may have lost his lower legs, but he didn’t lose his spirit. He hasn’t let being in a wheelchair keep him from doing the things he loves, and I will forever appreciate the people who have helped make that happen.