APPRECIATION EXTENDED FOR DOVE HUNT 2020

In September, four servicemen were honored. two of those honorees share their experience with the community of Big Spring and Howard County.

A drive home

The life of an active duty Drill Sergeant is not only a rewarding one, but can be demanding at times. So when I was selected to partake in the Big Spring 7th DAV dove hunt, I jumped at the opportunity. It was a chance to drive cross country from Georgia to my home state of Texas, not only to hunt, but to visit my family and meet other military service members with stories of their own to share.

Thursday September 17th, I had the honor of meeting my fellow honorees and everyone involved in setting up the event for the weekend. That evening we were fortunate enough to stay in the team house on an amazing ranch. Stories and laughs were shared that I will be sure to never forget.

The next day we ate a quick breakfast then got to the fun part. Being that it was my first time dove hunting, I couldn’t have asked for a better first experience. After a few hours of shooting, we had a great lunch at the Traincar, huge thank you to everyone who contributed. Next came the skeet shooting, which was another fun outing. Following a busy afternoon, we were treated to an incredible dinner hosted by the Hills family whom have hosted this dinner for several years now.

After breakfast the next morning, we got back out to dove hunting. Lunch time, we headed to The Gardens. Thank you to all the personell and catering for the wonderful food. Afterwards, we made our way to the shooting range behind our team house. Getting the chance to use very well maintained weapons with everyone there was a treat.

To finalize our amazing dove hunting weekend, friends and family attended a closing ceremony for the honorees and myself. All 4 honorees were able to share their accomplishments in their military backgrounds to everyone in attendance. Thank you to all who shared great words and appreciating what we do for the country we love. Thank you to all who worked the DAV dove hunt. An opportunity like the DAV dove hunt is really an honor and it is definitely appreciated. Final thank you to the Big Springs DAV Chapter 47, the families who helped and supported, and my 3 fellow honorees for making my experience a memorable one.

Respectfully, Tomas Martinez

Sharing an experience

My experience from the dove hunt on September 17th- 19th of 2020, was unbelievable! I was introduce as an honoree, but was quickly accepted as a brother after all of the shotgun shooting jokes. It was my very first time shooting a shotgun, but it will not be my last. During our time at Moss Creek Ranch, we had the chance to be involved in a couple of events that were designated for the honorees. My favorite event was sitting down with the honorees an talking and learning how each one of us had different experiences throughout our military career. Even though, the dove hunt was amazing, the skeet shooting, was just as much fun as shooting dove, the brother hood among past and present honorees, and meeting different personal who had an act of involvement to make the dove hunt and the other events possible. I will always cherish the memory that I made with my brother’s; but I can’t wait until I am apart of making memories with the future honorees.