Sioux Falls Ford Lincoln Mercury Sponsors Pheasant Hunt for Wounded Veterans

Sioux Falls Ford Lincoln Mercury Sponsors Pheasant Hunt for Wounded Veterans

For many South Dakota residents, pheasant hunting is a time to relax and enjoy the outdoors. However, this year took on special meaning for a group of war Veterans who are still recovering

from their disabilities. After weeks of planning, Sioux Fals Ford Lincoln Mercury and several other Sioux Falls sponsors made the first annual David Feherty's Improvised Explosive Day of Hunting a reality. It was a trip of a lifetime. From the moment the group of Veterans arrived at Southfork in Dallas, SD, they were awestruck. Nolan Ruby, an Operation Iragi Freedom (OIE) Veteran said, "Did you see those flags coming up. I mean just from the entry to everything else, it has just blown me away!" Nolan was referring to the 200 American flags that lined the quarter-mile gravel driveway leading up to the hunting lodge.

Not only was everyone excited about the opportynity to hunt pheasants, but also the chance to be around fellow Veterans who had similar life changing experiences while deployed overseas. Nolan commented, "Anytime I get to spend with Veterans, I'm looking forward to it. If you've been to where we were and seen what we did, anytime you get to meet somebody else, you don't really have to know them. If you can spend some time with tem, and do something they all love to do together, of course you are going to look forward to it. For most hunters, Wednesday's weather was awful- 40 mph wind, cold and rain. However, as David Feherty, the even organizer said, "We're talking about guys who have been in Afghanistan and Iraq and this, this is not bad weather." Tom Carpenter, who is an Elkton, SD resident and SIlver Start recipient durying OIF added, "If I have an opportunity to go out and hunt and that's what these guys want to do rain...wind...I don't care, we'll go. Nolan added, "You still love to get challenged and so when the weather presents a challenge, it presents all the more fun."

For the 20 Veterans, the three-day hunt assisted with their rehabilitation. According to Carpenter, "It has been three and a half years and a lot of my recovery and rehabilitation has been because people have given me opportunities. I look back on the first outing I went on and I was able to see guys who were injured before me and where they were at and that kind of gave me a picture of where I want to be."

For Feherty, who is a PGA Tour Golf Analyst, he didn't have to think twice about making this an annual event for such deserving soldiers. "It's an honor to be amongst these men. What they've done, the extra-ordinary skill they've shown in doing it. It's beyond belief. No matter what I do or anyone else does for them, it could never be enough."

The soldiers who took part in the pheasant hunt were severely wounded while serving in the U.S. Armed Forces and were selected on a volunteer basis.