HELENA — Early in the morning, before dawn, a group of veterans put on camouflage, gather their gear, and head quietly into the Montana wilderness.
Over thirty veterans are experiencing the Montana Veterans Affairs Archery Elk Camp hosted by Center for Warriors Foundation, which runs for almost the entire month of September.
The program started last year with only five participants.
"We are not guides. We're a couple of old guys helping Montana veterans, and it just started to mushroom out from where we started from," said Dennis Burns, the Center for Warriors Foundation camp manager.
He says all attendees bring their gear, but the food, shelter, and hunting land are all donated through program sponsors.
According to Burns, many of the veterans prefer archery hunting.
"Several of them have told us they would never shoot a gun again, but the bow, that's a whole other thing. It doesn't have the noise factor involved," Burns said.
The hunting program keeps mental wellness and physical abilities in mind, providing disabled hunters with an all-terrain wheelchair, which Pete Siegel of Billings could use.
After being diagnosed with muscular dystrophy, he was disqualified from joining the Marine Corps, but he is a member of an organization that supports the Marines.
"It's soul-filling, in my opinion. For me, I'm home when I'm out here," Siegel said.
Siegel started hunting when he was 14 years old.
Now, at 56, he says he could not do what he loves without an Action Trackchair like the one owned by the Center for Warriors Foundation.
Siegel said, "I was kind of unsure if it would work, and by golly, we went out and found a way to get it done."
While no one caught an elk during our hunt, the time spent with others, sharing stories around the campfire, made it all worth it.
The camp wraps up next weekend, and they will start taking a head count for next year in April. You can stay updated with the organization here.
