Healing Through Hunting By Lieutenant Colonel (R) Steve Osterholzer, U.S. Army
“This is never going to work and I feel ridiculous,” rang through my head as I followed Roger across a field carrying
a screen decoy towards a group of turkeys. The three toms with hens could plainly see us as we trudged across 800 yards of field devoid of cover taller than a blade of grass. A freak storm the night before had dumped nine inches of snow which made us stand out even more. To make matters worse, Roger’s back, wounded in combat in Iraq, suddenly spasmed. Unable to bend over and standing well over 6 feet, from the bird’s perspective the screen tom decoy floated four feet off the ground with four long legs. Amazingly, the birds remained as we closed the distance. 500 yards. 300. 200. 100. “This is insane but I just may get a shot here,” I thought as my stomach knotted with the tension. Slowly dropping to our knees, we crawled on through the snow. At 75 yards the toms could stand it no longer. Enraged by the advancing Predator decoy, two of them suddenly raced towards us gobbling madly. Roger hit the dirt as the birds, sensing something amiss, suddenly veered right on a full sprint. I pulled up my gun, leading the first bird. Though this was my first turkey hunt, I knew enough to aim for the head. I’m
80 Heroes experiencing thrilling hunts, with nonCOVID years averaging 100 hunters per year. “We coordinate with generous landowners such as Rodney Seaman with Eastern Colorado Outfitters ,who provided this hunt, for opportunities at turkey, elk, deer, antelope and waterfowl.” With more than 150 on the waiting list, the need is great.
took a deep breath, and squeezed the trigger…
Though the hunting experience itself is important, even more critical are the conversations amongst the hunters around the fire.
trying to hit a target the size of a baseball at 50 yards moving really fast. This is way harder than knocking down an elk. Time stood still as I focused on the bead,
As a combat vet I was on this Eastern Colorado hunt through the generosity of an organization called Hero Expeditions, better known as HEX. “As a non-profit organizing hunts for service members, veterans, law enforcement, firefighters, and family members of Fallen Heroes, we believe giving back to those who’ve sacrificed so much for our country and communities is simply the right thing to do,” said founder Jeremy Heid. “My lifelong friend Derick was a soldier who was severely injured in Iraq and barely lived,” recalls Jeremy. “When he came back he wasn’t the same. Despite us both trying, our friendship wasn’t the same. I wanted to help him but I didn’t know how.” A short time later Jeremy, a commercial videographer by trade, was filming a California watefowl hunt comprised of soldiers wounded in war. “I told them my friendship with Derick wasn’t the same. They explained Derick would never be the same. Our friendship would have to start over.” The conversation was monumental. “Hearing their stories and seeing how healing the hunt was for them emotionally, I felt called to help other heroes the same way.” Derick became an integral partner as Jeremy formally launched Hero Expeditions in 2015. “HEX renewed our love of hunting together but with a new purpose. This gave Derek purpose,” says Jeremy. From its inception HEX has grown tremendously. 2020 saw approximately 28
WWW.HomelandMagazine.com / MARCH 2022
