SPORTSMAN'S GUIDE | Challenged Outdoorsmen have 20-year history, plan to host November hunt

Challenged Outdoorsmen of America's Texarkana Chapter has been helping those with disabilities have the freedom to get back in the deer woods for about 20 years. The group is looking for new volunteers and hunters.  (Photo courtesy of Challenged Outdoorsmen)
Challenged Outdoorsmen of America's Texarkana Chapter has been helping those with disabilities have the freedom to get back in the deer woods for about 20 years. The group is looking for new volunteers and hunters. (Photo courtesy of Challenged Outdoorsmen)

Challenged Outdoorsmen of America's Texarkana presence has helped those with disabilities have hunting experiences for about 20 years.

"It began with two or three men wanting to have a disability hunt about 2001. They got people together and the Corps of Engineers down here at Redwater," said Inez Jackson, the group's treasurer. "The guys who were handicapped already said it was just hard for them to get back in the woods again. They said, 'let's start something.' They started working with the Corps and roads were built. We have trailers, which are specially built to take wheelchairs," she said.

A pavilion was also built on the land.

"We just go down there, camp, set up, put them in the blinds, about 25 of them. We have been doing this for all these years in cooperation with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers," she said.

"We don't like to call them (Challenged Outdoorsmen) members. We call them volunteers. When it first started, they did have memberships and once a year you paid dues. When my husband got into it, he said he was not going to pay to work. We have 20 volunteers who help do this," she said

Last year's hunt was on hiatus because of COVID, but they are planning a disability hunt in November.

"The last hunt we did was December 2019. We set up camp and somebody stays there, usually Bryant Rogers, the president. In the mornings we make coffee, have a snack. They draw for their blind, fellowship, we pick them up and take them back out in the afternoon and they draw for another blind and then we go pick up," Jackson said.

"If they harvest a deer, there is someone there to dress it for them and put in an ice chest. We have had people coming back year after year that is our goal and to get new ones in, too."

Based on who registers for the hunts, the Challenged Outdoorsmen volunteers shop for groceries to feed the participants at camp.

People have come from as far away as South Texas and the Dallas area and they must have a Texas hunting and fishing license to participate, said Nancy Rogers, the group's secretary.

Bryant Rogers said a participant could hunt if they hold a hunting or fishing license in another state, but they would have to pay an out-of-state license fee.

"That is normally more than someone wants to pay to hunt one time," he said.

This year's disability hunt is planned for Nov. 17-19 at the Clearsprings ATV area near Lake Wright Patman.

"It is behind locked gates and you have to have an access pass to get in there. When we have our hunts, the Corps closes it down for a week to keep it under control. It is about 1,700 to 1,800 acres, primarily for deer hunting. We try to get it scheduled to where we have the right amount of hunters that day. We don't have enough equipment to take more than 25 on a hunt per day," Bryant Rogers said.

The group accepts donations, has fundraisers and has even received funds from civic clubs.

Challenged Outdoorsmen has also volunteered in other outdoor pursuits like the fishing derby for children at Spring Lake Park.

They even hosted a annual youth hunt for several years.

"Some of the children hunt with us several years until they age out. We get to know a lot of the people because the same people participate all the time," said Nancy Rogers.

"I have heard people say from their experience they would not be able to hunt unless somebody took them to the woods. They cannot see well, in some cases. It is a comfort to know they have transportation to the deer blind and someone to pick them up," she said.

The group is always looking for new volunteers and new hunters.

They are a close group and have lost some of their membership.

"We have lost several members over the last two or three years. My husband was a big part of it and he passed away five years ago," Jackson said. "We filmed a little TV show years ago that run on KLFI. We filmed hunts and other things."

For more information, call Jackson at 903-748-2437.

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