Past Events
Learn about some of our past events.
North Carolina Fishing, 2024
Trey Thompson from HH and Pete Shandrick hosted two of our nation's heroes for a therapeutic day on the water. The Bass were hard to find but that didn't stop them from persevering through the tough wind conditions and cold air. These veterans were proud to share their stories and we couldn't think of a better way to do that than on the water with like minded people.
We are proud to serve those who have given so much for this country and these veterans are already looking forward to spending another day on the water with Heroes’ Harvests.
Lake Superior Fishing, 2024
The 2024 HH Lake Superior fishing event began with veterans arriving Thursday evening, and fishing started on Friday under perfect weather conditions, with settled winds and temperatures in the mid-50s. Over two days, participants caught nearly 70 fish. They enjoyed a fish fry at the the Grand Marais Community Center, where many from the community gathered to enjoy great fish and to honor the veterans. Special thanks to the Bayshore Market for donating supplies and fuel. The community's incredible support made the event possible and truly special.
SGM(R) Shawn Runkle Great Lakes Turkey Hunt, 2024
Another great HH event. All of our veterans had a good time and either harvested a turkey or had the opportunity to harvest a turkey. We had an action-packed weekend starting off with the veterans coming in Thursday with a welcome dinner provided by #papamurphyspizza.
Friday morning after the turkey scouting was done we headed to #rapidriverknifeworks for a tour and some gifts for the veterans. We finished the tour with all the veterans signing the “Hero’s Wall”. We then moved to the Mead Rod and Gun Club for our gun fitting and patterning, turkey talk, wilderness first aid and finished with a round of trap.
Saturday & Sunday the hunting commenced! After the hunt, we finished out the day with dinner and potluck hosted by the Ensign Township Fire Department. The landowners, veterans and community members shared stories and appreciation for the opportunity to hunt some excellent turkey hunting land.
The Ensign and area communities did it again this year by providing the land, lodging (#timberdoodlelodge) and food for this special event. The Ensign Fire Department went above and beyond with some great food and fun.
A special thanks to all the volunteers and hunting mentors for providing a great event for all of the participants.
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Colorado Elk Archery, 2023
Our 2023 Colorado Elk Hunt winner was Jarrett Razon, USA (Retired) who came to camp for a true backcountry public lands archery elk hunt, he was ready to go. The hunt shaped up to be a difficult one with high temps and rough terrain imposing grueling conditions on the crew. Regardless, elk were seen and heard multiple days of the hunt and Jarrett proved to himself that he still has what it takes to get on the mountain and bugling bulls across scree fields and dark timber. New friendships were made, collective suck endured as a crew, and confidence renewed in what was certainly an experience that will be long remembered!
Idaho Turkey Hunt, 2023
We had a fantastic Idaho Turkey camp this year! Six birds were down in the first 24 hours. By the end of camp everyone was able to fill their tags. A cumulative 35 plus miles were traveled for these birds.
Thanks again to everyone that supported and participated to make this camp happen.
@northwest_spur_chasers_ @livefree_eatwild @brucewalin @ascensionist @blueline_woodwork @vrun11 @about_the_memories @official_patternmaster @living.life_outdoors @spurredoutdoors @pitotticoffee @phelpsgamecalls @niceshotd @huntit_official @thecrazyelkcompany @gotgametech @salt.creek.ammo @onxhunt @_mossbergcorp
Lake Superior Fishing, 2023
Heroes’ Harvests had the honor of hosting five veterans this Memorial Day weekend in Grand Marais, MI for a salmon and lake trout fishing event. We were blessed with the best weather the UP has to offer and made the most of it by spending two full days on Lake Superior. We caught a ton of fish and based on the smiles and stories when we made it back to the marina, everyone had a fun time. We caught more than enough fish for two meals, as well as enough to send everyone home with fish to share with their families and friends. This wouldn’t have been possible without the great support of the Grand Marais community.
The community members hosted us to a couple of incredible fish dinners and lots of desserts. A special thanks to Brad Nelson, Dale Ross, and Dennis Weaver for putting us on fish and providing all the equipment for the event. We also need to thank Jessica Weaver, owner of the Bayshore Market, for supplying all the fuel used over the two days of fishing. This is the kind of donation that allows us to offer more opportunities like this to our veterans and service members.
Thank you, Grand Marais, and all of those involved in making this event a tremendous success. #heroesharvests #veterans #veteranowned #veteran #military #veteranhunt #veteranhunting #veteranfishing #veteranoutdoors #veterannonprofit #outdoortherapy #thewardept #rackopscbd #fhf #onecastfishing #fundthefirst #onxhunt
SGM(R) Shawn Runkle Great Lakes Turkey Hunt, 2023
For the third year, Heroes' Harvests met in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan for our spring turkey hunt. Although this was our third year, it was our first year where we renamed the event in honor of SGM(R) Shawn Runkle. We were fortunate to partner with some great companies like Vortex, Phelps Game Calls, onX, and the Timberdoodle Lodge. This entire event was supported by the great community of Rapid River and the Ensign Township who donated all the food, drinks, and close to 3000 acres of land to hunt on.
This year did not disappoint as we had 9 participants that made the trip along with many volunteers, totaling close to 30 supporters! We were able to harvest 8 turkeys, many being the first for our hunters.
We are already looking forward to next year to get back in the outdoors!
Spring Warrior Clash 2023
Heroes’ Harvests partnered with FLR Outdoors, LLC to hold the 2023 Spring Warrior Clash fishing tournament on Shearon Harris Lake. We had over 40 anglers grind it out for eight hours on the water building cohesion, experiencing healthy competition, and soaking up that outdoor therapy. We appreciate all of the boaters who volunteered their time and resources to host these warriors and we cannot thank you enough. Anytime we can get warriors in the outdoors is mission success and we accomplished that mission today.
We would also like to thank OneCast Fishing who provided an abundance of fishing tackle for the warriors and Armed Forces Initiative of Backcountry Hunters and Anglers for their partnership. This is the true warrior spirit coming together.
It was great to have the NC Biologists out there who were taking DNA samples of Largemouth Bass that weighed over two pounds. We all have the same goal of preserving our terrestrial and marine wildlife. Conservation is always a priority in the outdoors.
Lastly, we would like to thank the warriors for their selfless service to our nation, both home and abroad.
Jigging With Heroes on Lake Petenwell, WI 2023
Heroes' Harvests had the pleasure of hosting four veterans and their families to a day of fishing on Lake Petenwell in early February, 2023. The total number of participants was seventeen with the kids ranging in age from 6 to 17. Although the fishing was slow, we were blessed with good weather, and as you can tell from the smiles, everyone had a fun time. Even the young man who stepped in an ice hole at the start of the day. We were able to get him some dry boots and pants and warm him up before he got back to fishing. The highlight of the day came when a young lady from Kansas City caught her first walleye that turned out to be our only keeper of the day. The day was capped off by a Bald Eagle flying over to end the day.
These events do not happen without the support of local businesses, product donations, family, friends and of course the guides. Sam Warden owner of Guy4eyes Guide Service led the charge coordinating the help and support for this event with the help of his righthand man and son Travonte. The other guides that helped with supporting this event were Team Walleye Guys Guide Service and J-Mata Fishing.
Rome Outdoors, LLC supplied the bait for the event and The Bighorn Store supplied the meeting place along with an Ambush Outdoor Products Ice shack to serve as headquarters and warming house for the event.
Kenders Outdoors Supplied K-Rips and T-Rips and Just the Tip - Tip Up Light provided tip up lights for all the families.
Visit Rome, Wisconsin helped with advertising to get the word out to veterans.
Finally, we need to thank the support volunteers that helped with set up, fishing, transportation, and logistics. This event would not have been what it was without you.
Kyle Wickert, Eric Marth, Mitchell Tenjum, Brandon Sibert and his son, Jon Zech, Kevin Sannes, David Printz and his daughter and @paul Ward (most of whom are veterans). A special thanks to @Erin Bruno and @Miranda Alyssa for keeping everyone fed, dry and warm.
We are truly blessed to have such great support from all these individuals and businesses. We can't wait until we can do this again. Thank you.
Heroes and Horses 2022
Heroes’ Harvests held its first veteran family event in September and to say it was a success would be an understatement. The weather, facilities and the horses all cooperated to make this such a great event. Prairie and Sean Conlon hosted 2 veteran families with a total of 10 participants (6 Kids). Each family spent time with the therapy horses, a hayride and finally an art project to wrap up the day. Everyone had a great time including the horses. A special thank you to Sean and Prairie for providing the facility, horses and the pulled pork for lunch. Also, a special thanks to Matt Staude who reached out to Rock River Lanes and secured a donation of potato salad and coleslaw. Matt also donated the refreshments and all the utensils for the event. These events don’t happen without the support of people like Prairie, Sean and Matt. Thank you. Rock River Lanes @staudez @prairie.conlon @ebruno1 @creekwalker920
Jordan Lake, North Carolina 2022
Heroes’ Harvests hosted two amazing veterans for a day of fishing on Jordan Lake, located in the Piedmont region of North Carolina. Mr. Daniel, who current serves in the United States Army and Mr. Christian, who served in the United States Marine Corps had a blast putting several fish in the boat with Fishing Director Trey Thompson and a volunteer veteran, Mr. Mark Edwards.
We want to give a huge shout-out to @onecastfishing for their enduring support to the Heroes’ Harvests mission and look forward to hosting more fishing trips soon.
Idaho Turkey Hunt 2022
Big thanks to John Weik from Northwest Spur Chasers for putting together these videos for us.
Check out some of the other content John has made:
Michigan Great Lakes Spring Thunder 2022
For the second year, Heroes' Harvests met in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan for our Spring Thunder Event. This event kicked off with some awesome Turkey Hunting on both the beautiful Anderson Farm which consists of ~1400 acres and nearby land donated for use by many volunteers. It was then followed by days of fishing on Lake Superior trolling for the plethora of fish species it holds.
This year did not disappoint as we had 9 participants that made the trip along with many volunteers, totaling 22 at the event! We were able to harvest 7 turkeys, many being the first for the hunter. The fishing on Lake Superior was outstanding, as we were able to fill coolers full of fish.
It was a great time for all and we can't wait until next year!
Florida Osceola Turkey Hunt 2022
For the second year we linked up with World Champion Turkey Hunter, Jeff Budz. We had two participants this year Ariano Canuto and Anthony Pickering, both were new hunters and had never turkey hunted before. They showed up Friday afternoon and we got after it right away. Anthony went with our founder Mitch to one location and Ariano with a friend and guide Ryan to another location. Anthony was able to harvest a beautiful Tom only a couple of hours in and Ariano followed suit the next morning. It was another amazing story that could not be done without the help of Jeff Budz and Ryan Higgens!
Wyoming Mountain Lion Hunt 2022
Austin was our mountain lion winner and we started out strong. We cut some tracks early but the weather didn't cooperate well with us. For the 7 days of hunting, 5 were socked in with snow and wind making the hunt extremely difficult. We worked hard and so did the dogs but we weren't able to close the deal because of the elements. The great thing is Austin's tag is good for a year and we are going to do our best to get him back out there and harvest a cat.
Colorado Archery Elk Hunt 2021
Stewart Houpt was our elk winner for 2021 and he put in the work for sure. After a slow start to the season, Stew finally had an amazing opportunity on this unique bull. The bull came into the wallow at about 25 yards and Stew made quick work of him. We had a 6 mile packout but luckily we had some help to get him out.
Colorado Archery Bear Hunt 2021
John was lucky enough to come into Colorado and take one of the most iconic animals on the landscape. The 350+ pound boar came lumbering in at the scent of a fresh elk carcass and John was able to place an arrow on him. We were able to pack out most of him before the snow started and made things a little more sketchy, but John was able to get the last bag the next day, an amazing trip!
2021 Grand Slam Turkey Tour
For our inaugural event we decided to take one service member on a grand slam turkey tour, achieving the U.S. Grand Slam in a single season by taking the Osceola, Rio, Easter, and Merriam Sub-species of the American Turkey.
Florida - 2021 Grand Slam Turkey Tour
Our tour started in Florida where Pat and our Founder hunted the Bull Creek WMA before linking up with World Champion Turkey Hunter Jeff Budz, and hunting some private land. Pat was able to make quick work of Jake and we were off to Texas to chase Rio.
Texas- 2021 Grand Slam Turkey Tour
In Texas we linked up with Mr. Feldman, Rob, and Brad to hunt the Feldman Farm, a 300 acre piece of paradise in central Texas. We only had to work one afternoon and a morning for Pat to land this amazing Rio!
Michigan- 2021 Grand Slam Turkey Tour
In Michigan we linked up with Eric Anderson and Brad Nelson. Eric's family owns ~1400 acre of land in the UP, along with the amazing and beautiful Timberdoodle Lodge. Again, we made quick work of some Easterns and then headed north to Grand Marais. While in Grand Marais, Brad took the team offshore fishing on Lake Superior where we landed 11 lake trout and enjoyed an amazing fried fish supper while we stayed at Brad's cabins.
Wyoming- 2021 Grand Slam Turkey Tour
We finished out our tour in Wyoming with the well-known Wagonhound Outfitters and outfitter Dax Maccarty and guide Cougar Sanchez. It only took a quick morning to complete the single season grand slam with the harvesting of the Merriam subspecies.
