Outdoors with Friends and Southside Baptist Church is hosting their annual hunt beginning on Friday, December 7.

Outdoors with Friends, along with Southside Baptist’s Brotherhood Ministry, will be hosting a hunt for disabled and disadvantaged children as well as wounded warriors.

“When we say disadvantaged, we mean children that don’t have a father in the household,” said Johnny Green. “We are trying to expose kids to the outdoors.”

The hunt is for children that have a passion for the outdoors, but has never had the opportunity to hunt. Every year the hunt includes nearly 10 wounded warriors to attend the hunt.

“We get way more out of this than the participants do, always have and always will,” Green said. “To see a kid that has always wanted to go hunting, but didn’t have a daddy to take him or maybe due to his physical abilities wasn’t able to go, seeing them harvest their first animal, the smile that it puts on their face and the meat that is put in their freezer goes a long way.”

The hunt will stretch across two days beginning on Friday morning. Registration will begin around 10 a.m.  Southside Baptist Church will provide all the participants lunch before everyone spreads out to hunt beginning around 1:00 p.m.

A group of participants will be paired with various landowners that will lead them on the hunt.

This year’s hunt will have some added flair when the hosts of Twin Factor, an outdoor reality mini-series, pays a visit. Identical twin brothers Chad and James Hampton will be on hand. They will film some of the participants for upcoming episodes for their show.
Following day one of the hunt, the participants will return to Southside Baptist Church for dinner.

“We are going to serve them breakfast for supper,” Green said. “They will be scrambled egg, grits, bacon, cheese grits, toast and bacon. Everything will be there. We will feed them and then the next morning we will head back out and go hunting again.”

Volunteers will clean all the deer for the participants and pack it in their coolers.

“All they have to do is pick them up when they get through,” Green said. “Take it home and put it in their freezer.”

In years past, the hunt has seen upwards of over 60 participants. Green is hoping more will show up this time.

“We are hoping for at least that,” Green said. “I have some participants that can’t miss school on Friday, so they are coming on Saturday only. We will try and work around their schedule.”

There will be no charge to attend the hunt. Guns and ammunition will be provided for those in need during the hunt.

“We do have a lot of people that have extra guns,” Green said. “Everything is free. If they need a place to stay, we have a limited amount of space at the church in the Sunday school rooms.”

Interested participants are encouraged to register before the event. More information can be obtained by contacting Johnny Green at 268-0527.