Recently, the J and J Outdoor Hunt Club hosted ten veterans outside Leiper’s Fork. A club started by two outdoorsman, Dennis Jolley and Woody Jackson, set out to find property to lease. “Hunting property/leases are difficult to find especially around middle Tennessee so we knew there would be interest in the club. We started with one tract of land of about 1,300 acres in Williamson County, says Jolley. That has grown to approximately 4,500 acres across Williamson, Rutherford, Sumner, Dickson and Hickman counties with about 50 members. Landowners lease to us because we are first and foremost guardians of the land. We also post the property, help deter trespassers, manage for quality deer and only use non-invasive deer stands. Many of our properties contain valuable timber resources which landowners want to protect. So we only use pop-up ground blinds, strap-on ladder stands and climbing stands which do not damage the trees. We also carry liability insurance which is another big concern for landowners.”
In 2011, Jolley and Jackson were introduced to wounded veterans through two of our club members. Jackson had heard of other hunt clubs sponsoring wounded warrior hunts and through our relationship with John Parks,Tennessee Wildlife Resource Agency officer-liason for the veterans, decided we would like to try hosting a hunt. For their first hunt we hosted four wounded warrior at our camp outside Leipers Fork. The club members pitched in and helped take the veterans on the hunts acting as guides. The hunt was sponsored by the club and club members by providing all of the food and refreshments for the weekend including deer hunting equipment for the veterans.
Hosting for the hunt takes place at the camp house. Veterans arrive around lunchtime on Friday. After introductions and a quick bite to eat, a club member serves as a guide and takes one of the veterans to a preassigned hunting blind for the afternoon hunt. On Saturday, there is a morning and afternoon hunt followed by a morning hunt on Sunday. Other activities for the weekend include, a cookout on Friday night and Saturday night with special guest invited. For the past two years the Saturday cookout has included a hog roast.
Jolley says “This is a very rewarding experience for our club. We always have more volunteers than we need, more food than we can eat and we’ve ended up with lasting friendships with many of these extraordinary individuals. We appreciate their service to our country and this is our way of giving back to these fine individuals . Our only complaint so far from any of our veterans is that all we do is eat!”
