Ryan Job & 7/7 980lb Bull Elk On 10/23/08 we had the opportunity to take Ryan Job (a blind Navy SEAL) on a hunt of a lifetime. Our goal was to harvest a big bull elk and with the help of Roger Wendell and Ben Dorn of the Broken Arrow Ranch, Hayden ID, that dream came true. How do you get a blind guy out hunting?? Well with the help of Dale McDougal of Camo Up Outdoors we had a system put together to assist us in this endeavor. We had a Winchester model 70. and mounted about as far forward as possible (inches from the end of the Barrel) we had a Carl Zeiss (Conquest) 4.5 14x50 scope and directly behind that a 9 inch long in-line camera system. Attached to this camera were the necessary video cables to plug into a XHA1 (HD) Camera. From about 4-5 feet away from the shooter we could see his reticle (scope crosshairs) on a LCD screen on the big HD camera. Now let me tell you, if you think it is challenging to go after these animals on your own, try splitting what you as one shooter does hunting, and split it into three people trying to do the same thing then add a big bull that is not interested in being shot! It worked amazing and we can´t thank Mr. & Mrs. Dorn and Roger Wendel enough for all their support. Many thanks to Dan the ranch hand that worked his tail off for us. We also had a great opportunity to meet Brian Knoll (GM) of the Black Sheep sporting goods store in Hayden. His family has had the store for decades and they helped Camp Patriot bore sight our system due to some technical difficulties with the camera system the night before the hunt. Also, a special thanks to the Holiday Inn express in Hayden, ID and specifically Mr. Dick Scheets (GM). He comped us two rooms and made our " Elk Camp" very comfortable. Thank you!! To our butcher and Taxidermist! THANK YOU so much for all your hard work and donation! Enjoy the pics!!!
	Duck Hunt On 10/16/08 We had a fantastic time Duck hunting at the private Barker Ranch near Kennewick WA. With the approval of the owners and Mike Crowder (GM) of the Ranch we were allowed to enjoy some of the best Duck hunting in the Pacific Northwest. Many Thanks to General Bartlett and his lovely wife for their continued support of Camp Patriot. A special thanks goes to Red Lion in Kennewick, WA. Monica is the GM at the hotel and a good friend of mine. She gave us a great deal for the guys to stay at the hotel and we cannot thank her enough!!
	Moose hunt/ Penobscot Nation On Oct 5-10 we had the pleasure of hunting Moose with the Penobscot nation. This is the first time they have ever allowed someone outside the tribe to hunt their land. Camp Patriot chose Tim Bennett to go on this adventure. Tim gave his left arm and was badly burned for our freedom! He is a great guy and we really enjoyed our time together. Charlie is a Penobscot guide and is an expert Moose caller! We called in a young bull the first evening but decided to wait for a bigger bull. We wanted to get a trophy bull and I saw him once from up in a tree I was filming from. We spent the next couple of days moving and calling! Unfortunetly, our last day came up empty! I guess that is why they call it hunting not... We had a great time! We became friends with Lloyd Hall & Jackie Davison of Old Town Canoe Company. These guys have been building the finest canoes for 110 years. They took us on a fantastic tour of the old and new factories. It was very impressive! We used Old Town Canoes during the hunt to get to all of our locations. I was very impressed how great they handled and skimmed through the water over the many beaver dams we encountered! We are looking forward to building our relationship with Old Town and can´t thank them enough for their hospitality! Thanks!! Many thanks as well to the Melford Hotel and our new freinds at the Penobscot Nation! Micah Clark
	Flyfishing trip Montana Labor Day week-end the Wounded Warriors group from Ft. Lewis WA came up to Libby Montana for a three day fishing trip. The first night we had a fantastic dinner provided by the Mast family who are Amish. We fished for three days then held our long awaited drawing for the raffle we had been running for close to a year. The drawing included 4 prizes - a log home, 2 hunts and a canoe package. Many thanks to Doc and Patty Brown for the use of their drift boat, Trent and Peggy Oelberg for their pontoon boat, Dave & Tammy Blackburn for all their support - from use of their log lodge to Mike, a guide supporting the fly fishing. The Libby Cafe (owners Gary & Paulet) for the fantastic last morning breakfast! We all had a great time and left many fish for future trips!
	KORD concert with Rodney Adkins We have been fortunate to team up with KORD 102.7 country radio station. KORD has been a very strong supporter of Camp Patriot and our Disabled and injured soldiers. On August 10th of 2008 KORD had their annual Listener appreciation concert. They graciously provided Camp Patriot 50 tickets to bring injured/disabled soldiers from the Wounded Worrior Transition Barracks out of Ft. Lewis, WA to the concert. We almost filled up the whole 5th row! We were able to have a BBQ at a local park and go on a boat ride provided by Columbia Voyager (Owner Pat Jilek) Pat has come to support us many times and has been great! Many thanks also to "Operation Thank you" and my girlfriend Angela and her daughter Kellsy for all their help! We were also fortunate to have Frontier Fine Foods donate some fantastic meat to grill from owner Trevor Gamache. Also, Dobie and Julie Burns brought enough fresh sweet corn to feed a army twice the size we brought!!! (They are awesome!!) After the boat trip we headed to the concert. KORD allowed me to come on stage and introduce the troops and they recieved a standing ovation!! It was truly amazing! Rodney was on a tight turn around and was not going to see anyone but found out the injured Veterans wanted to meet him and he made a visit. His manager Brian and rest of the staff are true Patriot´s and proved no matter how busy will take the time for the troops!! Many thanks to Rodney Adkins and the staff!!
	MT. Rainer Climb 08 This years climb was fantastic! We started our adventure on July 5th and ended our climb on the 10th. Our three Veterans were; Ryan Job (Navy SEAL) blinded in Iraq, Joey Martinez (Marine) lost most of his eysight in Iraq, and Chad Jukes (Army) who lost his leg while serving in Iraq. Along on this years climb we were pleased to have four F-15 pilots, Keni Thomas (Former Army Ranger) who served in Somalia during the Blackhawk Down battle and Alex Quade of CNN. Before we took off on the climb we had the honor of visiting the Seattle SeaHawks stadium with Mike Flood and a guest appearance with Jeff Kemp. We then went to the Coast Guard Cutter ship the "Eagle." Many Thanks to the Skipper and Wolf Enterprises for a wonderful event on board the ship. The team summited successfully and had a great time! On our last day before descending base camp at 10,000 ft we had two F-15´s from the 147th Fighter Squadron in Oregon do many fly by´s for us. It was absolutely amazing!! Many thanks to the Whittaker´s at RMI, George Dunn of IMG, Native Eyeware, Mystery Ranch packs, Sitka, Leki poles, Blue Bunny ice cream and the many volunteers that made this climb happen! Last but but not least many thanks to Camo Up Outdoors for the filming of the climb and Mark Seacat of Seacat photography for all the great pictures featured here!!
	Jim Shockey (Bear hunt) On May 24th-29th of 08´ we had the pleasure of taking SSG Bradley Gruetzner to Vancouver Island BC to hunt big black bears! We joined Flint Group who brought Sgt. John Boismier. Many thanks to Tracy Noll for his contribution to assist Camp Patriot in making this fantastic trip happen! Jim Shockey´s team is outstanding and it´s no wonder they are some of the best outfitters/guides in the world! A special thanks to Thompson/Center Arms for giving each of the Veterans an Encore riffle to hunt with and keep! Leupold provided scopes for each of these guns and made it a fantastic weapon system to hunt with. We met many great folks during our adventure. Les Beech (Timberland Sport Center) quickly became a great new friend and introduced us to West Coast Helicopters. They provided us a great trip in one of their A-Star helicopters with a fantastic pilot named "Kathyrine." We cannot thank everyone involved enough for their hospitality and friendship. Please take a moment and view some pictures from our trip.
	Goose Hunt 08 Thanks to Sportsman´s Warehouse, David Neff and my good buddy Marc Nelson, we were able to organize this goose hunt! We were honored to have Bob Slater (Navy Veteran) who served during Vietnam and Andrew McMann who had been injured from an Improvised Explosive Device while serving our country in Iraq. Our guides are Robert and Brent of Sportsman´s Warehouse and they are definitely bi-lingual when it comes to speaking the goose language! Many thanks to them and their boss, Brian Howald, for their continued support of Camp Patriot. Enjoy the hunt!
	Duck Hunt Barker Ranch Barker Ranch duck hunt with General Bartlett, disabled Vietnam Veteran, Bill Hogan and Mike Crowder. The Barker Ranch is an exclusive duck hunting preserve. General Bartlett and Ranch manager Mike Crowder were gracious enough to bring us out for a wonderful day of duck hunting. Our guest of honor was Bill Hogan and he had a great time learning about waterfowl conservation and proper harvesting of some beautiful ducks! Many thanks to Sportsman´s Warehouse and General Manager Brian Howald for outfitting the hunt and Freedom Grill for the use of their mobile grill for preparing some great brats after the hunt! Please take a moment and view some shots that were taken to remember the day! Again, many thanks to all the owners and management of the Barker Ranch for a great adventure!
	Mt Rainier Climb 2007 On July 8, 2007, Capt. Scott Smiley US Army and (Ret)Lt. Ed Salau US Army set out to climb Mt. Rainier in Washington State. An epic climb due to the fact that Capt. Smiley is totally blind from a suicide bomb explosion in Mosul, Iraq in 2005 and Ed Salau lost a leg in a Rocket Propelled Grenade attack also in Iraq in 2004. Along for the climb is Micah Clark, founder of Camp Patriot and a team of four climbing guides including Curtis Fawley, a valued friend of Camp Patriot. Camp Patriot was fortunate to have Backpacker magazine with us on the climb thanks to senior editor Mr. Dorn. He provided us with two great guys that do freelance work for them. MIke Perry (Writer) and Gabe Rogel (Photographer) of Rogel Photography. Both men immediatley became an important part of the team. We look forward to the Backpacker magazine article later this winter. Gabe thanks for the great photos! (Gabes pictures, listed as Rogel Photography) Many Thanks to RMI and International Mountain Guides!!!
	Fishing on the Lake Fishing trip on Lake Koocanusa, Libby,MT We were very honored to have Jim Bogart, a survivor of the Bataan Death March, and two Vietnam Veterans Steve and Jack on this first trip. We fished on Lake Koocanusa and did some flyfishing on the beautiful Kootenai River with Dave Blackburn of the Kootenia Angler. The last day we had a big feed at the River Bend Restaurant and listened to some great bluegrass music provided by Dave Blackburn and Rod Snyder.