With new bedrooms, women can feel more at home on Blackwater veterans hunting trips

Female hunters can now feel more at home on Blackwater veteran hunting trips

Female hunters can now get the full experience of comradery with fellow hunters that Operation Outdoor Freedom was meant to bring to wounded warriors now that Blackwater River State Forest has remodeled dorms to be more inclusive.

Operation Outdoor Freedom, an organization supported by the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services and led locally by the Florida Forest Service, provides hunting trips for injured or disabled veterans. Thanks to a $51,000 grant by the Fish and Wildlife Foundation of Florida, the Blackwater Forest district in Holt can house men and women in the same living quarters.

"Particularly getting women into hunting is a priority in the foundation, so it was kind of a no-brainer for us (to award the grant)," said FWFF Communication Director Michelle Ashton.

Prior to the remodel there was an open floorplan where all seven selected veterans would sleep, including an open bathroom that is "not conducive to privacy," said Florida Forest Service Public Information Officer Joe Zwierzchowski.

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"This open bunk house sort of style was really well received by the veterans, it was sort of a throwback deal," Zwierzchowski said, standing in the middle of the old lodging on the campsite. "But at the same time, we started to see more female veterans applying for these hunts, and this isn't exactly co-ed conditions."

Zwierzchowski said female applicants selected would often lodge in a separate building from the men, but it was too "isolating" to continue separating them.

"The males would've been in (one building) and she would've been in an empty building by herself, like one or two beds in this giant room and it's really isolating," he said. "In my opinion it takes away from the experience, the comradery of the whole thing."

Instead of a giant open room with bathrooms that have sheets covering the doorway, hunters will now walk into a building that looks like a home. Each hunter will have individual rooms, including a bed and a small chest to keep their belongings.

The bathrooms — which now have doors — include refurbished amenities like mirrors and sinks.

While physical independence will be a new option for the hunts, the new dorms also have a common room to allow hunters to relax in the company of fellow veterans to recharge after a morning hunt.

The updated dorms give all the applicants selected for each hunt the opportunity to join together as they relax, enjoy the new amenities and soak in the outdoors as they hunt.

The only hunter who has stayed in both the old and remodeled dorms, Pensacola resident Aaron Davis, says the new dorms are a great setup, but he doesn't hold any hard feelings toward the old dorms.

"The old cabin kind of harkens back to the deployment days ... but every time I've been up there I've loved it," Davis said. "It's a beautiful setup they've got now. It's immaculate and another great place to hang out."

Davis was medically retired from the Air Force in 2016 as a technical sergeant and has completed five hunts with Operation Outdoor Freedom.

How are veterans selected for Operation Outdoor Freedom hunts?

The Blackwater River State Forest district of Operation Outdoor Freedom conducts four hunts throughout the year − rifle, muzzleloader, bow and arrow, and a turkey hunt.

For each hunt, according to Zwierzchowski, participants are selected randomly from a list of applicants using FDACS software on their website. The only requirement is a veteran must be a Florida resident who was honorably discharged with either a Purple Heart or a 30% service-connected disability from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

For the veterans who do attend the program, Zwierzchowski said it has changed many of their lives for the better.

"By getting out and coming to events like this, and not just ours but throughout the state, it's really turned their lives around, changed things for them," he said. "Just being able to reconnect with the outdoors, meet new people, likeminded people and get out, in their words, feel normal again."

Davis said he enjoys the the people in the forestry service at the Blackwater Outdoor Freedom District and the experience so much that he "throws (his) hat in the ring" every year in the hopes of being chosen.

"I enjoy the crew there and they're awesome," Davis said. "Most veterans I know don't want to be treated like rock stars, but that's the feeling you get when you're on one of those Outdoor Freedom hunts.

"They make you feel welcome (and) they cook good food," he added. "There's some family members of the forestry guys who show up to break bread with us, and it's a really cool time."

This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Operation Outdoor Freedom veterans hunt in Blackwater has co-ed dorms