Volunteers take a pig out of the field on an ATV during a weekend hunting trip presented by Warriors in the Field.

ELKINS — Warriors in the Field had a great weekend pig hunting April 5-6 at Mountain Meadow Hunting Preserve in Southern West Virginia with some terrific veterans.

We had veterans from Braxton, Harrison and Randolph counties in West Virginia, and boy, what a time they had.

It all started early on Saturday morning at 4:30 a.m., picking up our veterans with a drive to get to Mountain Meadow, and arriving by 9:30 a.m., where we met up with the rest of the crew, consisting of volunteers and sponsors from Morgantown to Lexington, Virginia.

After we introduced everybody we decided who hunts first, with some staying back to organize everything at the lodge to eat. Later we headed to the hunting grounds. After several hours of glassing we final got into some good pigs to pursue.

After several attempts and several more hours, we finally were blessed to have three on the ground. We returned to the lodge for a little rest from the 82 degree temps and dinner.

Warriors in the Field founder Dave Whittaker, left, shakes hands with Steve Armentrout, a U.S. Air Force veteran from Whitmer.

Afterwards we headed back out for an evening hunt. Just as it was getting dark, we were able to put one more on the ground, and then headed back to the lodge for relaxing, fishing and fellowship with a lot of stories from all the vets and volunteers.

After getting to bed at 1 a.m., we were back up at 5 a.m. to prepare our breakfast, and it wasn’t long before the aroma of food cooking began to bring everyone from their rooms. After a huge breakfast as daylight was coming, we headed back out for one more hunt.

With heavy rains over night and cooler temps the Pigs were in the fields. It wasn’t long at all before we saw the one we wanted. After a short stalk and a great shot we had one on the ground, and our last hunter tagged out.

We headed back to the lodge with a lot of excitement from everyone, then later packed up the gear and the meat. We parted ways with everyone and headed home with some great memories and new friends.

A special thanks to Dawson’s Towing, Miley Legal Group and Smith Backhoe and Dozer Service for making this weekend possible, and J and J Outdoor Video Magazine for filming. God bless each of you and thank you for supporting our veterans and our organization.

The participants enjoy a meal in the lodge at the Mountain Meadow Hunting Preserve in Southern West Virginia.

To donate to Warriors in the Field, go to warriorsinthefield.org, or follow the organization’s Facebook.

Whittaker is the founder of Warriors in the Field, an organization which helps veterans heal by taking them outdoors to fish and hunt.

Randy Parsons, a U.S. Army veteran from Frametown, poses with the game he shot on the trip.

Clay Hallam, a U.S. Navy veteran from Harman, talks with Dave Whittaker, founder of Warriors in the Field,