2018 Pleasants Farmer Deer Hunt
The 11th annual Combat Warriors, Inc. Pleasants Farmer Deer Hunt was held Nov. 2-5 in Franklin County, NC and the warriors stayed at the cabin on Mrs. Mavis Nelms farm, Highway 39 S. about 2 miles of Louisburg. What a great and successful event; eighteen (18) total warriors; made up of Marines, US Army troops, and Navy Seals. Most of the warriors arrived around noon on Friday Nov. 2nd allowing them to hunt in the afternoon. All hunted Saturday and a few chose to stay over and hunt early Sunday morning before church service. This year they bagged together 23 deer; the largest being a nice 10 point buck weighing approximately 170 pounds.
The warrior with the biggest buck received a free mount from taxidermist, Spencer Loftin. The meat was processed by Pearces Custom Processing, owned and operated by Jeffrey Pearce. Mr. Pearce gives Combat Warriors, Inc. a significant discount in processing the meat for the warriors.
Guides were furnished for all warriors and these fine men donated their time to help for the entire weekend. Friday afternoon, Mrs. Mavis Nelms had cooked the warriors a big pot of Brunswick stew for the warriors and guides, plus had desserts as well. Friday night after the hunt, 6 bags of fresh oysters were brought up from the coast and served to the soldiers as an appetizer and all were served barbecue chicken prepared by Joe and Kathy Wood of the Red Bud community. Kathy’s sisters, Lynn Champion and Sheila Hobbs prepared side dishes. Saturday morning at 4:30 am, breakfast was served by Fellowship Gun Club of the Castalia community, and they also furnished chopped barbecue lunch Saturday for all. Saturday night the warriors and guides were treated with a prime rib dinner, compliments of Joe and Kathy Wood. Music was furnished by County Commissioner, Mark Speed, who volunteered his time and equipment, and special live music was done by Larry Fritz of the Red Bud community.
Much preparation was done to make this event successful; hunting stands were put up, many land owners volunteered their properties for hunting, and 2 tons of shelled corn was put out before and during the hunt to make it the best possible for the warriors.
Combat Warriors, Inc. thanks all sponsors ( 9 businesses ) to help make this event such a success. Two of the sponsors are local to Louisburg; The Timber Company, Chris Stewart and CAS Machine owned by Mike Stone. Others included Les Merritt, CPA of Zebulon, Don Johnson Forestry, and GPAgency, Inc. of Raleigh. A special 4 ft. X 8 ft. sponsor banner was made and prominently shown during the event to show appreciation.
A total of 24 warriors signed up for this event but 3 of the Navy Seal men were deployed at the last few days for a mission. Six (6) of the warriors who attended are being deployed within the month to serve our country in Afghanistan for nine (9) months being away from their wives and children.
