Operation Orphans, Inc. held its fourth hunt of the 2021 hunting season, Saturday, January 8th. Eighteen boys from three child facilities and a foster home participated. The children who participate in the Operation Orphans, Inc. program must be wards of the State. The kids came to Camp Gene Ashby, located in Mason county, on Friday evening. Kids came from the Collard Foster Home, Walnut Springs; Medina Children’s Home, Medina; and Sweeten Home, Brownwood.
The groups sign in and go to an orientation and safety meeting. They then visit the Clothing Room which is located in the Milton & Janie Jordan Building. This season, Operation Orphans, Inc. purchased each child a pair of insulated hiking boots. This will ensure that the kids have adequate footwear for hunting. It has been a pleasure to see the kids’ faces light up when they receive their pair of boots. They also can get camouflage clothing, socks, coats and jackets, western hats and caps, and other items which are theirs to keep. The kids then are free to eat in the Mess Hall and then return to the Jordan Building to play games such as Ping-Pong, billiards, foosball, etc. At around 10:00 p.m., the kids are sent to bed in the Kid’s Dorm where they dream about the exciting day to come.
Saturday, the kids traveled to area ranches to spend the day enjoying the outdoors and hunting. Ranches hosting kids this hunt were Bar 7 Ranch Bee Cave, Gillespie County; Cripple Creek Ranch, Bandera; Donop Ranch, Mason; and L&C Ranch, San Saba. The kids harvested 14 animals which included nine does, two spikes, one management buck, one hog, and one turkey.
Operation Orphans held hunts October 30, where 18 girls harvested 23 animals; November 20, where 31 boys harvested 39 animals; and December 4, where 33 boys harvested 34 animals. For the 2021 season, 100 kids harvested 110 animals. During the 61 years of taking kids hunting, 19,042 boys and girls have harvested 18,944 animals in the surrounding hill country. This program goes a long way in educating youngsters to the outdoors and introducing them to wildlife management practices.
Ranchers share the love and respect they have for the land and use this program as a means to manage the deer herds on their property.
Operation Orphans, Inc. has decided to host an additional hunt February 5th. This hunt will be for ranches which have MLD tags. In this way, additional kids can have an opportunity to hunt while helping the participating ranches fill their deer management tags.
Operation Orphans, Inc. set the dates for 2022 at a recent meeting. Dates for the “Take a Child Fishing” program will be April 9, Boy’s Fishing and April 23, Girl’s Fishing. The “Take a Child Hunting” program will take place October 29, Girl’s Hunt, with hunts for boys being held November 19, December 3, January 14, 2023, and a MLD hunt February 4, 2023.
Since the beginning in 1960, Operation Orphans has held the saying from the late game warden Gene Ashby that “No man stands so tall as when he stoops to help a child.” Today, the board of directors of Operation Orphans wishes to add a saying from long time supporter and director Jim Pond who passed away in 2021, “It’s all for the kids.”
Please visit www.operationorphans.org to donate, be a host ranch, guide, volunteer, or for more information.
At the present time, Operation Orphans has a need for size small gloves, men’s small and medium shirts, boys clothing and jeans size 5 to 16, girls clothing size 5 to 16, boys shoes size 6 or smaller, ladies and girls shoes all sizes, and any and all camo clothing. All new and gently used articles are welcome. For pick up or questions, please contact camp supervisors, Lyla or Jerry Crouch, 325.347.7306, 325.347.6745, or email: <operationorphans@yahoo.com>.