Operation Outdoor Freedom at the Refuge

Refuge Deputy Manager John Stark and Engineering Equipment Operator George Pelt, both veterans themselves, recently hosted several wounded veterans for Operation Outdoor Freedom's Special Hog Hunt.  Operation Outdoor Freedom is a Refuge partnership with the Florida Forest Service, Dixie County, and local businesses that donate time, money, people, and facilities to allow selected veterans to hunt on the Refuge over a special 3-day season on and along the Dixie Mainline. Only feral hogs are targeted.  This provides wounded and disabled veterans a cost-free, professionally- guided hunt, in an area where there is no other hunt activity. It a special opportunity for those who have served in our armed forces and for us to have a chance to be their hosts.

Operation Outdoor Freedom in a previous year