By Anthony Mauro Sr.
Recently, the New Jersey Outdoor Alliance (CF) sponsored a hunt for wounded warriors at Hudson Farm. It is impossible for my words to do the story justice. I will let Lieutenant Joe Caley tell his remarkable story, as only he can. His personal bravery and selflessness are portrayed toward the end of the story and are enormously inspirational.
LT. Joe Caley, 8 pointer, bow kill, wounded warrior hunt, October, 2010.
I had not hunted for close to 4years is the Army and now treatment from being wounded in Iraq just about a year ago has occupied so much of my time. Matt had a bow set up for me to use and after a few practice shots I was off to get my license. Our first day was exciting as the stand Matt and I was in had a buck come by really early and it was still too dark to make him out. Then a mature doe and her two yearlings come by and one presented a shot of about 12 yards. I passed on the shot since it was so early.
Our second morning Matt decided to pull out the stops and really did some awesome calling! Instantly we had bucks coming into our spot, thought they weren\’t shooters they stuck around eating acorns and giving us a good show. When they cleared the area Matt snort wheezed and called again. Suddenly another buck came walking in from down the hill. Then I caught movement through the trees and a nice 8pt comes walking down the hill to investigate. He had a noticeable limp and Matt discussed that he would be worth taking. We waited as the two bucks made their way within range and Matt cautioned me that I would have two sets of eyes and ears to contend with.
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