Community with a Heart for Hunting Heritage

An inaugural youth hunt turkey hunt in small-town West Virginia demonstrated the power of community and how one person helping the next, can have a snowball effect.

The West Virginia Eastern Panhandle Youth Turkey Bash on April 13 in Bunker Hill (population 5,300) hosted 83 youth hunters and more than 400 attendees in its inaugural run. Jake Jenkins and the Outdoor Allies Project (OAP) was at the center of it all, orchestrating donations, landowner permissions to hunt, food and more. When it started, he ordered 20 T-shirts; he needed more than 80 in the end.

The NWTF Eastern Panhandle Chapter near Martinsburg assisted with the event, and regional director Davy Blessing helped Jenkins and the OAP team with structuring and ideas. Every youth participant received a JAKES membership, courtesy of the NWTF Potomac Highlands Chapter, and a gift bag full of mouth calls, slate calls, a shirt and more. Twenty-three guns were given away – several donated by Hafer’s Guns and Gunsmithing – along with two lifetime hunting licenses among other prizes.

“Jake and his crew did a phenomenal job of planning and organizing such a successful event,” Blessing said. “Not only was the event itself a success, it also showed how partnerships and collaboration can elevate and broaden the impact of such an event. I am glad the NWTF was able to assist in such a successful and important day for so many of West Virginia’s youth hunters.”

More than 20 kids, ages 8 to 17, harvested gobblers on a windy youth opener (up to 40 mile-per-hour gusts). Jenkins said he had to hold down the blind he was in with a youth hunter to keep it staked, and didn’t expect to see many successful hunters when he got back to the event headquarters. He was glad to be wrong.

In all, Jenkins and volunteers raised more than $37,000, which easily covered event costs, leaving funds to hold a special hunt of a lifetime for first responders. Jenkins, a military veteran, and friend/Marine Evan Woolum established the OAP after they returned from service. The nonprofit’s goal is to “help people and do what we love, and that’s hunting,” Jenkins said, with the idea to take firefighters, law enforcement and veterans on hunting trips of a lifetime. Some funds raised from the youth turkey hunt went toward a hunt for West Virginia state troopers, A.A. Bean and C.D. Spessert, who were shot while serving a warrant. Bean had his leg amputated to save his life and received a prosthetic, but he and Spessert will be ready to go next September for the New Mexico archery elk hunt of a lifetime.

“We try to give back to the community and enjoy helping people,” Jenkins said. “We went to the community and told them we’re introducing kids to hunting, raising money to give these kids the equipment and tools necessary to continue in the outdoors and benefiting two state troopers who were severely injured serving their community.”

Eight-year-old Alivia Palmer shot a 23-pound gobbler during the youth opener. It was her first turkey hunt.

“She was ate up with it after that,” Jenkins said. “She was talking about how she can’t wait to get out there next year and chase them.”

Hooked on hunting might be an understatement, Alivia’s dad, Tyler Palmer, said.

“It was an awesome morning,” he said. “She started tearing up (after the shot), we all did, and I think she’s hooked on it now. I had to tell her it probably won’t be like that every time. We were jumping around high-fiving.”

In addition to community donations and financial support, local farmers from around Bunker Hill opened their land, usually restricted from hunting, for this event.

“That was just as important as a financial donation in my book,” Jenkins said.

Along with the NWTF’s help with planning the event, Jenkins also got ideas from Jeff Wallis, who holds another great youth event, Nancy’s Vision Youth Hunt in Pennsylvania, each spring. Nancy’s Vision invites youth from all over to hunt during the Pennsylvania youth opener in honor of Wallis’ deceased wife, Nancy Wallis, a former nurse who dedicated her life to helping youth. Funds from the Pennsylvania event go toward an outdoor experience for children suffering from life-threatening medical conditions as part of the Catch-a-Dream Foundation.

“Jeff was part of my inspiration,” Jenkins said. “I called him and picked his brain; he was wonderful explaining how he structured his event and why he does it. We had the same goal, getting these youngsters outdoors to help benefit the community.”

Jenkins said he likely worked four to five hours a day for nearly five months to create such an event. It came easy, he said, because it’s something he’s passionate about.

“This is honestly one of the most prized things I’ve done,” Jenkins said. “When I got there and saw the kids carrying in turkeys, they were all cheesing (smiling) and sitting around talking about gobblers, beards, spurs and their hunts. That’s what it’s all about.”

Check out youth events and more in your area: https://your.nwtf.org/members/events/ .