IRONTON – Sometimes providing “Christlike care for the aging” means helping someone learn to aim a crossbow. That was the case earlier this fall as residents of the Baptist Homes’ Arcadia Valley campus circled opening day of deer season on their calendars.
Baptist Homes & Healthcare Ministries (BHHM) staff partnered with the National Deer Association’s Field to Fork Hunter Recruitment program to host the first of what they hope are many Senior Deer Hunts, Sept. 15-16, at the Arcadia Valley 175-acre campus, with a hunt at the Ozark campus, Oct. 27.
The NDA provided training and crossbows for the hunt, and men and women from Missouri Baptist churches that came and served as mentors and helpers to the hunters. Volunteers set up five different blinds on the property and ensured at least one experienced hunter was alongside residents, if for nothing else to cock the crossbow. Three residents took advantage of the opportunity at the Arcadia Valley campus – including Fred David, a 91-year-old retired pastor, who proved it’s never too late to trying something new. The two remaining blinds were opened to seniors in local Missouri Baptist churches.
“People got very excited,” said Spencer Hutson, church relations specialist for BHHM. “Even though only a handful of people participated directly, there was a sense of excitement on campus about what was going on.”
The hunt began with a deer biology class, followed by lunch and crossbow training and target practice. The first hunting session took place the evening of the 15th and a second early morning sessions followed the next day.
One of the blinds saw deer during both session and heard deer as well, but no hunters harvested an animal, something chalked up to it being early in the season. Hutson suspects the Ozark hunt will have better luck due to the cooler weather.