DePauw student helps with hunt

Mitch Strobl is involved in a few outdoor activities.

He's a biology student at DePauw and he writes for huntinglife.com, and does podcasts videos for them.

With all that said, it isn't surprising to think he'd be involved filming a hunt. It's the circumstances of the hunt he filmed on Nov. 13 that are noteworthy.

Strobl spent that Saturday filming Peterson Outdoor Ministries' Wounded Warrior Hunt.

"They invited a number of wounded warriors from the United States Military and take them on a free hunting trip for white tail deer," Strobl said. "My job was to go out there and serve as a cameraman, try to document everything and actually get the hunters hunting on film."

The hunt took place in western Missouri. Strobl said the footage might be used for a TV show or other project at a later date, but that wasn't the main goal behind the hunt.

"Really, the main point of this was to give those guys a good experience in the outdoors, have it on film for them so they can come back and watch it and really just a way for us to say 'thank you' for what they've done for this country," Strobl said.

Strobl said most of the eight soldiers who took part in the hunt were coping with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

"There was one guy who was missing an arm." Strobl said. "It was mostly (soldiers with) PTSD. There were a few other physical disabilities, but we tried not to focus on that, just on the upbeat environment and getting these guys out in the outdoors."

Strobl was attached to one hunter for the event.

"I got my hunter, Charles Moore, harvesting an 11 point buck on film," Strobl said. "It was really touching."

Strobl became involved in this project when he went to an annual conference of the Professional Outdoor Media Association in Laporte. He met Tron Peterson, the president of Peterson Outdoor Ministries, there.

"I Met Tron and we hit it off pretty well," Strobl said. "I definitely want to put a shout out to the professional outdoor media association. If it wasn't for that organization I wouldn't have met Tron and I wouldn't have had this opportunity to film for these guys."

To act as a cameraman, Strobl had to drive 1,000 miles round-trip, while not missing classes.

"It took nine hours to get there," Strobl said. "I left Friday after class, got there late Friday night and I got back just in time Sunday night for class on Monday."

Strobl said he intends to take part in the event next year. He said watching the veterans hunt was inspiring.

"Really just seeing the smiles on their faces is what made it really worthwhile because it's not often that you can really say thanks to people like that, in the way that we did," Strobl said.