Captains Meeting: Setting the Course Before the Hunt

The captains meeting brings together landowners, veteran partners and volunteer leaders a few weeks before the feral hog tournament. It is a quiet but essential gathering where everyone reviews the shared goals of protecting crops, providing a meaningful experience for veterans, and delivering the harvested hogs to those in need.

First on the agenda are safety and land boundaries. Captains map out each hunting parcel, mark any hazards, and confirm that every veteran has a clear point of contact. They also agree on communication protocols, such as radio check‑ins and a schedule for daily status updates, to ensure that no one is out of reach.

Next, the group finalizes the pairing of veterans with hunters, outlines the rules for hog weighing, skinning and transport, and reviews the process for delivering the meat to food kitchens and families. By handling these details ahead of time, the tournament can move quickly on the day of the hunt, turning each hog into a resource rather than a loss.

Finally, captains remind participants of the larger impact. Feral hogs cause about 76 million dollars of agricultural damage in Louisiana each year, and the tournament helps reduce that burden. At the same time, about 23 veterans a day are lost to suicide in this country, and the camaraderie built on the field offers a small but powerful counterbalance. The meeting sets the tone for a day of teamwork, stewardship and service.