Olney Amputee/One Arm Dove Hunt draws large crowd on Friday evening’s kick-off

Friday Sept. 6 saw the start of the much-anticipated Olney Amputee Dove Hunt (OADH). The much-loved event began early Friday morning with a Golf Scramble at the Olney Country Club golf course. The winning team of the Golf Scramble was amputee Tom Murphy of Wisconsin and Volunteer Jim Bo Allen.

Registration began at 9 a.m. and ran all day. Lunch was served at noon at the Olney Civic Center. Lunch is best described as Dagwood sandwiches. All manner of meats, cheeses and vegetables were available to make delicious towering sandwiches.

Next up, everyone gathered at Hunters Headquarters in Olney for the exciting start of the trap shoot which started at 2 p.m. sharp. These shooters take great pride in ribbing each other as they prepare to take their turns at shooting clays. Winners this year were Ricky Wilks (below elbow) and Mike Tomlin (above elbow).

Friday night at the Olney Civic Center drew a large crowd for the BBQ brisket and sausage dinner where local artist Mondo Molina entertained the crowd with singing and playing on his acoustic guitar. Olney resident Rhonda Swaim Kulhanek aka Ethel, arrived in fashion to entertain and joke around with the one-arm guests. Other popular activities included the introduction of this year’s attendees, live auction, silent auction and door prize drawing. As Friday night’s activities drew to a close, you could see many attendees who have been coming for this annual event telling stories and reliving old memories while making new friends and memories.

Saturday, Sept. 7, began early at the Olney Civic Center with a 10-cent-a-finger breakfast. Soon all the hunters were present by 8 a.m. and the safety meeting was underway followed by hunters leaving for the annual dove hunt. There were no dove kills this year -- meaning no winners to many disappointed hunters. While the hunters were out bonding over this year’s hunt, those who do not take part in the hunt were busy bonding over bingo at the Olney Civic Center, which included many fun prizes.

Noon quickly rolled around at the Olney Civic Center and hunters made their way there for a delicious fajita lunch with all the trimmings. Before lunch began, the traditional group photo was taken. After some ribbing and shenanigans with one another, the group settled down and posed for a proper group photo. After the photo, the group descended on the fajitas with great eagerness. Thankfully, there was plenty of friendly volunteers to serve up these hungry hunters. After lunch the silent auction was concluded with many happy winners, although this reporter was not too happy because he didn’t win the Cub gift basket he bid on. The main drawing for the Henry Silver Eagle .22 Mag Rifle was won by Eddie Nettles. After the ceremony, the winners of the golf scramble, trap shoot and hunt were announced.

After lunch the much-anticipated Cornhole Tournament was held. During which there were many jabs. The winners of the Cornhole Tourney were Jonathon Kuniholm of Oregon and Thomas Navarro of Texas.

The OADH was a big hit this year with attendance up from last year. There were more hunters who attended and close to 200 were present for the barbecue and Fajita meals. I feel comfortable saying that the whole town may have attended this popular meal.

We look forward to next year when hunters from all over the U.S. will show up for some of that small town hospitality from Olney, Texas residents.