Josh Kittle's Outdoor Wish

Letter from Josh's Dad

Steve, first of all thank you. Josh had a wonderful time. he was so excited, he told me, this is the greatest day of my life. From a fathers side of things, there is so much that these kids go through to see them be this excited brings tears to my eyes. Josh and I will never forget these days, and we thank you from the bottom of our hearts. Now the hunting story.

There was about sixteen hunters there for the hunt. There were four that hunting with a bow. I spent the day waiting impatiently for Josh to see a boar. For the first 5 hours there were no gun shots, that is very rare. It was a warm afternoon and the pigs were bedded down and resting in the warmth.

It happened the Ted stopped by Friday afternoon. I visited with him for a while, so he knew about Josh. Ted was doing some filming as he was hunting for a buck. The guides decided they should go check on the hunters and maybe get the pigs moving. I rode in the truck with Paul Wilson. When we got to Josh, he was in the tree all smiles. He had shot a boar and was excited. Paul and Josh looked for the pig for few minutes, then Paul had to check on the other hunters. Over the radio he told the guides, Josh had shot a boar in the left shoulder and to keep a look out for it.

A few minutes later we heard a couple pistol shots. Ted called on the radio, he said he had finished off Josh's pig. Josh was so afraid he would not find the pig. He had shot it high and there was no blood to trail. It was a real nice boar, approx. 225 to 250 lbs. It is now at Nagels being processed. We have the cape in the freezer to take to the taxidermist.

One of the guides named Buddy treated Josh like he was his own. Josh was having trouble with his bow the morning we arrived. Buddy helped Josh until they had the bow shooting correctly and Josh was confident with it. Buddy went out of his way many times during the hunt to make Josh feel important. Paul Wilson was pretty busy with everything going on, but he talked to me a lot and stated, if Josh was unsuccessful he would arrange it so he could come back and hunt until he got a pig.

Ted took time to know Josh by name and was great to him. Josh was a fan before, but a greater fan today. We had to leave late Saturday morning. They did not have any of Ted's merchandise there until after we left. Josh wanted to get a T-Shirt and Ted's new CD. I will talk to Paul this week and see what I can arrange for Ted to sign these for Josh. We took many pictures, and should have them back later this week.

Josh will be sending a thank-you as soon as he has the pictures back. As we left Josh took time to thank Buddy and Ted, he let them know that he will be back one of these days. So, in closing the greatest thing this trip gave us, is hope. Josh now has something worth fighting for and there is now amount of money in this world that can buy this. Steve, bless you and your organization, you have put more fight in one young mans life than I thought was possible.

James & Gail Kittle

B4K Notes: James' hunt, lodging, travel expenses and taxidermy were paid for by Benefit4Kids