My name is Seth Coverstone. I have 8 and a half years of service, I deployed with the 13th MEU in support of operation inherent resolve, and once again on a Unit deployment program to Japan and South Korea. The hunt I attended was amazing, everything was thought out and well planned in advance. Impact Outdoors did a great job ensuring I had all the correct tags, licenses, clothing, and equipment necessary for the hunt. I can't even begin to describe the beautiful environment I found when the sun started to rise on Jack's ranch. I grew up in the pacific northwest and have never seen anything like Jack's before. To see how well Jack and his ranch hand Blake managed the property and its habitat blew me away. Blake and Jack know every inch of the property and it didn't take but mere moments for us to see a targeted harvest they had pre-scouted up to weeks in advance. We had a lot of talks about wildlife management and education, safe shooting and courtesies of using a private landowner opportunity to hunt the North American Pronghorn. After the harvest Matthew took time to teach me about properly tagging the animal through New Mexico's Game and Fish E-Tag system. Matthew then started walking me through the processing phase. He showed me how to clean and process the animal from start to finish. Once the harvest was chilled appropriately Matt and Blake helped me wrap and package every bit of the meat from the animal to be frozen for my travel back home. Since the hunt was over on the first morning of my tag they outfitted me with loads of gear and we enjoyed the next day catching lots of different species of fish. This experience gave me the tools and independence to be successful during my own hunts in the upcoming months! Can't say enough thanks to Jack the landowner, Blake the ranch hand, and Matthew for creating such a found experience in the field.
Matthew Fuentes-Tanuz spent 6 years in the Marine Corps, and now continues to serve the Marines in a civilian capacity. Matt was an Amphibious Reconnaissance Scout Sniper that was afforded the opportunity to travel many places and train on many skill sets. With and for the Marines, his travels include Germany, republic of Georgia, Romania, Lithuanian, Spain, Israel, Afghanistan, Iraq, and the Philippines.
This week I had the privilege of taking Matthew somewhere he had never been before, on a New Mexico marsh hunt chasing waterfowl! It was a blast getting to know him and a little bit about the service he has provided to this country. While on our hunt Matt was lucky enough to harvest his first stud wood duck among many other outstanding species.
Impact Outdoors had the honor of spending a morning in the blind with Alfonso Archuleta for a late season diver hunt this week. Alfonso has served our country State-Side in the Army National Guard for the past 6 years. His service has included being a Blackhawk mechanic and crew chief and providing boarder security, medical supply transport, and fire suppression support during times of drought. Alongside his commitment to this country, Alfonso's humor, focus, and positive attitude demonstrated with clarity the characteristics that also make him a model husband and father. This was a textbook diver hunt with the birds coming in low and hot. With the birds working well and Alfonso in the blind, we had awesome hunt!
I have a strong passion to teach and a desire to have a purpose on this Earth while I am here. These are the types of conversation settings James and I shared with one another while we huddled up behind some thin camo, sitting on some soft ground, enjoying a charcuterie board in the afternoon shade. We were waiting on the day to transition into the action we anticipated for our evening while chasing Rio Grande turkey across the eastern part of New Mexico.
We had the opportunity to be on an incredible property that travels along side the Pecos River here in New Mexico. The wildlife present on the property was incredible and earlier that morning we were lucky enough to have 40 plus turkeys "FLY" directly over the two of us just before sunrise. These birds were already staged on the field when they took flight and honestly, the multitude of birds and the power from their wings left me awestruck.
James Berry was in the US Navy for 8 years and was a rank MM1 (SS) Machinist Mate First Class Petty Officer Silent Service. James spent four years on board USS Dallas SSN 700. He worked as an Engine Room Supervisor and lead welder. "I helped build the boat in the Electric Boat shipyard and was on the commissioning crew so I am Plank Owner," James stated. This was the very first time I had the honor of meeting someone who had been present on a submarine let alone a submarine from the Vietnam War. The Dallas was featured in the book and movie "The Hunt For Red October" and I related to this fact because I have seen the movie and now the title film is even more intriguing to me. After the military James ran a small automotive mechanic shop here in Albuquerque for ten years before stumbling on what I can confidently say is his true passion aside from his family.
Teaching, James is now a welding Instructor at Central New Mexico Community College in Albuquerque. James and I discussed different teaching approaches and methods that we both shared in common in our toolbox for education. When James spoke of his students I could tell that their success in the field and the knowledge they gathered while under his instruction was extremely important to James. No matter what the circumstance while on the ship or in his classroom James seems to be able to adapt quickly to changing environments. When covid hit, James began experimenting with new video processes and approaches on social media so that his students could learn adequately and practice sufficiently from home while being cooped up. "Besides all the normal welding processes I also teach CAD, CNC plasma table operations, and Robotic Welding," James explained to me. Just like his new online approach with his step by step videos for his students to follow along with, James has also pushed for the newest technology to be present in the program for his students. He explained that at first the idea of a robotic welder took some of his coworkers by surprise, but James confidently began the process of working the robotic welder into the students curriculum. Charging head on into the newest technology so that his students will be prepared to get top notch jobs when they leave the program at CNM. As soon as we started talking education I could tell James is passionate about teaching. James also enjoys hunting a variety of New Mexico's big game/ small game species, and camping with his family here in New Mexico. James enjoys being a grandfather and passing on his passion of the outdoors to his grandchildren through camping and fishing engagements here in the state. James has a great sense of humor, doesn't turn down new experiences, is a Rocker through and through, and truly helps our community here in New Mexico.
Thank you James Berry for this wonderful day outdoors and your service. Although we didn't harvest we still enjoyed the camaraderie experienced on this wonderful property here in New Mexico and your passion for helping others can be felt in even a short amount of time with you. We did however have some extremely exciting moments on this hunt that I will let James share with you if you get the chance.
"I really want to help prepare the students for the future." James Berry
My name is Thomas Castillo,
I served 6 years in the United States army as a paratrooper in the 4th brigade 25th Infantry Division. I met Matt when the Impact Outdoors program was beginning to take shape and was still a new idea. I had just moved back to New Mexico and didn't have anywhere to hunt and Matt was gracious enough to take me out. My greatest memory with Impact Outdoors has been by far the the amazing people that this group has a tendency to draw into its events. An amazing example is the eastern NM waterfowl hunt that was setup for a group of 10 or so veterans. I dont know if it was the amazing goose hunt in fields of corn, the amazing wild game meals prepped my Matt and the Impact team or just the laughs had at lodging over the three day trip. I couldn't be prouder to be associated with a great organization and a great group of men doing their best to teach conservation and ethics each day in the field.