CAMP GRAFTON - Ray Feist has many good memories from the eight years he spent at Camp Grafton.

Before he retired in 2006, Feist was in charge of mess operations at the National Guard camp on Devils Lake. He would commute from his home in Bismarck for weekend drills and summer assignments. When the workday was done at camp, he'd often go fishing with friends.

These days, Feist, 62, spends his summers in a cabin on Lake Sakakawea and his winters "on the golf course" in Arizona City, Ariz. In between, he hunts when the opportunity arises, and that's what brought him to Camp Grafton this week.

Feist was one of five hunters afield Monday, the first day of the annual two-day Disabled Veterans Deer Hunt at the camp.

"It's just nice to come back here and look at the changes to the camp and hunt with the guys," said Feist, a Vietnam veteran who suffered knee and back injuries. "When they asked me to come back here for the veterans hunt, I was right on it."

The late Col. Dean Hildebrand started the hunt more than 20 years ago when he was commander at Camp Grafton. Hildebrand, who went on to serve as director of the North Dakota Game and Fish Department, saw the hunt as a way to give disabled veterans an opportunity to hunt deer and at the same time help keep Camp Grafton's whitetail population in check.

Hildebrand died in September, but the tradition he started lives on.

Col. Mark Schmitz, Camp Grafton commander, said the hunt also is a way to honor the disabled veterans for their years of service.

"For those of us who wear this uniform, it's our chance to spend time with them again," Schmitz said. "This is a great time for us, and the soldiers look forward to this."

A Camp Grafton representative and an assistant such as a family member accompanies each veteran in the field. Hunters and their aides are assigned to a separate part of the camp. With an area of about 2,000 acres, there's a lot of room to cover.

Because of their disabilities, the hunters can shoot from vehicles. As an added safety measure, the groups stay in radio contact.

Five hunters a day is about right, but organizers would add additional days if there was enough interest, said Larry Walford, chief warrant officer at Camp Grafton, who has coordinated the hunt the past six years.

As he did two years ago, Feist spent the morning hunting with Shawn Franek of Harwood. Franek retired from the North Dakota National Guard earlier this year but still helps out with the hunt.

Two years ago, Franek put Feist within shooting range of a buck in less than 10 minutes. This year, Feist shot a doe about two hours into the hunt.

When the hunters gathered back at the Camp Grafton fire hall for a midmorning snack of homemade chili and caramel rolls, Feist had taken the only deer.

Frances Schemionek, Devils Lake, had taken a shot at a buck but missed.

"I thought I had him, too, but I was counting my chickens before they were hatched," said Schemionek, who served in the Marines from 1950 to 1952. "I'll get one yet."

"You can't hit them all," said his son and hunting partner, Frances Jr., also of Devils Lake. "It's a lot of fun."

All four of the veterans shot bucks after lunch, said Walford. The Camp Grafton hunt had once again lived up to its reputation for success.

"I don't think anybody's ever left without a deer," Walford said.