WAKEFIELD—Kip West in 2005 lost his good friend Jayton Patterson of Sedley to the war in Iraq.

Now the professional archer for Bowtech is doing something to honor Patterson, the son of Frank and Sharon Patterson.

West beginning Monday will host a five-day archery program at Airfield 4-H Center in Wakefield for 20 members of the military who were wounded overseas. He also will take each participant on a dream hunt to places like Texas, Kansas, Illinois, Michigan, Alabama, South and North Carolina, and Virginia.

The hunts will be primarily for whitetail deer but will include a boar hunt with singer and conservation activist Ted Nugent in Michigan and exotics like Sitka and fallow deer in Texas.

West is starting a non-profit to work with military personnel seriously wounded in the war.

“When they’re able to come out of the hospital, we’re bringing them here, giving them a new bow and teaching them how to shoot,” he said. “Then I will spend a year with the same group of guys all over the country on dream hunts.”

The weeklong event will also involve skeet and trap competitions and a fishing tournament. West also will take participants to Richmond International Raceway on Friday, April 29, to meet retired NASCAR driver Richard Petty.

Freedom Alliance, an educational and charitable organization that sponsors numerous program activities aimed at supporting and honoring service members and their families, is funding the program. Hunts will be done through Kip West Outdoors.

“They do the event and I take over and do the funding for these other events,” West said.

Getting funding has been a challenge.

“I’m a professional beggar,” he said. “I’ve gotten good at it. I beat the bushes. That’s why we are going non-profit. It will be a lot easier to raise money.”