MARK SALTZ/THE ADVOCATE

J.R. Owens demonstrates how he uses his mouth to control sighting his rifle while he hunts deer at Beechwood Grove Plantation in Clinton. At left, peering from behind the equipment, is Frank Pirie, one of two men who arranged for Owens to have special equipment to make the hunt possible.

FEATURES

Organization grants teen’s wish

• By EMILY KERN HEBERT
• Advocate staff writer
• Published: Feb 3, 2009 – Page: 1E – UPDATED: 12:45 a.m.

A paralyzed teenager from Zachary hunted for the first time since his accident using special equipment designed just for him that he operates using his head.

Several people and organizations working together made the trip possible for 18-year-old J.R. Owens.

The assistance came from both former and current sheriffs, companies in Indiana and Denham Springs, and two local men who have made it their ministry to take disabled children hunting.

The hunt was successful, with Owens killing a mature doe on the first day of the trip.

“I shot the deer one time,” Owens said, the happiness evident in his eyes and smile.

“It didn’t run. It dropped right there,” he said.

Owens, a quadriplegic,  had last hunted during the 2005 season, in either November or December. He was 15 years old.

He was hurt July 23, 2006, while riding dirt bikes with friends. The accident happened 10 days before his 16th birthday.

The boys were making circles around a group of trees, Owens’ mother, Gayla Burke, said, and Owens’ bike flipped on top of him. His head was pushed up against a tree and he was not breathing.

Although a friend immediately started CPR while another went for help, doctors at the hospital that night told Owens’ mother he would not make it through the night.

“They told me definitively he would die,” Burke said.

The next morning, Owens was still alive, but the prognosis from doctors remained grim.

“I had three different doctors tell me he would never form a cognitive sentence,” Burke said. “He wouldn’t talk, wouldn’t eat, wouldn’t know what planet he was on.”

Today, Owens is an honor roll student at Northeast High School and scheduled to graduate in May.

At a party celebrating Owens’ 18th birthday, former East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff Greg Phares asked Owens if there was something he wanted to do that he hadn’t been able to do since the accident. Phares had kept in touch with the family after the accident since Burke works as a sheriff’s deputy.

Owens mentioned hunting.

Phares contacted Andy Bishop and Frank Pirie, who are affiliated with the United Special Sportsman Alliance.

The organization grants wishes to critically ill and disabled children. It specializes in sending them on the outdoor adventure of their dreams, according to the Web site, http://www.childswish.com.

Bishop and Pirie have taken other children on hunting trips, including those with leukemia and spina bifida. But, they had never worked with someone with  physical limitations as severe as Owens’.

Still, they were determined to make this hunt happen.

“If I was in the shape J.R. was in, I would hope someone would take the time for me,” Bishop explained.

“These families are suffering. They live in this daily. If I can take them out of that environment for one day, it’s worth it,” he said.

Owens’ mother sent the men pictures of Owens’ wheelchair and explained how he is able to control it using a toggle switch he operates with his chin.

The men arranged for a Columbia City, Ind., company, BE Adaptive Equipment, to build a rifle cradle to support Owens’ weapon along with a special triggering device that Owens activates by sucking on a straw. The company’s motto is “If you can dream it, we can build it.”

Similar to his chair, Owens uses a toggle switch to position the gun back and forth and up and down.

He sights his prey using a special video monitor, the Trophy Shot, that fits on top of the rifle scope. It was designed and built by Ricky Hope in Denham Springs under his company name; Wildlife Optics. For more information on this product you can look at their web site: www.wildlifeoptics.com

The best part, Owens said, is now he can hunt every year with assistance.

“I was with J.R. when he pulled the trigger,” Pirie said. “It was the most challenging and the most exciting hunt I’ve ever been on. It couldn’t have been more perfect.”

Burke said she wants to let others in Owens’ condition know that the possibility to hunt exists.

“If it hadn’t been for Greg (Phares), I wouldn’t have known about any of this,” she said.

Others who were instrumental in making the hunt happen included Roy Paxton, a range instructor for the Sheriff’s Office, who helped Owens practice.

Burke said Paxton spent all day letting Owens get comfortable with the gun.

Current Sheriff Sid Gautreaux gave Owens permission to practice at the range and gave Burke time off from work to spend with her son.

The hunting trip took place over two days — the first day at John Barton’s Beech Grove Plantation in Clinton, while the second day took place on property owned by Ken Phares, Greg Phares’ brother.

On the hunt, the group met a father and son taxidermy team from Eunice. The men, Julius and Ben Bischoff, offered to mount the deer for free and send it to Owens.

“It made me feel very special because they didn’t know me,” Owens said of everyone who made the hunt possible.

My guides Jason, Paul, Terry, and myself with my Pronghorn.

Jim Zumbo and Devia

The camera mounted on top of the scope is the Trophy Shot by Wildlife Optics

After a short time, Jason, who was now in the driver’s seat, started to wonder why I hadn’t taken a shot and looked away from the buck to see what was going on with me. We quickly repositioned, and Terry decided to hold onto the handgrip under the barrel at the window while Paul slid in behind me and held the butt of the gun tight to my shoulder. After that, I could clearly see the buck through my Trophy Shot (see pic). We quickly settled the crosshairs on the antelope’s shoulder and … he moved! My buck started to walk away, turning his butt toward me as he did. I was afraid we’d spooked him, afraid I’d missed my chance, when all of a sudden he stopped again and turned broadside. Once again, we lined him up and this time I pulled the trigger … Bang!

Devia with her 14" Pronghorn Antelope

Jason, Paul, Tami, Mike, Terry, myself and my pronghorn

The Story of Spencer McMillen’s Elk Hunt

By Rick White

In September of 2004, Spencer McMillen, came to the Outdoor Buddies sight-in at the Lockheed-Martin shooting range southwest of Denver all the way from his home just east of Greeley. His mission was to make sure that Outdoor Buddies was confident that his shooting skills and safety met the criteria needed to harvest an elk near Estes Park. A long time friend Roger Viefhauf accompanied Spencer.

Spencer qualifying without the Trophy Shot

Sid Sellers, Dwaine Robey and Larry Davis all attended the sight-in day at the shooting complex. Sid was most concerned that Spencer might not be able to get ready for a shot at an elk quickly enough and also was concerned that by having two people look in the scope there was a high probability that a clean harvest of one of the Estes Park elk might be compromised. It was decided that Spencer, with Roger’s help, would need much more practice. Thus Spencer left pretty dejected when he was told he was not going to get to hunt that fall.

All felt that Spencer and Roger needed to develop a method that would allow Spencer to stay locked in on the elk, rather than move his head and perhaps pull himself off when he moved.

Not wanting to leave Spencer without better direction, Outdoor Buddies Larry Davis and Dwaine Robey did some research into available special equipment that had actually been used by blind hunters and proven to be successful. After some research, they found Wildlife Optics, via their Internet web site (www.wildlifeoptics.com), located in Denham Springs, Louisiana. Wildlife Optics had developed a device they call Trophy Shot. The Trophy Shot mounts on the scope of a gun and displays the actual scope picture that you or I would see onto a screen. With that screen clearly visible to Roger who looks over Spencer’s shoulder, what Spencer would be seeing in the scope could be seen by Roger without anyone having to move. Spencer could align and shoot without ever moving once the shot was set. This device seemed perfect!

Since it is not the policy of Outdoor Buddies to purchase special equipment for any individual hunter, a few people raised the money and the device was purchased. (Wildlife Optics did sell us the device at cost. A large Outdoor Buddies thanks to them for developing the device and discounting it back to Outdoor Buddies.)

Upon obtaining the device it was shipped to Spencer for mounting on his firearm and the practicing began almost immediately. As Roger and Spencer worked on the best method to use the device, they also decided that they should be able to get on an animal quickly and practice enough for them to be able to get both horizontal and vertical adjustments done swiftly.

With that in mind, Spencer and Roger devised another apparatus for the hunt. Roger, having worked for the Weld County shops for years was very clever in developing a two-seater shooting platform. It was mounted in the back of a truck. (Yes, Spencer did have his permit to discharge a firearm from a vehicle.) The device seated Roger behind Spencer and then it pivoted quickly to a position that was vertically in place. All that was left then was for Roger to give Spencer some hand signals whether to raise or lower his firearm. Roger signaled with squeezes on the shoulders. The system was used during practice session after practice.

The team was now ready to try the Outdoor Buddies hunt readiness test again. In early November, Roger and Spencer traveled to Estes Park to prove to Larry Davis that they could now pass the test. As hunt coordinator, Larry called me almost immediately to inform me that they had passed with flying colors. They were able to get on the target quickly and shot a very impressive pattern at 100 yards. After a year of preparation and numerous trials and errors, the two were ready to go elk hunting.

December17, 2005 found Spencer and Roger in Estes Park teamed with Lowell Fairchild, a Handi-buddy from Kansas and his long time friend JR Heldenbrand. JR is the President of Outdoor Buddies of Kansas, located in Kingman, Kansas. Outdoor Buddies hunt coordinators Larry Davis and Rick White joined these hunters.

It was a beautiful day and lots of elk were seen, but no cow elk were on any property that Outdoor Buddies can hunt on.

The morning of the 18th started the same way. About 7:30 A.M. some elk were spotted just behind one of the properties we have permission to hunt on. The elk however, had different ideas than to wonder through our property. While Roger and Spencer were in the shooting device and waiting for the elk to come to us, the elk sensed the danger and went the other way! While we were sitting there, local residents, Steve Toms and his son were searching for an elk. They know Larry and stopped to inquire what was happening. Larry explained what we were doing and the locals asked if they could help. Larry said no thank you, unless you could make some elk appear! With that the groups split up and we went back to hunting.

As we rounded the next corner, here was Steve whom we had just met waiving us down. He informed us that there were three elk, two cows and a spike bull, on a piece of property that they had permission to hunt.

They opened the gates, the truck was pulled in out of site until Spencer and Roger could get back into position. The truck was backed up to put Spencer in position for a shot. Spencer made a good shot on the elk and the fat cow was his. As is often the case, high fives were given, pictures were taken, a little remorse was felt, and a slap on the back was given to all who helped.

This ‘Blind Hunter’ hunt epitomizes Outdoor Buddies. It takes perseverance to overcome each individual’s limitations. It takes preparation and practice in real life shooting situations. It takes Able-Buddies who care, who want to help in any way they can. It takes cooperation from landowners who allow us to hunt and from hunt coordinators who sacrifice their days off to be part of these great hunts We are blessed to see God’s awesome creation, the Rockies, the elk, coyotes and deer; and if God so allows us that day, it all comes to fruition. If we do not harvest an animal that is OK too, but with the harvest comes the icing on every hunter’s cake.

SPENCER MCMILLEN 10 2009

DEVIA ELLER STORY – HUNTER PROFILE

My hunting history…

SIGHTING IN HER NEW TROPHY SHOT WITH RIFLE

My name is Devia Eller. I’m 36 years old and I was born and raised in North Carolina. I wasn’t really that into hunting growing up, but in my teens I used to go out with my dad into the woods when he’d go whitetail deer hunting. He showed me what to look for, like noticing such things as rubs and bedding areas, in order to find deer. And he taught me how to use his grunt call and rattling horns. The more he took me out, the more I learned. The more I wanted to experience it for myself.

 So, I asked, and dad told me the first thing I needed was to shoot. Next thing I knew, we were out shooting with his 243 at deer shaped target. I quickly learned where the vital areas on the targets were and where I needed to aim to take down the deer in one shot.

 Finally, the day came when it was time to go hunting. I don’t have to tell you how extremely excited I was. There I was in the woods, decked out in camo, being quiet and still, patiently waiting for a deer to show up. Unfortunately, nothing did. I didn’t see anything that first day, but I still had a couple days left before the season ended. I know. I know. I got started too late but better late than… you know. The last two days of hunting passed and I my tag went empty. Suffice it to say, I was disappointed, but I knew I’d be back next year. I knew then I’d have more time to prepare for the season, or least I thought I did.

 In June of the following year, I was in a car accident that left me with a C-4/5 sci (spinal cord injury). I was 19. It was the summer of 1991, and I truly believed, suddenly a quadriplegic, that hunting for me was lost forever.

DEVIA LOOKING AT THE SCREEN DURING PRACTICE

 Right after rehab, I decided to take a couple of years off to get used to my new life. I went back to college where I earned an Associate’s Degree in Business Administration and started volunteering with a nonprofit organization near where I lived. I enjoyed volunteering and found it very rewarding, (that’s why I still do it still today), but come every fall when deer season opened, I found myself longing to go hunting again. Hearing the hunters in my family tell their stories when they came in and seeing the deer they had harvested made me quite envious. It got to be more than I could take. So I started looking. I got online and found a site called Care Cure where I came across some interesting threads, some threads about disabled hunters. From there I heard about another website called Follow Me Outdoors, this one, which had information on quads and some of the equipment that aided them in their hunting. The site’s creator, Chad, answered all my questions and gave me some people to contact in my area. I was beginning to believe that it might be possible. Through his contacts, I met George Bolender and Ed Mays, both of whom got me involved in their organizations and helped to fund my equipment, the High Quad 100 and Trophy Shot. Because of them I was able to get back into the woods, able to feel goose bumps and my heart race when I hear the sound of deer coming, able to get so excited that I can hardly breathe (you know the feeling), able to look forward to something again. Wow, I hadn’t realized how much I’d missed that last part. After receiving my equipment, the North Carolina Handicapped Sportsmen Organization put me on the list for a hunting trip to Caldwell County, NC. Now it was so close I could almost taste it. LOL! Dad put my rig together for me, mounted it on my power chair, and we pretty much practiced shooting as much as we could after that. In the fall of 2007, Dad & I arrived early on a Thursday afternoon in November for the 3 day hunt, my first in 16 years. Once we met everyone and got acquainted, my two guides Jerry & Richard took dad & me out to our blind.

DEVIA WITH HER GUIDES FOR THE HUNT

Me and guides Jerry Warren & Richard McGee during hunter orientation on the Caldwell Co. Hunt

This is the view I had on my very first hunt in 16 years. What a beautiful sigh

There I sat, covered in camouflage, inhaling cool air. I felt totally alive. I didn’t care if I even saw a deer. It was enough just to be in the woods again. I loved the solitude; it’s a part of life that’s still the same for me. It’s a little different, but it’s as close to normalcy that I can get. Suddenly, we started seeing some squirrels scurrying in and out of the trees toward the bait pile. For some reason I was getting anxious, something else I hadn’t felt in a long time. I hoped it wouldn’t be much long now. I hoped for a deer to come out. There I sat quiet and still, watching the field to the right, left, and in front of me. A gray fox came down the line and started across in front of us.

He paused, glancing down the field at something before running off into the woods. All of a sudden I felt chill bumps and my heart began to race. Seconds later, out he came. A beautiful six-point buck strolled out, making his way to the bait. Instantly I felt my adrenaline kick in. My heart beat harder as I focused on breathing and staying calm, which wasn’t easy. I started pointing my rifle in the direction I thought he would go, hoping he would continue on his path.

And here he came; up to the bait pile and turned broadside. It couldn’t have been more perfect. I sipped on the straw which touched off my trigger. And down he went. I couldn’t have been more excited at that moment. I had just taken my first buck.

If anyone wants to contact me to find out more about my rig and hunting experiences, you can email me at deviae@skybest.com.

 Hope you liked my story.

HUNTER WEAVER WITH LUCKY ROCK AND CHUCK RACKLEY

The hunting story that I am about to tell you is one filled with compassion, perseverance, determination, and love. It is about a father who is very devoted to his son and is not going to give up until he puts his son in a position to harvest his first whitetail buck. The father’s name is Blane Weaver and the son’s first name is Hunter. The father and son team are from Birmingham, Alabama. Named from birth to be his fathers hunting partner, Hunter’s enthusiasm and dogged determination to harvest his first buck was both humbling and awe inspiring. From missing a large buck, to sitting through a 4 hour rain storm without complaining, to a beautiful fall afternoon where Hunter finally harvested his first whitetail deer, this experience was one that everyone involved will remember for the rest of our lives.

The story starts six years ago when Hunter was diagnosed with a terminal illness called Duchene Muscular Dystrophy. DMD is a neuromuscular muscle wasting disease that causes muscle deterioration and weakness that leads to a premature death, with a life expectancy of early to late teens. Hunter’s last day to walk was on his ninth birthday but despite being confined to a wheel chair, Hunter has never lost his desire and determination to harvest a whitetail buck.

Blane started taking Hunter to the woods when he was nine but the property he had access to did not offer Hunter a shot at a deer. Blane started carrying Hunter deeper into the woods to try to put him in a better position to harvest an animal but it never happened.

Hunter’s story found it is way to a taxidermist out of Hueytown, Alabama by the name of Chuck Rackley. Chuck is one of the areas premier taxidermists and he is involved with helping children fulfill  their dreams. Chuck contacted a friend of his, Richard Cribbs, who owned a high fenced area right outside of Camden, Alabama and Richard readily agreed to offer an animal that Hunter could harvest

After a lot of planning the trip was scheduled to take place on December 18 of 2003. It is a two-hour drive to Camden from Birmingham and the plan was to get the whole crew out to the stand by 1:00 pm in the afternoon. Chuck, Blane, and Hunter loaded up for the trip in their van. A man and wife hunting team that would hunt the ranch at the same time they were hunting followed along in their truck. Shortly after the trip started the couple phoned Blane and told them their truck quit running. Blane turned around, went to help the couple load all of their equipment into the van, and again started towards the hunting grounds. Everyone was getting really excited about the trip and before they knew it, they had passed the exit by mistake and driven an extra ten miles in the wrong direction. They turned around as soon as they could and laughed about the comedy of errors that was taking place. It was not over yet. When they were almost to the ranch, they heard a tire blow out. They pulled the van over but all of the tires were good. When they looked at Hunter’s wheelchair, they discovered that for no reason one of the tires had blown out. Now is this part of Alabama there are not a lot of places that can fix a wheelchair flat. As they drove closer to the ranch, they were blessed with a store that proclaimed “We Fix All Flats”. When Blane went inside the man said that he could indeed fix the tire and shortly they were on their way.

After arriving at the ranch and having Chuck introduce everyone, Richard was anxious to get the group out to the stand sight. Richard’s property consists of 850 acres of beautiful hardwoods with intermixed green fields to attract and feed the deer. The entire acreage is high fenced and contains both whitetail deer and several exotic species.

Richard had constructed a ground blind under one of his large box stands by nailing sheets of plywood around the support legs. He then added plywood on the ground for the wheelchair to enter and provide a stable hunting platform.

A camouflaged draping was installed behind the hunters so we would not be skylined by the animals when they come out onto the field. Richard had left this particular green field unhunted just for Hunter and had been spotting nice deer there every evening. Everyone was excited that this would be the day that Hunter would fulfill a life-long dream.

It was 3:00 pm before we reached the stand and Richard had been seeing the deer come onto the field around 4:00 pm. At 4:20 the first deer appeared on the field and starting eating about 100 yards away. There were several spike bucks and they slowing fed towards the rear of the field. At around 4:45 three rack bucks entered from the rear of the field, about 190 yards away, with the largest having seven points. Hunter was witnessing his first sight of mature whitetail bucks in the wild. While Hunter was calming looking at the deer Blane and Chuck’s hearts were about to burst from their chest. While the adults were discussing which buck they wanted to harvest the trio of rack bucks suddenly raised their heads from feeding and moved closer to the blind. We thought they were simply feeding to the middle of the field but they were actually making room for a very large eight-point buck to enter the field. Obviously, the dominant buck on the field Blane and Chuck’s decision was quickly made for them by the sheer size of the buck and his rack.

They had all dreamed about this buck. As the cameras came to life, everyone was scrambling to get into position to make the shot. As Blane moved behind Hunter it seemed no one in the blind was breathing. The big buck began feeding to our left and was about 190 yards away. Because of Hunter’s limitations, he has trouble seeing through his scope.

Blane had mounted a red-dot scope on Hunter’s rifle but this type of scope is limited to around 50 to 75 yards field of vision. With the deer so far away, Hunter and Blane were struggling to get a good sight picture. As the deer was feeding to the left, he was getting closer to disappearing over a rise in the field. Blane finally centered the red-dot onthe deer and Hunter pulled the trigger. The deer ran about ten yards and stopped. As the deer stood looking around, Blane realized the shot had gone high and the deer was in a perfect position for a follow-up shot. Hunter quickly centered the red-dot on the side of the deer and pulled the trigger for the second time. This time the deer jumped up and took off running. Everyone thought that Hunter had made a good shot because as the deer took off he slipped and stumbled several times before he was out of sight.

It was not meant to be. After several hours of intense search, no sign of a wounded animal was found. After hours of frame-by-frame review of the tape, Chuck determined that the first shot was high and the second shot was low. Chuck could actually see dirt fly up from under the deer and hit his body and the slipping evidently happened due to the wet soil conditions. The miss was confirmed two days later when Richard spotted the deer entering the field late in the evening. Everyone was disappointed about the miss but also relieved that the deer was not wounded to die in the field. Another hunt was offered by Richard and was readily agreed upon by the hunters. It was tentatively scheduled for after New Years.

David Sullivan, who heads the BuckMaster’s disabled hunting division, contacted Blane to see how the hunt went. When Blane told him how they had the opportunity but missed due to sighting issues, David told him to contact Ricky Hope with Wildlife Optics. Ricky has developed a sighting aid device called the TrophyShot which David was sure would correct the sighting problems that caused the miss. Blane contacted Ricky and a hunt was agreed on with Ricky providing a TrophyShot for Hunter to use. The hunt date was January 19 and everyone was looking forward to helping Hunter harvest his deer.

Hunter Weaver, his lucky rock, his buck and Ricky Hope!

As Saturday morning of the 19th rolled around the forecast was for major rainstorms to happen all day long. As Ricky left Baton Rouge at around 5:00 am the moisture-laden clouds was just starting to unleash its payload. The front was moving from the east to the west, the direction Ricky was driving, and soon he was past the leading edge of the front and in clouding weather. The conditions remained the same for the five-hour trip and when Ricky arrived around 10:00 am everyone was waiting. After initial introductions Ricky set about installing the TrophyShot on the gun so

Hunter could test fire it before we all went to the blind. A target was set up at 100 yards and as everyone in the camp watched, Hunter slowly squeezed the trigger. As Richard retrieved the target and brought it to Hunter, the group was ecstatic that the shot was within two inches of dead center.We talked about how we wanted to set up the hunt and at 12:30 we left the lodge to get positioned in the stand. By 1:00 we were settled and it started a slow drizzling rain. The overhead stand offered a little protection but we were still getting wet. As the time slipped by, the rain increased and the temperature dropped. Blane continually told Hunter that the deer would come out at any minute but Hunter was not the least bit fazed by the inclement weather or the lack of deer. Finally, at 4:20 a whitetail doe entered the field and began feeding. Shortly thereafter, two more whitetail does enter the field and joined the first one feeding. After watching the three deer for a short time, it was obvious that there were other animals in the woods because all of the deer kept looking were they had entered the field.

At 5:15, all of the deer looked up at the same time and then left the field. With the light fading fast and the rain increasing, we thought the hunt was over. Just as we decided to end the hunt Hunter caught movement from the side of the field so we all froze. Out walked a large red stag deer that had a six by six rack. Other red stag followed the big buck and within five minutes, the field held seven red stag bucks, with large racks, and two red deer does. We filmed all of these beautiful animals until it was too dark to hunt and then had to run them off the field when we starting leaving the blind.

As Richard picked us up at the blind and drove back to the camp, one thing kept sticking out in my mind about the hunt that I had just witnessed. It was Hunter’s quiet enthusiasm and determination to harvest his first buck. Never once did he complain about either the horrible weather or the lack of deer activity. Of the three adults in blind, we all would have gladly given up much earlier. This unrestrained commitment to the successful completion of his goal inspires everyone around him to do what is necessary to make it happen. While we relived the hunt in the warm and dry comfort of Richard’s camp we all starting planning the next attempt. There were only two weekends left to hunt so Richard and Blane decided that the next Friday would be a good day to make another effort. I quickly agreed and Chuck said he would do all he could to get free from work.

As I loaded the truck for the drive back to Alabama, I was excited about the crystal clear skies and temperature that was close to the 50-degree mark. I knew that if these conditions held, Hunter would realize his dream today. Upon arriving at the ranch and talking with Richard, the rest of the hunting party drove up. We could not wait to get in the stand and Richard had us setup by 2:00 pm. Chuck decided that he would hunt in the upper portion of the stand so he could see over the slight rise on the left side of the field. With the weather cooperating we knew the deer would move and at 4:00 our efforts starting paying off. We kept in touch by walkie-talkies and Chuck told us that a nice six-point buck was in the field to our left. We could not see him because he was behind the rise but we went on high alert.

After ten long minutes of waiting for the deer to feed over the rise, Hunter suddenly told his Dad that another deer was entering the rear of the field. It was a five-point that had a well-formed left side but an underdeveloped right side. As we watched this young deer slowly walk towards us, Chuck radioed us and said that the six-point had spotted the smaller deer and left the field. After some quick discussion, it was decided that, if given the opportunity, Hunter should harvest the deer that was feeding towards us.

As the deer fed towards us, it picked up the scent that Blane had put in the middle of the field and started walking towards us. As the deer walked within 80 yards of the stand, he turned broadside to the stand and walked directly to the scent pad. Right before he reached the scent, he quickly lifted his head and looked right at us. We all held our breath and finally he moved his head down to smell the scent pad. Blane gripped Hunter’s hand and helped him steady the crosshairs right behind the shoulders. Hunter and Blane slowly pulled the trigger and the 7mm-08 rifle roared. The deer jumped straight up in the air, landed on his hind feet, took another long jump, and ran at light speed out of the field. Blane, Hunter, and I held our breath until Chuck radioed us from above excitedly exclaiming, “He’s down, He’s down”.

Without a doubt, Blane, Chuck and myself where happier than Hunter that he had harvested his first buck. Hunter was beaming with a grin that could melt your heart. It was clear to all of the adults that it did not matter to Hunter that his first buck was a small 5pt. What mattered most to Hunter was the fact that he had achieved a goal in his life regardless of situation. While we took pictures and video to memorialize the moment, you could not have found a happier group of people anywhere on earth. The satisfaction of being involved in a lifetime quest of this nature cannot be measured in dollar values. I came away realizing that no one could invest money or time in one of these adventures without coming away feeling that the investment was miniscule compared to the return.

The entire experience hit me like a ton of bricks when we arrived at camp to show off Hunter’s trophy. Everyone was coming out of the camp to congratulate Hunter and Blane was lifting Hunter out of the cab of the truck. I was filming the event and just as Hunter was picked up, he whispered in his father’s ear, “I’m a deer hunter”. I can find no words that express the true feelings that runs through a father, with a son the same age as Hunter, witnesses such an event. I could feel the love that Hunter has for his father and Blane has for his son. This experience was a blessing to me and I am very glad that I was a part of it.