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Missouri Disabled
Sportsmen
Providing
Opportunities and Fellowship.....
Whether they need
physical assistance, a new outdoor experience or just the friendships that
evolve through the many contacts made through our organization, we at Missouri
Disabled Sportsmen are pleased to provide various outdoor activities for our
disabled friends.
Please read the
following story from "Chairman":
It’s the first week of February, 2009. Deer
season has been closed for a little over 2 weeks now, and I’ve been busy
unwinding from a very eventful and successful season.
The phone rings…it’s a good friend of mine, Mike (MoBowman). The
first thing out of his mouth was, “What are you doing, ohhhhh…around the
5th, 6th & 7th of March?” The
question caught me off-guard, at first. It
sounded like he had something in mind, and I was trying to recall if I had any
plans on those dates. Not an easy
thing to do, since I wasn’t sitting at my desk, and had to rely solely on my
memory…
Nothing immediately came to mind, so I asked Mike, “What’s up?”
“How’d you like to go on a guided ram hunt, in Texas?”
I immediately thought, “Heck yeah, I’d LOVE to go!”…but I
remained silent at first, waiting for the other boot to drop, if you know what I
mean. I don’t get many phone calls
like this, so I didn’t exactly know how to react, or respond.
It was about this time, that I believe Mike sensed that he ought to come
forth with more details. He told me that Hunting Brotherhood contacted him, and
was offering me a spot on their ram hunt!
My mind began spinning…did Mike just say what I thought he said? Is
he serious…or is he trying to pull a prank? Naaaahhh…he
wouldn’t do that – would he? You
never know what your hunting buddies will try to pull, because hunting season is
over & they’re bored to tears! I
was speechless…then, as my ability to speak slowly returned, all of a sudden
my memory kicked in (funny how that happens). Texas…ram hunt…Hunting
Brotherhood…multi-forum challenge! But,
that still didn’t explain why I was being offered a hunt. My
team from MissouriWhitetails.com had won the multi-forum challenge, so we got to
select the organization that would send a disabled or terminally-ill youth on a
guided hunt. In no way, shape, or
form did any of us expect any personal gain…it was just a friendly competition
between hunting forums.
I finally just ask Mike, “What’s going on?”
Mike explained how he talked to Juan, of Hunting Brotherhood, and was
told that the guide sponsoring the youth hunt found out that there was a
disabled hunter on the winning team of the multi-forum challenge, and opened up
another spot for me.
Speechless…again.
Mike is patiently waiting for some kind of response, and I don’t know what to
say. I want to say “Yes”, yet
I’m a tad ambivalent about whether I can pull this off...and I sure as heck
don’t want to say “No”, but may have no other choice.
Then it dawned on me…this hunt is just under 4 weeks away! OMG…that’s
not much time at all, to get all my ducks in a row.
First of all, that’s gonna be a L-O-N-G road-trip. I don’t do airlines,
anymore. Not only that, I usually
try to arrange for someone to go with me, when traveling these distances…where
am I going to find me one that can take a week off, on such short notice?
Let alone the fact that I haven’t traveled these distances, for quite
some time. Geez, why am I worrying
about that, all of a sudden? I
don’t even know if I’m going to be able to go, yet. I
started feeling like I was choking, as if I’d bitten off more than I can chew.
I tell Mike, “I need some time, so I can figure this out…I’ll get back
with you”.
A person usually has a general idea of his limitations…or should, anyways. If
not, you’ll learn pretty quickly, in situations like these. I
used to get “limitations” & “expectations” mixed up, because I
occasionally forget to listen to my body. I
may think I can handle a situation, but believe me, the absolute worst time to
realize you can’t is when you’re smack-dab in the middle of it.
I checked my schedule…nope, no conflicts. Now
to find someone that could accompany me. Then
it hit me…my Dad! He’s retired,
he hasn’t ever been on a hunt like this before, plus it would give us some
quality time together to boot! He’s
been sick for quite some time, but has recently been recovering at a fast pace. He
hasn’t been hunting for quite awhile either (7 years), and I sure do miss
having him along on a hunt. Now if I
can just convince him to go. I gave
him a call, told him what was up, and asked if he’d like to go…he said
“Yes” so quickly, it took me by surprise.
I called Mike & Dave (MissouriWhitetails), and Juan (Hunting Brotherhood)
and announced my decision..."It’s ON"!
I mapped out our route, made all the necessary reservations, and we were good to
go. We departed on March 3rd, and
arrived at the Laguna Vista Ranch on March 5th, around 11:30AM. As
we pulled up to the lodge, I was pleasantly surprised. It
looked as if we’d won the lottery…film crew and all!
After Jed Knowlton & and the Hunting Brotherhood crew introduced themselves,
I began looking for the disabled youth hunter that was supposed to join us. It
was a chore finding someone, since the original youth hunter had backed out at
the last minute. I was hoping &
praying that Juan was successful in finding a youth hunter in time.
About that time, a mini-van pulled up, and I saw a young lady’s smiling face
inside! I knew then, that Juan had
pulled it off…way to go, Juan!
The first order of business was to go to the range and check our rifle’s
zeros. Alyssa went first, and it was
obvious she was having some issues with the rifle she had brought. Never
fear…Jed to the rescue! Jed offered to let Alyssa borrow his AR, and they were
back in business. It didn’t take
long, and I had my NEF Handi-Rifle, in .243 Win, ready to go. Dad
was having some issue’s with his .270 (I think it was the scope, myself), but
finally got things lined out.
By the way – did I mention that it was HOT? I
was wearing what I thought to be appropriate…but I was wrong. I
thought this might happen, so Dad & I had stopped at the Bass Pro in San
Antonio, and picked up some mesh shirts & hats…thank goodness!
We headed back to the lodge for some lunch (AND to cool off a bit),
before heading out for our first hunt that afternoon. I
was chomping at the bit, to get out there!
Marcus was our guide, and I can’t say enough good things about him. He
was very accommodating, and I felt confident that he was the right man for the
job. This was my first guided hunt
ever, and I really didn’t know what to expect.
Well…Marcus put both my Dad & I at ease, from the get-go. I
could tell from his demeanor, we were going to get along just fine…and that we
were in for a good time. We
weren’t out there long, and we began seeing all types of wildlife…but no
rams. It was exciting, nonetheless. I
took in all the scenery & wildlife, and was just happy to be there!
Once we returned to camp, we heard the news of Alyssa’s success. I
couldn’t have been any happier, if I had scored myself! That’s
what it was all about, as far as I was concerned. The
hard work of Hunting Brotherhood’s paid off…mission accomplished!
Then I realized…uh-ohhhh, the pressure is on!
As the sun was going down, Marcus began preparing the grill for dinner. I
was exhausted from a full day of activity, so I sat outside in the cool breeze,
trying to unwind. That’s about the
time Marcus mentioned that he just happened to have a bottle of Crown Royal on
hand, and I was welcome to wet my whistle. I
knew I was gonna like this guy…
The “unwinding” was a success (thanks, Marcus), and after sampling Marcus’
abilities as a chef, I was more than ready to turn in. Dad
was so beat, he was the first one to hit the hay…I think he even skipped
dinner.
It wasn’t long (never seems like it, anyways), and the alarm was going
off…it’s time to get up & at ‘em!
Dad was taken to a tripod stand, for his hog hunt, and Marcus & I
returned to the same spot we hunted the day before. There
was a chance for a storm that day, so I was hoping we would score early.
Around 9AM, clouds were starting to build, and I thought we were going to get
soaked. We were planning on hunting
‘til around 10AM, so we decided to hang in there.
It was about that time, that Jed contacted Marcus, and told him they had
the rams spotted…on the opposite side of the ranch. We
quickly got me & my gear loaded into the Polaris Ranger, and headed in that
direction. It took us awhile to
finally locate the rams, because they were constantly on the move. Once
we had them spotted, we tried to get ahead of them, so I could get set up.
When I was preparing for a shot, we became aware that the shooting rail on the
Ranger was too high, and it was going to be an issue. Everyone
was trying to come up with a fix, when I realized the answer was at my
feet....literally. We placed my
wheelchair cushion underneath me, raising me to exactly the right height…whew!
Here come the rams, none too soon…
As I prepared to shoot, the rams grouped up, so there was no shot opportunity.
We rushed to get ahead of them again…and they were still grouped up. No
shot.
Well…the third time was a charm! We
got ahead of them, got set up, and here they came…still grouped up. All
of a sudden, one of the rams peeled off from the group, turned broad-side,
and…BOOM! Corsican ram down! What
a hunt! (in my best David Blanton impersonation)
High-five’s & pictures followed shortly thereafter. My
Dad was retrieved from his tripod stand, to share in the excitement (thank you,
for that).
The generosity of Hunting Brotherhood, Jed Knowlton’s Laguna Vista Ranch &
MissouriWhitetails.com was overwhelming...a successful hunt was the icing on the
cake. The hunting community never
ceases to amaze me, because they are so giving & caring.
By providing an opportunity that otherwise may never have been realized,
they also made possible memories that will last a lifetime, not to mention the
new friendships that were forged. I’ll
be forever grateful…and then some.
BTW - even though Dad didn’t score on a hog, he told me that he had a
wonderful time. He especially
enjoyed visiting with everyone in hunting camp. Plus
I’ll never forget the look on his face, when he was sitting outside the lodge,
and an elk came strolling by! Priceless.
I'd like to thank my team "Rack 'Em Up" who, by taking first place,
made it happen: A HUGE "Thank
You" to Doulblelunger (Bill), Rat (Paul), Letemgrow (Philip) & Trad-Hunter
(Lance).
I’d also like to take this opportunity to thank the following sponsors, for
making this opportunity possible:
Hunting Brotherhood
Knowlton’s Laguna Vista Ranch
Missouri Whitetails
Elite Archery
Max Grow Mineral
CalGuns.Net
FOB Nation
B-Stinger
Terminal Velocity Archery
Spot Hogg
Bowtech
Grip Werks
Crossbow Nation
Big Country Outdoors Video Productions
Thank you, Chairman, for
your story and picture!
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