Antler King
New member
My daughter Shelby has always loved the outdoors but faces an obstacle most of us will never know. Shelby was born with a rare disability known as Arthrogryposis, generally characterized by underdeveloped muscles and reduced mobility of many of the joints and limbs.Limited or fixed range of motion of the limbs is most common. She was born without her biceps fully forming, clubfeet and her shoulders and hips are externally rotated.The doctors had said from the begining that she would never walk. It took her three years and countless surgeries in conjunction with physical therapy sessions to prove them wrong. My wife and I have always agreed that we would not treat her any different from our oldest daughter and that she would try and do everything that other kids did. Sometimes this proved difficult, when she was little she lacked the ability to control her falls or stand after falling. She has suffered numerous broken bones and a fractured skull, but her desire to succeed always prevails and hunting is no different. As I said Shelby has always loved the outdoors and has went on most of the family hunting trips including watching her older sister harvest her first deer. So when Shelby was old enough to hunt she was more than excited, she went through Hunters Safety like everyone else. We practiced shooting trying various shooting sticks, settling on the TriggerStick. Since she lacks biceps she can't hold the gun to her shoulder without the aid of a shooting stick. Eventhough she has the PTHFV she wants to hunt via the Spot and Stalk method. For her to be successfull everything has to be perfect, the wind, the height of the sticks ect., it takes a lot of patience and of course frustration starts to set in but in the end it's worth every moment just to see the smile on her face. Her first year of hunting in 2008 I had to backpack her since she wasn't able to walk through the CRP land very well, we practiced getting her in and out of the pack alot before the trip. Her first deer was a mule deer buck that she shot at 184 yards while bedded on a 17 degree morning in North Central Montana. After that she was really hooked and has been on a rampage ever since. In 2009 she held out for a bigger deer than the year prior (like all hunters) but settled for a forky on the last day of the trip, this year she shot another nice deer at 160 yards. Now that she is older and able to walk for a fairly long distance I don't need to backpack her I just give her a piggy back ride up the hills untill we reach the top then she's on her own. To date she has shot 3 mule deer bucks and countless mule deer and whitetail does. The Antelope eluded her this year but she got a lot of shooting in. Her goal is to harvest a Moose and Big Horn Sheep.There's no doubt in my mind that she will accomplish her goals. I will always remember the look on her face after harvesting her first buck, it was a look of complete accomplishment. Every time I have a bad day and start complaining about trivial things I think of her and what she has to go through on a day to day basis and realize I have nothing to complain about. She is my true inspiration!!
