As most of you know, I enjoy taking older hunters out on trips they probably never thought they would get to do. In past seasons, we have tried to take at least one hunter per year. Sometimes it works and sometimes we can't fit it in the schedule.
This year, that person will again be my buddy Bernie; extremely accomplished hunter, former Marine with a recon unit in Vietnam, owner of a new knee and new hip since he last joined us in Season Two of OYOA, and owner of a multitude of scars to commemorate his three back surgeries since that last hunt.
Bernie was finishing up the last of his chemo this winter when I stopped by to see how he was doing. He told me his hunting days were slipping through his hands and there was not much he could do about it. Really a bummer to see a guy who has hunted so many places, taken so many species, including two grand slams of sheep, resolve that his rifles may have fired their last shots.
I told Bernie of the Mobility Impaired hunts in NM. He kind of brushed it aside. I told him if he drew, I would take him down there for the hunt, whether he drew the elk or antelope that I was suggesting he apply for. He decided he would do antelope, worried that he could not handle and elk hunt. So, I helped him decide on units I knew were good and where I had some experience.
When the draw results came out, Bernie was holding the one non-guided non-resident antelope tag for this unit. I think I was as excited as he was amazed; maybe dumbfounded would be a better word, given his disbelief when I told him of the results.
The burden fell to me. It was up to me to start planning, E-scouting, and getting him ready for the hunt. The last two weekends at the range give me no doubt that when the time comes, he will close the deal.
Seeing him hobble with a cane in one hand, a walking staff in the other, flinging his right foot forward due to the loss of sensation created by the neuropathy of chemo treatments, is tough. Watching how inflexible he is due to surgeries that have fused his bottom three vertebrae together, tells me that we have our work cut out to find a buck, get close enough for a shot, and then get Bernie down into a shooting position.
Bernie cannot sit and shoot. When he sits in my truck, he almost has the seat fully reclined; just how rigid his lower back is, so no chance he can sit to shoot a rifle. We will have to find a way for him to shoot upright (hard to be steady even with shooting sticks) or for me to help him get to a prone position that does not have a lot of grass obstructing his view/shot. His mobility impaired permit does allow him to shoot from a vehicle, but he refuses to do that.
Just driving around to inspect the areas today, I realized how bad his back is. When I would see a buck out his passenger side window, he can only turn to the right about 40 degrees. He cannot look a full 90 degrees out the window, so I would have to jockey the truck to a position where the buck was out his window, more forward to a line not behind the side view mirror.
Bernie warned me that this would be a challenge. I knew it would, but given what I see in this completely flat ground that has no undulations, I think I may have underestimated that ask at hand; even more so when I see his difficulty walking across a parking lot, let alone a big prairie of 30" tall grass with uneven surface.
We saw some great bucks today. I hope we can find one of them that will hang around, maybe even take a nap, in a location where Bernie can get his broken down body to a shooting position.
Only ten tags, so the competition should not be a huge issue. Our goal is to find a buck that is hanging in an area he can navigate. I have brought my cow decoys, so if I carry all of his stuff and go really slow, picking the least challenging terrain, I think he could make it a couple hundred yards without us being too much of a circus and blowing the buck out of the country.
It is hard to explain why I am so committed to seeing older hunters get their chances. Yes, I am very committed to seeing new hunters to the fold. Just something about the pleasure of sharing time with very experienced hunters who are know their hunting days are limited, listening to the great stories, and knowing how much they appreciate someone taking time and interest to help them keep the hunting fires burning.
Inside the heart of a hunter is this special place where both hunter and helper understand and appreciate the unique feeling to be part of this experience. No words are necessary to explain to the other, just a smile and the ever-present appreciation for special times, in special places, shared with special people.
Odometer says it was 1,184 miles to get here. Hope to make the best of it.
A few bucks from Day One.
This year, that person will again be my buddy Bernie; extremely accomplished hunter, former Marine with a recon unit in Vietnam, owner of a new knee and new hip since he last joined us in Season Two of OYOA, and owner of a multitude of scars to commemorate his three back surgeries since that last hunt.
Bernie was finishing up the last of his chemo this winter when I stopped by to see how he was doing. He told me his hunting days were slipping through his hands and there was not much he could do about it. Really a bummer to see a guy who has hunted so many places, taken so many species, including two grand slams of sheep, resolve that his rifles may have fired their last shots.
I told Bernie of the Mobility Impaired hunts in NM. He kind of brushed it aside. I told him if he drew, I would take him down there for the hunt, whether he drew the elk or antelope that I was suggesting he apply for. He decided he would do antelope, worried that he could not handle and elk hunt. So, I helped him decide on units I knew were good and where I had some experience.
When the draw results came out, Bernie was holding the one non-guided non-resident antelope tag for this unit. I think I was as excited as he was amazed; maybe dumbfounded would be a better word, given his disbelief when I told him of the results.
The burden fell to me. It was up to me to start planning, E-scouting, and getting him ready for the hunt. The last two weekends at the range give me no doubt that when the time comes, he will close the deal.
Seeing him hobble with a cane in one hand, a walking staff in the other, flinging his right foot forward due to the loss of sensation created by the neuropathy of chemo treatments, is tough. Watching how inflexible he is due to surgeries that have fused his bottom three vertebrae together, tells me that we have our work cut out to find a buck, get close enough for a shot, and then get Bernie down into a shooting position.
Bernie cannot sit and shoot. When he sits in my truck, he almost has the seat fully reclined; just how rigid his lower back is, so no chance he can sit to shoot a rifle. We will have to find a way for him to shoot upright (hard to be steady even with shooting sticks) or for me to help him get to a prone position that does not have a lot of grass obstructing his view/shot. His mobility impaired permit does allow him to shoot from a vehicle, but he refuses to do that.
Just driving around to inspect the areas today, I realized how bad his back is. When I would see a buck out his passenger side window, he can only turn to the right about 40 degrees. He cannot look a full 90 degrees out the window, so I would have to jockey the truck to a position where the buck was out his window, more forward to a line not behind the side view mirror.
Bernie warned me that this would be a challenge. I knew it would, but given what I see in this completely flat ground that has no undulations, I think I may have underestimated that ask at hand; even more so when I see his difficulty walking across a parking lot, let alone a big prairie of 30" tall grass with uneven surface.
We saw some great bucks today. I hope we can find one of them that will hang around, maybe even take a nap, in a location where Bernie can get his broken down body to a shooting position.
Only ten tags, so the competition should not be a huge issue. Our goal is to find a buck that is hanging in an area he can navigate. I have brought my cow decoys, so if I carry all of his stuff and go really slow, picking the least challenging terrain, I think he could make it a couple hundred yards without us being too much of a circus and blowing the buck out of the country.
It is hard to explain why I am so committed to seeing older hunters get their chances. Yes, I am very committed to seeing new hunters to the fold. Just something about the pleasure of sharing time with very experienced hunters who are know their hunting days are limited, listening to the great stories, and knowing how much they appreciate someone taking time and interest to help them keep the hunting fires burning.
Inside the heart of a hunter is this special place where both hunter and helper understand and appreciate the unique feeling to be part of this experience. No words are necessary to explain to the other, just a smile and the ever-present appreciation for special times, in special places, shared with special people.
Odometer says it was 1,184 miles to get here. Hope to make the best of it.
A few bucks from Day One.
. 
