Just finished my last night of Hunter's Safety, took the written test and now will get ready for the field test to be done in a couple weeks. The field test should be an experience since the instructors tell me they never had someone in a wheelchair come through their course before. The test itself will be pretty simple, but I think the instructors are intrigued in what my setup will be and how everything will work (since I've referred to it many times). One guy said, "We're going to be your experiment. We've never done this before and you'll have to talk us through this." And as we talked after class it was clear that they are very serious about coming up with more ideas/adaptations that may help me perform as independently as possible (and safely of course)...not just for myself either, but for others they may come into contact as well. Guess you could say this was an education for all so to speak!
But last night I came away with much more than hunter education. I had previously talked with some of the instructors about the women's workshop I'm organizing in June, and 4 of them are very interested in helping out. One of them, Larry, works with the Wisconsin Chapter of the Turkey Federation. He is going to talk with its members and see about possibilities for organizing future disabled hunts. Another instructor, Lee, has a beautiful plot of land which he is also opening up for select special group hunts for turkey, deer, and pheasant (I believe).
I also came away with the name of another quad who has been hunting for many years who has a trigger device and support system I'm anxious to checkout! I may even be able to use the people he had to make something similar for myself. Exciting!! On top of all that, I got talking with Beverly, the only female instructor of the bunch, and looks like I may be doing some hunting with her this next fall.
So overall, this was one heck of a course and a great group of people!!
No comments:
Post a Comment