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Safari Club International Annual Wheelchair Hunt
Rolls With Success!
Story and photos by Jeff Dennis
Outdoor Correspondent
Disabled hunters arrived early on
Friday and I asked Lewis Hollis of Columbia if he was hoping for good luck on
the hunt. He replied “I had luck when I rolled through the gates today.”
The gates to which he referred
belong to Nemours Plantation, which is located along the Combahee River in the
ACE Basin – the meeting place for Safari Club International’s Low Country
chapter’s deer hunt for disabled sportsmen. The large field just past the gates
gives way to picturesque pine trees and a fishing pond, and then the live oak
avenue leads to the main house. It was a beautiful day and everyone could sense
the purpose that this gathering held.
Lewis went on to say that “You
don’t know how hard I’ve been working to stay healthy for this hunt.” This
wheelchair bound hunter obviously felt great joy upon arriving at Nemours, and
the hunt itself was a great incentive for him to take the best care possible so
as not to miss the hunt dates of October 20 and 21. He told me that
depression is an easy pitfall for a disabled sportsman, and that this type of
event and hunt can help stave off that condition better than any other medicine.
Dewey Richardson provided Black Death scent products for all of the hunters.
A feeling of accomplishment is
often a dividend from this hunt, but the hunters told me that the camaraderie
was better by far. They also noted that gathering to hunt alongside other
disabled sportsmen, and swapping tales of that hunt “makes you feel alive
again.” Other veteran disabled hunters described how they anticipate the hunt
just to see the natural world come alive at dawn. In this case the common
occurrence of gathering to hunt deer has been transformed into bigger than
normal life experiences for both hunters and volunteers.
The first order of business on
Friday prior to lunch was for the visiting sportsmen to sight-in their guns on
the shooting range. I saw that many wheelchairs have a gun-rest attachment on
them that holds the rifle in place, leaving the hunter to aim the weapon and
squeeze the trigger. David Stanton of Hartsville, S.C. was shooting a New
England firearms 20-gauge shotgun with a magnum slug for ammunition. He is a
veteran hunter and had already bagged two deer this year, but he was more proud
of the turkey spurs he displayed on his hat. He added that he used a 12-gauge
barrel on his shotgun when he was hunting that spring monarch at the Savannah
River Site.
David Stanton enjoys a cigar while he waits his turn to sight in his firearm.
At lunch we learned which guides
were paired with what hunters and the properties at which they were to hunt. A
dozen private landowners had agreed to host 17 wheelchair-bound hunters, and we
were to fan out from Nemours across the ACE Basin. Ernie Wiggers, the executive
director at Nemours, told me “We’re not sure who gets the most out of these
hunts – the hunters or the volunteers.” Most landowners make exceptions to the
usually stringent antler restrictions so that these hunters can have a greater
opportunity for success. The SC DNR’s Take One Make One program supplied ‘tent’
blinds with plywood floors to each location for the hunters to use. The guide’s
were to go with the hunters to the blind as observers and help in any way they
could.
I was assigned as a guide for
Lewis Hollis at a 5,000-acre tract of timber down Bennett’s Point road. Lewis is
a 53-year-old double amputee, having had circulation deficiencies in his lower
extremities due to diabetes. Incredible to me, he had driven down from Columbia
using his artificial leg. His attitude was very serious when it came to
preparation for the hunt, and when I asked how he was feeling, he revealed that
he had been in the hospital one week earlier for a painful case of shingles.
When I expressed my interest in writing about this hunt, he said that these
disabled sportsman hunts were underappreciated and that “It needs to be written
about more.”
Friday afternoon we trekked to our
assigned locale and were met by the property caretaker. He then took us to our
blind which was set up on an oak hummock not far from Social Hall Creek. This
afternoon we didn’t see any deer, but we viewed numerous squirrels. After dark
we traveled to Walterboro and got Lewis checked into a hotel room, which was
part of the package provided by SCI. Lewis and I hadn’t had dinner yet so we
rolled into a nearby Waffle House and continued our conversation. He said it had
been two years since he had gotten to hunt, and that he missed SCI’s wheelchair
hunt last year because he had been in a coma – and here I was talking to him. I
pondered Lewis’ level of dedication – simply to make it to this hunt, something
so many other sportsmen take for granted.
Lewis Hollis, ready for action in his ground blind.
Our plan called for us to back at
the hunting blind at 6 a.m., which meant a 5 a.m. wake-up call for Lewis. When I
arrived at the hotel to meet up with him, I saw another disabled sportsman in
the parking lot and I asked him what time he got up. He said he had a 3:15
wake-up call so that he would have time to get his gear together before going
hunting. Another hunter told me he popped out of bed at 4 a.m. because he was
wide awake anyway – sport called.
Indeed it did. Lewis and I
still-hunted a different blind on Saturday morning, and by 7:10 a.m., we spied
two deer crossing the trail we had under surveillance, but they were out of
range. This signaled to us that the deer were moving about, and sure enough at
7:20 an eight-point buck walks out in the trail at 125 yards and stops broadside
to us. I whispered for Lewis to shoot, and his 30.06 rifle report stirred the
quiet morning. The buck was unscathed as the shot was too low, and the mature
buck scampered into the woods. I told Lewis to reload his gun and to be ready
for anything, and just then a six-point buck crossed the trail but did not offer
a sporting shot. Twenty minutes later a 100-pound doe stepped out and Lewis’
shot connected this time, bringing much relief to our blind. Another deer
stepped out and before I could tell him to shoot, the 30.06 bellowed again and a
second deer was harvested.
Lewis Hollis with guide, Jeff Dennis and Lewis' two does shot at Social Hall
Plantation.
Two more deer came out into that
trail but with two deer harvested on three shots we were more than satisfied -
we were golden. We called the caretaker and a few other SCI volunteers to come
pick us up, and we had a little celebration right there in those pine woods. We
loaded and hauled the deer back to Nemours where the successful hunt could be
shared with other hunters returning from their morning hunts. The deer were
cleaned and placed in the large cooler Lewis had brought with him. Other hunters
shared stories of what they had seen in the woods, but the center of attention
soon turned to a Charleston resident’s good fortune, as we learned Charlie
Brisben had dropped a nice ten-point buck.
Charlie Brisben with guides and his fine 10 point buck!
There were many volunteers that
helped and many contributors of all kinds, but this correspondent will not even
try and mention them all; they are too numerous and each contributed to this SCI
wheelchair hunt without requiring thanks. Everyone involved would have derived a
sense of satisfaction from even one sportsman having a successful outing. The
fact that seven deer were harvested meant many memories were created, and even
though we wish everyone involved could bag a white-tailed deer, this is not the
nature of hunting.
SCI Chapter volunteers, Susan Frampton and Ernie Dorsey.
A sense of commitment from SCI and
Nemours will be the catalyst for future hunts for disabled sportsmen; it is an
understanding that requires little more than a nod of respect among willing
hunters and volunteers of all walks. And next year perhaps someone new will say
“I had luck when I rolled through those gates.”
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