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The 5th Annual Low Country Chapter Wheelchair & Wounded
Warrior Deer
Hunt!
Monday, October 12th & Tuesday, October 13th, 2009
4th Annual Wheelchair & Wounded Warrior Hunt group photo
Nemours Plantation was once again the focal point for our
4th Annual Hunt Wheelchair & Wounded Warrior Deer Hunt. We hosted a
total of 26 hunters and between them they tagged 16 deer and 1 wild hog!
Two happy and successful young hunters at last year's event!
At this year's event we are planning to host a total of 50 hunters.
In keeping with our desire to honor the ongoing sacrifices and service of our
military forces, approximately 30 of our hunters will be Wounded Warriors from the Marine Corps
and the Army. Most of the Marines will be coming from the Wounded Warrior Battalion headquartered at Camp LeJeune, North
Carolina and the Wounded Warrior Regiment from Quantico, VA. The other 20 hunters will be comprised of youngsters facing life-threatening injuries or illnesses
from The Outdoor Dream
Foundation and
adult disabled hunters from The South Carolina Disabled Sportsman Association.
Eric with his first of two bucks taken during our 2008 event.
Hunter Sgt. Eric Edmundson killed TWO bucks during last
year's hunt! Eric was wounded in Iraq when his Stryker assault vehicle was
destroyed by an IED blast. "During his medical evacuation from Iraq to
Germany, Eric went into cardiac arrest and suffered anoxic brain damage. In
laymen's terms, his brain was deprived of oxygen. He was left seriously
impaired."
"Eric could not walk, talk, eat, didn't have control of his bodily functions,"
recalled his father, Ed. "He just continued to go downhill."
Unfortunately, there are many more Wounded Warriors like Eric that are returning
with Traumatic Brain Injuries (TBIs) in addition to their physical wounds.
Eric's family fought heroically to get him the ongoing treatment and
rehabilitation that he needs to regain as much of a normal lifestyle as
possible.
Countless other Wounded Warriors are facing the same challenges. We hope
that our Wounded Warrior hunt will help focus attention and attract public
support to their cause.
Eric with his second buck!
Through the generous support of private landowners, our
hunters will have access to 21 of the most magnificent, private
plantations in the southeastern United States. These plantations are
managed to provide exceptional wildlife habitat and trophy quality whitetail
deer. Our hunters can expect to see a spectacular display of lowcountry
wildlife and plenty of deer during their time in the field!
Gene Rurka, SCI Humanitarian Foundation Chairman
SCI Humanitarian Foundation Chairman, Gene Rurka, will join
us on Monday to help kick off our 5th Annual Event. The SCI Humanitarian
Foundation is a 501C-3 charitable organization which oversees a number of
important humanitarian programs.
Click here
to learn more....
The Chapter has
received financial assistance from the SCI Humanitarian Foundation every year
since the Annual event was founded and we are grateful for their support.
Gene Rurka is a talented and interesting gentleman with an
unusually adventurous appetite for exotic foods.
Click here to find out what's on his plate!
Ron Schmeits, NRA President addressing our group last year.
The NRA is one of our Co-Sponsors and has
made a generous donation of $1,000.00 to our Disabled Hunter program! We have confirmed that
NRA Secretary, Major Edward J. Land,
USMC (retired) and NRA staff writer, Mark Ness, will join us once again.
Major Edward "Jim" Land being honored with a choice morsel from the
barbeque pit!
Secretary Dalton with a group of Wounded Warrior hunters
Brigadier General James B. Laster, former Commanding General of the
Parris Island Marine Recruit Depot hopes to return to assist our
hunters in the field!
Brigadier General Frederick Padilla is the current Commanding
General of Parris Island and we look forward to his participation this year.
Brigadier General Laster expressing his thanks to the Wounded Warriors for their
service.
The
Parris Island Marine Corps band, Color Guard and Chaplain were a wonderful
addition to last year's event. We are looking forward to their
participation once again. The Band and Color Guard's presence is a
very fitting tribute to our Wounded Warriors and a great, patriotic treat for
all of the volunteers.
We are very pleased to announce that
Benelli
Exhibition Shooter, Tim Bradley, will be joining us once again this year. Tim amazed
everyone at last year's event with his showmanship and his tremendous skill with
the full range of Benelli shotgun products. You will not want to miss his
performances at midday on both Monday and Tuesday!
Tim will add an extra element to his performance this year.
In addition to his Benelli shotgun shooting exhibition, he will also amaze us
with his skill with a
Ruger .22 handgun and rifle!
Ruger Firearms
donated a .22/45 handgun and a 10/.22 rifle to the Low Country Chapter for Tim
Bradley to use during his performances.
These two firearms will
be raffled off to two lucky hunters at the end of Tim's show on Tuesday
afternoon!
Go to Tim's
website at
www.timbradley.net to see some of his incredible feats of
marksmanship.
Benelli Exhibition Shooter, Tim Bradley, will dazzle us once again with his
spectacular shooting!
Through the generous support of
ThermaCell
our hunters will be protected from the ever present and abundant blood-sucking
lowcountry mosquitoes. ThermaCell has supported our event each year
with donations of ThermaCell units and
refills. ThermaCells make it possible to sit quietly and enjoy the
outdoors, free from the torment of swarms of buzzing, biting bugs!
A very nice lowcountry buck taken by one of our Wounded Warriors last year!
Superior Sharpening Services of Bluffton, SC will be on hand during
the event to sharpen knives for our hunters, plantation owners and volunteers.
Hunting knives, fishing knives, kitchen knives - any dull knife will be
professionally sharpened free of charge!
Beaufort based professional photographers,
Susan DeLoach,
of La Bella Vita Images and
Eric
Horan, of Southern Light Photographic have volunteered their
services and will attend the event. Susan and Eric will be available to take any photos
that our hunters desire. Hunters with their trophy deer, Wounded Warriors
with Major Land or General Padilla, kids with Benelli Exhibition shooter, Tim
Bradley, and of course, a terrific group photo. Whatever image you would
like to take home as a souvenir of the event, Susan and Eric will take for you.
Chapter President, Pat Autore and his wife, Karen, will
set up a computer and photo printer near the outdoor studio. Pat will
print 8" x 10" photos on the spot and place them in protective photo frames.
We want all of our hunters, landowners, co-sponsors and distinguished
guests to leave the event with a group photo and any other photos they would
like to have taken.
Hunter Vijay Viswanathan and volunteer Jay Walea try out the Mann Stand
Nick Yeary, owner of the Kripple Kreek hunting stand company
will have two of his stands at the event. His “Mann Stand” is an electric,
hydraulic stand designed to accommodate a disabled hunter and a companion.
Go to
www.kripplekreek.com for more information about Nick’s ingenious
invention. Nick designed and built the stand so that his paralyzed stepson could
once again pursue his love of deer hunting. Nick will demonstrate how quickly
and easily the Mann Stand can be put in place, attached to a tree and elevated
into hunting position.
Chapter Members, Holly Peterson and Camille Lemon,
participated in a "Ladies Only" hunting retreat at the
Flying B Ranch in Idaho
earlier this year. The hunt was organized by Niki Atcheson of
Atcheson and Sons
Hunting Consultants in Butte, Montana.
Every evening during their stay at the Flying B Ranch, items
donated by corporate sponsors were sold at auction. Niki and the ladies
decided to donate the proceeds of the auction, along with additional cash
donations, to the Low Country Chapter for the specific purpose of assisting with
the purchase of a Mann Stand for use at our disabled hunts.
We would like to thank Niki and the ladies for their generous
support. During this year's event we will be soliciting donations to
complete the purchase of the Mann Stand.
Vijay Viswanathan on a Nebraska pheasant hunt
Jerry Haynes, inventor of the “Go-Getter” will
travel from Colorado to attend the event. Jerry will bring two Go-Getters with
him that we would like to purchase for use by the Chapter. The Go-Getter
is a platform with an adjustable chair that attaches to the front of a 4-wheeler
and allows disabled hunters to go anywhere that the 4-wheeler can go.
With the purchase of two Go-getters the Chapter
would be able to expand our Disabled Hunter & Wounded Warrior program to include
bird hunts on any of the shooting preserves scattered across South Carolina.
They would also make it possible for us to transport disabled deer hunters to
hunting locations that are not accessible by wheelchair.
Click here for more information about the
Go-Getter.
Vijay with the results of a day afield on the Go-Getter!
John Rackley, the inventor of the
Renegade Wheelchair,
will be driving all the way from Maine to join us at our 5th Annual Wheelchair &
Wounded Warrior Deer Hunt and let our hunters see for themselves how a Renegade
Wheelchair can get them back outdoors!
John Rackley enjoying a day at the beach.
The Renegade makes it possible for a disabled hunter to go
virtually anywhere without assistance. Snow, water, mud, rocks......no
problem! No batteries to charge and nothing electrical to fail, the
Renegade will take you where you want to go.
The Low Country Chapter will have the largest trophy buck
killed during the event shoulder mounted by Leslie Ramsey of
Wild Game Deer
Processing and Taxidermy in nearby Sheldon, SC, free of charge to the
lucky hunter!
SCDNR Chairman and Nemours Plantation host, Mike McShane, with Secretary Dalton.
We expect that there will be additional honored guests
attending the event, including
South Carolina Department of Natural Resources
officials and a number of retired Marines from the Beaufort area and elsewhere.
The event will be videoed by professional videographers, Dave Lavery
and Glen Brodie, of
TimeLine Productions. Dave and Glen have donated
thier services to assist
Safari Club's Expedition Safaris TV show host,
Mike Rogers,
in capturing video for use on an upcoming episode of Expedition Safaris on the
Versus outdoor channel!
Each hunter will receive a "Goody Bag" of products generously
donated by our sponsors.
Safari Club
International will supply briefcases, nametag holders, ball
caps, key rings, bumper stickers, decals and a cash donation to the event.
The NRA
will add additional gift items and a cash donation to our Disabled Hunter
Program.
Coming from the south, Nemours Plantation is on the right
side of Highway 17, several miles north of Gardens Corners outside of Beaufort,
SC. Coming from the north the entrance is on the left of Highway 17
approximately ˝ mile south of the Combahee River bridge. Look for the brick
gates and the Nemours Plantation sign. Follow the road onto the plantation and
bear left after passing through the second set of brick gates. Go down the
avenue of live oaks and look for the event tents.
Your financial support makes these events possible. A
suggested Donation amount of $100.00 will pay the expenses for the participation
of a sick youngster, wounded veteran or deserving adult disabled hunter.
Click the link below to open a Donation Invoice that you can
print to distribute to friends, fellow hunters and business associates who
would like to support our Safari Wish and Disabled Hunter events.
Thank you for your support!
With your help the 5th Annual Wheelchair / Disabled Hunt will
be a great success and a patriotic event that we will remember for years to
come!
Click the links below for video, photos and stories about the
2008 Hunt!
Click the links below for video, photos and stories about our previous
Wheelchair Hunts.
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