A Quick Update And A Realization

For those of you that have been following, I had an incident that left me with a cast that will be here for most of the hunting season, if not the entire season.

Well, I now have my third cast on. It's a walking cast that I can't walk on. Kind of a cruel joke if you ask me! But I destroyed my last cast, so that had to give me something that could survive my daily abuse. On the good side, it is healing according to plan. So, as of now, no surgery is needed. Thank God for that!

To make things easier, and to make sure that there is no movement of the bone fragments, I have been put in a wheelchair that I am using 90% of the time now. At first, I had this idea that I would be more able to head into the woods with my new wheels. Well, I had a rude awakening the other day. I went to a local carnival with my family like we do every year. And moving around on the pavement was not bad. But when my daughter wanted to go to the kids game tent, everything changed. It was on a grassy lot next to the parking lot, and let me tell you, soft ground is a whole different ballgame. Every divot became a little wall that I would have to try to maneuver over. Every little soft spot seemed like I was sinking in tar.

I have said a lot in the last few weeks how much respect I have now for those men and women that have life challenges (the majority much worse than mine, and permanent) and still get out and enjoy the wonderful gift of the outdoors that God has given us. And I don't want to sound like a broken record, but I can't help but give more praise to those men and women. I find out more every day about how hard things can be and how many things I have taken for granted.

The Hard Hunt

In my last installment, I expressed how I was feeling about my situation and how it is affecting my hunting lifestyle. Now, while I still have those feelings, I am also in awe. When it comes down to it, my plight is rather small. I have a broken leg, and nothing more. I can still move around with the use of crutches, or a wheelchair, if the going is rough. And, although I will be in this state for the majority of the hunting season, come next season (God willing), I will be healed and in tip-top shape for my hunts.

What put me in awe was a group of people that I met last year at a hunting expo that I had a booth at last year in Imlay City, Michigan. The group is called Wheelin' Team 457. Their mission statement is, “to provide the physically challenged with indoor and outdoor sports and recreation”. They also strive to spread awareness. Now, the gentlemen that I met weren't in a cast like I am. They were limited to the use of a wheelchair and two of them had slightly limited use of their arms. And they were talking about a goose hunt they had been on! We talked for a bit about what they do and hunts they had been on. You simply can't help but be inspired. These guys have the passion that hunting is really all about.
And they represent that passion. They embody the true spirit of hunting and sportsmanship.

I used to take for granted how easy it was to simply go out for a quick hunt. To know what will be involved every time you hunt, and that it will never get any easier, and still have the drive to do it time and time again is something I can only hope to have for the remainder of my days.

On a different note, I am hopefully getting a wheelchair that's big enough for me (that's a whole other story) so I can get out into the woods here in the next week. Wish me luck!