I heard it myself and I could not believe it was being said; “Your kidding me – right” or many times it was just silence and no response with a look of bewilderment. What am I talking about? Please bear with me while I try to explain.Back in April of this year, I was heading back to my home in Tennessee from northern Alabama. As I was traveling along I noticed a “shooting house” off in a beautiful green field. Like any outdoorsmen, I began to daydream about sitting in that stand watching a beautiful, thick-necked buck walk from under a nearby persimmon tree.
This daydream went on for about 10 miles until a song came on the radio reminding me of a friend, Steve Morgan, who had recently become blind due to the onset of Multiple Sclerosis. I began to pray for Steve, his family, his abilities and his MS induced limitations. That’s when the Lord laid on my heart the desire to take Steve hunting. This would be no problem because I have guided clients as well as many friends and family members on outdoor excursions. I knew I could sit with him and relate what was happening by painting word pictures.So I drove on, happy with myself, until I came to another, large food plot with a deer-stand tucked way back in the corner. Then the impression really hit me, “Don’t just take Steve to the deer-stand, but do all you can, to help Steve use his abilities to shoot and harvest a whitetail deer.” Just like you – my first thought was, “Lord, he’s blind. How is that possible?” His response was, “You figure that part out…”
So here we are. I began to pray and seek Christ’s guidance and human advice. I mentioned what Christ was leading me to do through some very close colleagues and mentors. But still I haven’t talked with Steve. I didn’t even know if he even liked the outdoors.I let a couple months pass before I talked with Steve. Then one afternoon, at a Church function, we crossed paths. Being unsure how to ask I fumbled with the wording, finally blurting out, “Steve, do you like to hunt?” His look of surprise startled me but I proceeded to tell him what was on my mind. He called for his wife Cheri and asked me to share again. Her mouth dropped open leaving me a little unnerved. Steve explained that on the previous evening they were talking about how, because of his blindness, he was going to miss having outdoor experiences. It was the confirmation I was looking for. I knew, somehow, we were going to make this thing work.
So we embarked on the adventure. Of course the obvious obstacle was figuring out how a blind man can shoot a deer, something that many folks with sight have trouble doing. But there were many more questions than that. We were going to have to change our way of thinking, maybe even become a little non-traditional in our methodology. That led me to the doing some research on the internet, somehow stumbling upon Travis Noteboom of Crimson Trace Laser Grips. Travis had previously assisted two hunters with their quest to hunt again. So I contacted him and shared my story. Travis was unbelievably helpful in many areas but primarily regarding equipment. He made it possible for us to use a custom Crimson Trace laser grip placed on a 44 Magnum Stainless Ruger Super Redhawk revolver. WOW! What a gun. Accompanying the gun were a five boxes of COR-BON ammunition. Legends Outdoor Sports of Athens was most helpful in assisting with the required paperwork and transactions for the State.Once the gun and ammunition were acquired, I knew a lot of practice was in order. I contacted Steve and shared that everything was complete and had a Church member assist us by accompanying us to Cleveland Pistol and Rifle Range.
With Steve being a knowledgeable, certified handgun user, we already had a head start but going at it “blind” was the new challenge. At the range, Steve familiarized himself with the gun and its components (chamber, barrel, trigger, hammer, ejectors, grip and laser) and ammunition. As we slowly shot the first round, I was amazed at how well he did. The fifth shot was half-an-inch below the bulls’ eye at 25 yards. As we continued to shoot we began to face some reality scenarios. The first was with traditional hearing protection, a pair of silencing muffs, Steve lost another sense…his hearing. He turned to me and shared that he was becoming nervous due to loosing this feeling. So at this point he had to take the hearing protection off and hesitantly we continued. The second, as we began to pattern a great pattern of shots, it began to surface that they were dipping down and to the right consistently. Once we figured out the problem we proceeded to consistently hitting out target.How did we do it? I sat behind Steve, he lit the target with the laser and vocally directed him to the bulls eye and pull. The shot would ring out.
On November 16 we headed to Alabama for an introductory opportunity of harvesting a deer. In dealing with Alabama State Wildlife laws they do not allow lasers for hunting. So we had to improvise as nanny-cam/scope situation. Although we shot twice we were unsuccessful in our quest for the harvest. However, much was
gained in the learning process of acclimating to the deer-stand, communicating shot placement and just plain remaining calm when the moment of truth happen (Authors Note: I was bent out of my frame with excitement with the first shot was taken…thus the remaining calm statement.)Our season is not over with and we have just begun. Keep us in your prayers as we make this a possible realization.
“We live by faith and not by sight” – 2 Cor.5:7
