Young hunters not deterred by disabilities

A few years ago, Betsy Howell’s father, Rock Dowdy, decided that having a disability shouldn’t prevent kids from experiencing life outdoors.

Working with a group of Florida outdoor sportsmen who rented his Dodge County hunting lodge, Adam Springs Hunting Club, Dowdy and the businessmen came up with a camp in 2007 that would allow children with disabilities — including those who use wheelchairs — to hunt wild hogs on the property.

Dowdy died in a car accident later that year, but the camp — now organized by Howell — lives on. This weekend, a dozen kids with a variety of disabilities are getting to enjoy the great outdoors and hunt wild hogs with the help of their parents and professional hunters.

“These businessmen from Florida asked Dad to put on this event, and he ended up sponsoring it,” Howell said. “We now get businesses from all over helping us out.”

Howell estimated that it cost nearly $3,000 to put on the camp for the weekend, but at least 75 percent or more of the costs are covered by local businesses, who donate money, gasoline, off-road vehicles, food and other necessary items to keep it going.

The event works with the Special Youth Challenge organization, a Christian-based group that organizes similar events around the country.

Garrett Vanmunster, a professional fisherman from Florida, was one of the men who initially approached Dowdy with the concept. Vanmunster said he came up with the idea when he was substituting as a guide for a fishing expedition for children with special needs, and some of the kids told him that they wanted to hunt as well.

Because half of the children attending this weekend’s camp are in wheelchairs, Vanmunster said organizers set up special stands to accommodate them. There haven’t been any injuries to any of the kids in the three previous years the camp has run, he said.

“We have stands that you can drive right down to,” he said. “We make sure they are safe.”

One of the camp’s participants, Josiah Hutto, has gone hunting there for three years. Two years ago, Hutto killed his first wild hog. He said he enjoys the camaraderie at the camp.

“It was intense, but it was a lot of fun,” he said. “I just like the atmosphere there. I like all the people who help out.”

The Fitzgerald High School senior uses an eight-wheeled all-terrain vehicle called an ARGO that allows him to get around. He puts a blind around the vehicle, which is also amphibious, and shoots from there.

Vanmunster said feeders are set up in certain areas to attract the hogs and keep them away from the stands, making it easier for the kids to shoot.

Some of the kids have been hunting before and even have their own special means to help them shoot, Vanmunster said. For example, one of the kids is a quadriplegic who has a gun that his father holds for him. The gun has a special tube attached to it which the youth can breath into, which activates the gun’s trigger, allowing him to control when he fires at the target.

Howell said her family’s hunting lodge is well-known in the area. Celebrities such as former Atlanta Falcons quarterback Steve Bartkowski and former pro wrestler “Mr. Wonderful” Paul Orndorff have used the lodge in the past.

Hutto, who has been in a wheelchair his whole life, also hunts on his family’s property. But nothing beats the atmosphere of getting together with other young people on the preserve, he said.

“I try to hunt at other times, but I like to share (the experience),” he said. “These are all wonderful people and I love them. God’s blessed me, man. I appreciate their help a lot.”

To contact writer Phillip Ramati, call 744-4334.