Partnership Gives People With Disabilities A Chance To Hunt
By Deborah Locke, DNR Information Officer
A few former hunters in Minnesota now with disabilities added a new activity to the list of things they can still do. They can hunt. Since 2019, the Parks and Trails Division has offered hunting opportunities to people with disabilities at McCarthy Beach State Park in northeastern Minnesota. (The event was cancelled in 2020 due to COVID.)
On average, about 10 hunters with disabilities participate in a deer hunt. The accessible hunts at the park are made possible with assistance from a private organization, Access North, a non-profit located in both Hibbing and Duluth. Access North offers training in independent living skills to people with disabilities. Park staff handle any issues that may arise such as retrieving a wounded animal, dressing a deer, and managing the public.
“In some cases, the hunt is the last hunt of their lives,” said Don Brunette, Access North Executive Director. “One older gentleman was near the end of his life, harvested a deer, and later his family let us know how meaningful that last hunt was to him.”
The park has the land mass and infrastructure to accommodate the hunt, which is arranged and carried out with assistance from a third party. Designated parks offer a variety of hunting opportunities each year to the public as a management tool to keep the deer population at a manageable level and prevent over browsing of vegetation.
Staff at the Access North non-profit recruit hunters and work with each one to identify specific needs in the field. The outreach workers match the needs with a customized hunting blind and assist the hunter throughout the hunt. The overnight hunts are free of charge to the participants: transportation, hotel and meal costs are paid by Access North. The special hunting permit application is filled out by the individual and is screened by Access North. Over the years, about half of the 50 participants have been veterans.
One hunting accommodation might be placing a blind at a location that can be accessed with an all-terrain vehicle. Blind locations are selected in areas with high deer movements and are approved by DNR staff who work in resource management. Some hunters need assistance getting into the blind, others do not.
“There is a wide range of mobility differences with these hunters,” said Tony Lenoch, district resource specialist out of Grand Rapids. “We’ve used our track chairs to better improve access.” McCarthy Beach State Park is one of 13 state parks that provide all-terrain track chairs to all visitors with disabilities. The chairs are used on designated trails within the park and are free to use. Reservations are required.
Some hunters use crutches, a wheelchair, and bottled oxygen; others have almost full mobility and deal with disabilities like Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, anxiety, or epilepsy. Don said that his staff heard of a homeless American Indian Marine Corps veteran who camped in the Chippewa National Forest. He was isolated from his family and suffered from undiagnosed epilepsy.
“We went into the woods based on a tip and encouraged him to come in,” Don said. The outreach staff members convinced the man to cook a meal with them back at the local office, and that led to a conversation. When the man gained trust in the Access North employees, one step toward healthy independent living led to another. Today he lives in own apartment, earned a B.A. degree, and bagged a deer in 2023 with help from the accessible hunt volunteers. In keeping with Ojibwe custom, he shared the meat with elders and members of the Leech Lake Reservation.
About a day and a half are devoted to these special hunts, starting on a Friday, and wrapping up on Saturday evening.
Image courtesy Minnesota DNR.
