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With a strong desire to take on one of the more challenging forms of hunting, bowhunting, I bought a horizontal bow in the fall of '97 and haven't looked back since. I was hooked!
When you have to get within 40 yards of of a deer (or turkey, or whatever you're after), archery ranks high on my list of success stories when hunting from the sitting position. Since there aren't many tree stands made to be chair accessible, the only way to do it is eye-to-eye, and I wouldn't have it any other way.
Below - I've detailed some of the products that have helped me get back a little bit of the advantages I lost when I became a 'mobily impaired' bowhunter. We all know that the most important parts of hunting happens during the offseason. And "when you can get close enough to hear 'em breathe, you know you've done something right." I'll have some of my own experiences mixed in with some from other disabled bowhunters accross the country, along with some links to archery-related equipment and stories.
In the quest to get all states to legalize crossbow use during the archery seasons, please read an opinion by Ted Nugent's Director
(He says it all!)
Gear Box: First things first. The bow I shoot today is a top-notch crossbow from Excalibur, the Exomag, which has made the transition from bullet to arrow a smooth one to say the least. It's a serious arrow slinger that can thread needles at fifty yards. It comes with an optional cranking device (as do most all crossbows) that makes cocking it easy for hunters with upper limb disabilities, and the bowstring can be easily replaced in the field because of its recurve design.
I shoot 20" 2216 Easton bolts tipped with Excalibur 150 grain fixed blade broadheads. they are the first ones I've found to fly true on these high-speed bows.
Continue on to the UFFDA pages. UFFDA stands for the United Foundation for Disabled Archers, and it's one of the best organizations I've been a part of. It actually got me started bow hunting, and soon I'll attempt to bring a version of it down here to Texas.
Among their pages, you can find a personal account detailing my first trip to Minnesota in search of whitetail with a crossbow in the Fall of 1997. There are also a host of other stories in the general UFFDA archives that show how other hunter's with disabilities have tackled the bowhunting adventure. There will be stories from hunts past and those that have recently taken place posted as the take place, so keep scrolling, and enjoy.
Follow these hunters as they overcome a variety of handicaps to take deer, turkey, and bear with the most primitive form of hunting equipment, the bow & arrow.
