cook for the hunters and do anything else that is asked without asking for anything in return. But then not all of the hunters want help. Kittleman recalled one soldier who lost both legs in Iraq who refused to be taken to his stand. Instead, he asked where it was and made the quarter-mile walk to his ladder stand and climbed into it himself.

The trip to Georgia, however, proved to be enough of an inspiration that he now hunts and fishes on his own. He’s certain these trips do the same for other wounded veterans who might have otherwise given up on the woods.

“I think when these men and women see others in the same situation as they are doing different activities like hunting, they say, ‘I can do this, too.’ Many

first since they sustained their injuries. Some are back in the woods within weeks of their return home from overseas; others, like Murphy, require longer stays in rehab before they get the green light from their doctors.

“We acknowledge that things will be different. These hunts show these men and women can do many of the same things they did in the past. They just have to make adjustments,” said Pavlu.

Murphy agrees. He has enrolled in college and is pursuing a degree in political science. He gives credit to his hunting opportunities since he returned from Iraq as a catalyst for getting on with his life and he urges everyone to find a local veteran and invite him or her on a hunt.

“Getting these people out into the woods is the best thing you can do for them,” he said. “It changed my life for the better and it can do the same for others in my situation.”

The Paralyzed Veterans of America, a congressionally chartered veterans service organization founded in 1946, has developed a unique expertise on a wide variety of issues involving the special needs of veterans of the armed forces who have experienced spinal cord injury or dysfunction. In addition, PVA organizes several outings each year to help veterans again experience the joys of deer and deer hunting.

DAVID HART PHOTOS

“He was an inspiration not just to me but to the others who where there. We were all just blown away by what these guys can do after such traumatic injuries,” he said.

In some cases, many of the injured veteran hunters are surprised that they can indeed continue hunting. That’s one reason these opportunities are so important to the men and women who participate in them.

Pavlu said many injured vets assume their freewheeling days as hunters, anglers or whatever they liked to do prior to their injuries are over. Nothing could be farther from the truth, he said, but it often takes one of these events to show them that they can continue doing what they love so much.

Murphy figured he probably would have gotten back into the woods eventually. He just wasn’t sure how or when. His friends might have coaxed him to give it a try and they probably would have done anything to help him along.

of them have been stuck in a hospital or moved around to different hospitals and they just don’t get an opportunity to try hunting or fishing until they are invited on a hunt somewhere,” said Pavlu.

He said in many cases, the hunts these service members go on are the

Contacts

Paralyzed Veterans of America: www.pva.org

Wounded Warrior Project: www.woundedwarriorproject.org

Wheelin’ Sportsmen: www.wheelinsportsmen.org

Not Just For Vets

Paralyzed Veterans of America doesn’t limit participation based on military service. Virtually anyone who has suffered a traumatic injury is welcome to attend any PVA event.

Although many hunters are veterans who have either lost a limb or limbs or are in a wheelchair as a result of an injury suffered during combat, others were born with an impairment or were victims of accidents.

“A girl who lost her leg from an injury shot her first deer on one of our hunts recently,” said Kurt Glass, assistant director of programs for PVA.

Ron Welle also organizes hunts for anyone who is disabled and is eager to get back in the woods.

“There are so many people who don’t think they can ever hunt again, but I want to show them they can do whatever they want to do. They just might need a little help,” he said. “That’s where we come in.”

Midwest Outdoors Unlimited: e-mail: stocrkkennel@meltel.net

— David Hart is an avid whitetail hunter from Virginia.

Hunts For Heroes: www.huntsforheroes.com