Shot in the Heart
An Upcoming Hunt For Disabled Youth Makes Everyone's Day
By Joe Maxwell
Casey is hiding in a deer stand in Copiah County when he sees “maybe twenty” out in the field.
And it is only 2 o’clock in the afternoon.
Consumed by camo, his wire-rimmed glasses sliding off his nose, the strapping teen preens in an orange vest. Casey—finally—is deer hunting.
“It feels wonderful,” his country drawl proclaims to his partner, Melvin.
Casey is mentally challenged. But on this particular day, he is all hunter.
“I feel ready to kill a deer.”
In Madison County that same pre-autumn weekend, another youth stands high in a forest-green deer stand—the sort pricey hunters occupy. Sentinel-like, he’s on the alert, alongside his father and another hunting helper, former college football player Scott Adams.
“Whoa,” Kainen whispers. Kainen is hearing-impaired. Kainen is blind. Kainen is all hunter.
His eyes glance askew out the stand’s window across a lush green field, where four deer graze.
“You got a three point out there,” his father whispers.
“Yes sir.”
There are also three doe, his father adds.
“Let’s go ahead and kill a doe,” declares Kainen, sounding like a veteran of TV hunting shows, “and we’ll kill a buck tomorrow.”
“Okay,” Dad says, “Sounds good.”
Kainen clasps his rifle ferociously. Big Scott reverses his cap’s bill, nudges behind Kainen, and peers down the barrel’s site.
The blind boy’s head tilts toward his dad. Earplugs in. Jawbone clenched.
Shoot, Scott tells Kainen, who fingers the trigger.
… click.
Crack. A cannon sound echoes. Just like that, Kainen’s world changes.
“You got him!” Scott exclaims.
“Oh my Lawd,” Kainen whails, his head rocking back. “Oh my Lawd!”
Kainen’s grin is gaping, but then he quickly turns pensive; his voice lowers …“Can we go down and take a look?”
* * *
For the last two years, Central Mississippi hunters have banded together for youth like Casey and Kainen. Toughened, leathery men accompany physically or mentally challenged kids into the woods; everyone returns a different person.
“It means more to me doing it than it does to them,” says Pat Renegar, general manager of BassPro in Pearl and a life-long local hunter.
BassPro partners with the Central Mississippi chapter of the National Wild Turkey Federation and the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks to stage the event. The special hunts require serious planning and gear tailored for the kids’ specific needs. And entering its third year, many hunters have a rare strain of buck fever to participate in Mississippi’s “Wheelin’ Sportsman Hunt for Youth with Disabilities” weekend.
“Local people are spending a lot of time and money to make sure these kids harvest a deer,” adds Renegar. “Some men are paying extra money to build their own facilities to help kids get in and out.”
A year ago, MDWFP even opened a special early deer season weekend to enhance opportunities for local hunters to participate and for the youth to experience success. Twenty-five kids hunted two years ago; 50 came last year; 75 or more are expected this November 7-9.
“I can’t really describe to you the experience,” says Joe Wood, NWTF regional director. “You’ll see a big burley grown man dressed in camo and they’ll be tears in
his eyes.”
That’s the story when everyone gathers on Sunday morning at BassPro after Saturday’s hunt. The challenged youth, along with their guides, tell hunting stories over a microphone. “I don’t think there is a person in the room with a dry eye,” notes Renegar.
“It was probably the most rewarding experience I’ve ever had,” recalls Jimmy Primos, chief operating officer of Primos Hunting Calls.
Primos took a hearing and sight-impaired youth, Austin, and his father the last two years. The first year, they missed a few deer. Primos did some thinking between seasons and last year improved their odds.
Like many of the hunters, he spends extra time now preparing for his challenged guest.
Among other things, Primos realized Austin was jerking the trigger, so he did a lot of searching and found a special hydraulic-wired trigger Austin could hold and pull easier. The result? Austin killed a big ole doe.
“I was beside myself,” recalls Primos, his Flora office strewn with trophy mounts from around the world. “If we had killed a ten-point buck I wouldn’t have been any happier.”
About sixty local land owners thus far have opened their hunting property for the special weekend. “It would not happen without them,” insists Chad Dacus, whitetail deer program coordinator for the MDWFP.
Mississippi has been recognized recently for the success of its deer management program. When Dacus sees the faces of these disabled youth, he knows his job is important. “It makes it all worth it,” he says.
* * *
Still up in his deer stand, Kainen raises his hands in the air.
”High five!” his father says. Their hands swat together.
“Thanks dude,” Kainen says, quickly adding, “I was going for the buck, but we can get the buck tomorrow. We’ve got tomorrow morning, and if we leave early enough tomorrow morning, we’ll have plenty
of time.”
In no time, the two are down off the stand, Kainen’s left arm is hooked in his father’s.
“And I got to shoot it by myself, no help.”
The two are walking toward something Kainen never expected to feel—his own 
trophy deer.
“You know what? When I come next time I want to bring my own gun.”
His eyes excitedly roll backwards. “I feel good, I feel good. I want to see it. Hey Dad, I want to help carry it to the truck. I want to carry the legs.”
Kainen reaches for the deer, bending down almost reverently. He strokes the deer as if to read a language others can’t.
“He is down, baby,” he exclaims. His partners dab blood on his cheeks.
A rite of passage is complete.
The kill has been made--right through the heart of a bunch of Mississippi men who never saw it coming.
Says Kainen’s hunting partner, Scott Adams, “I’m all
lit up.” SS
For information about the upcoming Wheelin’ Sportsman hunt, contact Joe Wood at
1-601-613-867. Thanks to “Mississippi Outdoors” for information used in this article.
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