Posted on 11/26/2005 12:22:28 PM PST by Diana in Wisconsin
CATO, WI (AP) - Deer hunter Ernie Englund didn't have a steady hand as he spotted the buck walking slowly through the woods last Saturday afternoon. But Englund stayed calm, patiently tracking the animal on the first day of gun deer season. Finally, at about 70 yards, he pulled the trigger on his Remington 1100 rifle - with the hook at the end of his prosthetic left arm.
"It was a heart shot," said Englund, 30, showing off the eight-point buck that will turn into venison steaks, chops and sausage.
"I've seen more than a dozen deer that if I had arms I probably would have been able to shoot them," Englund, a Kenosha high school teacher, said from the "Little Ponderosa," a cabin on Madson Road just south of U.S. 151.
The cabin and surrounding 30 acres are owned by Bill and Ellen Surfus. The retired local schoolteachers have let Englund and three of his relatives shoot from their land since 1982 after Bill Surfus met Englund's dad, Mike, through a business associate.
Surfus' invention of a makeshift turret allows Englund to hunt even though he was born with a 2-inch stub of a right arm and a left arm about 8 inches long. The turret can swivel the mounted rifle 360 degrees and can be maneuvered vertically.
Englund sits, as motionless as possible, on a stool hoping deer will come within range - about 100 yards. If he has to swing the rifle more than about 20 degrees laterally he has to get up and push it with his hip.
"But when Ernie gets up to do that, he makes a noise and the deer is gone," said Mike Englund. "He can't follow a running deer."
So there is a lot of luck involved if Englund is going to be successful. In fact, when he fired his rifle last Saturday afternoon it was the first time he had done so in eight years.
"But there's skill, too. The buck appeared in a 1-foot gap between two trees and Ernie shot it from 75 yards away," said the proud and envious father who has shot dozens of doe over the years but no bucks.
The father wasn't totally surprised, having raised a resourceful son who never let the absence of hands keep him back.
"I do most everything with my feet and mouth. Normally, I don't have the prosthesis on. The steering wheel on my Chrysler 300 is mounted on the floor. I steer with my left foot and operate a brake and gas pedal with my right foot," Ernie Englund said.
He said he carries a 196 bowling average. When Englund goes fishing, he casts the line with his feet. He plays pool, pinching the cue stick under his left arm.
"If you challenge me to do something, I'll do it just to prove you wrong," Englund said.
Surfus said he was motivated to develop a way to help Englund hunt after Englund, as an 8-year-old, helped build the "Little Ponderosa" by pounding nails with a hammer held by his feet. He played soccer and was the kicker for Bradford High School before earning his bachelor's degree from UW-Whitewater. He teaches freshman and forensic science at Bradford.
Ping the Usual Suspects when you have time, please. :)
A rifle???? Anyhow congrats to the guy on getting his buck:)
Hmmm. Rem 1100 rifle? The clueless media strikes out again. Other than that a good article. I like to see everyone enjoying the outdoors.
I've never understood deer hunting with a shotgun. If they are tame enough to let you get that close you might as well use a spear or a club.
We have bow, shotgun, musket/muzzleloader and rifle seasons here. AND you can run into them with your car whenever the mood strikes you. ;)
I'm not sure about Wisconsin, but in southern Minnesota it's only leagal to use shotguns and handguns for deer. I think they're afraid of the rifle, with it's longer range, hitting objects (and people) downrange of the intended target.
What a terrific story.
I know it sounds funny, but wouldn't a Remington 1100 shooting a slug with a rifled slug barrel would technically, if not legally, be a rifle.
It's a .73 cal;)
Look, I think it would be great if he improved his typing skills and wrote something positive or worked in a lab helping to cure a disease or to help LIFE.
It would be a wonderful story if this person was heralded for doing something positive. Positive---he did NOT do, IMO.
Applauding this person for shooting a deer is more pathetic than his choice of how to use his mind and his prosthetics.
Go back to the DUmp with the rest of the PETA moonbats, you loser troll.
What's not postive about providing for your own food? Meat doesn't grow on styrofoam trays.
Gosh, is it that scary to you that I commented truthfully towards a person who has been gifted with prosthetics; a person able to use his hands again who would choose such deathly, harmful pursuit instead of something life embracing and life enhancing?
Just because I comment that this person made a worthless choice to go deer hunting.........that makes me a DU and Peta lover?
Wake the hell up.
"Applauding this person for shooting a deer is more pathetic than his choice of how to use his mind and his prosthetics."
You're getting so incredibly tiresome. Get off your Mommy's computer and GTFU.
A shotgun is the best brush gun Heck you can't see more that 10 yards in heavy cover anyway. Those slugs work great.
"...Englund, a Kenosha high school teacher..."
Read the article. He's also a High School teacher. What a wasted, wasted life and such a poor example to his students about not letting a handicap stop you from living a full life and being self-sufficient.. *Rolleyes*
What's your handicap, besides your small-mindedness toward your fellow man?
If you're "diametrically opposed" to PETA, why are you such an anti-hunting zealot? Don't you realize there's a gutpile somewhere for every hamburger you eat, and every piece of leather you own?
Gosh, is it that scary to you that I commented truthfully towards a person who has been gifted with prosthetics; a person able to use his hands again who would choose such deathly, harmful pursuit instead of something life embracing and life enhancing?
Just because I comment that this person made a worthless choice to go deer hunting.........that makes me a DU and Peta lover?
Why is it "deathly", harmful, and a worthless choice? If you're going to make such obnoxious and extreme statements without explaining where you're comming from, I will continue to assume that you're just another animal rights creep
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