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.
I'll bet you would be really upset with my shooting of a 12 point two years ago and last year I passed on an 8 point so that I could shoot a doe. I didn't want to discriminate based on sex. This year {on Monday} my grandson and I will go out and get another one {he's only 11 so he can't shoot until next year} but he did help me gut the doe last year and is looking forward to another season.
This story is about an individual that overcame physical limitations, not about your perceived morality of hunting.
But, to provide some logic for you to digest...
This year the Wisconsin deer population numbered about 1.5 million. This number exceeded what the land can safely support.
Reduction of the deer herd through hunting is one way to humanely control the population. If left to itself, disease in the herds would be rampant, encroachment on human populated areas would lead to vehicle accidents etc. The population of coyotes and other predators would rise and you would also have them encroaching on the human population.
So, by this individual purchasing a license and gearing up for the hunt, he adds moneys to the local civil infrastructure, and adds moneys to the budget of the DNR which allows them to continue to safetly manage wildlife in Wisconsin.
To give an idea of the moneys involved, last year in Wisconsin, about 500,000 deer were harvested during legal hunting seasons. With a modest estimate of $100 spent per animal, that would be $50,000,000 added to the local economy.
The other option is to raise taxes in Wisconsin to allow the DNR to hire professional hunters that herd the animals into confined areas and mass slaughter them, or for the DNR to poison the animals, leading to painful dealth and waste.
You don't have to be pro-hunter, but hopefully this will allow you to be an informed anti-hunter.
I did read the article, and I believe it to be a very poor example to his students to be out deer hunting as a celebration over his 'use of his hands'. Poor choice to exhibit new found dexterity. Shoot an animal.
Sure thing.
Actually, he's making an effort to expand his horizons despite his almost overwhelming handicap.
Maybe you should consider doing the same.
LOL!! Isn't that the truth?
Typically, I do stay away from these type of threads. Until a ridiculous thread emerges applauding loss of innocent animal life under the guise of something falsely alluded to as "sport" (as in "sport hunting".
I didn't mean to hijack the thread, btw. I was only posting my opinions.
"I didn't mean to hijack the thread, btw. I was only posting my opinions."
That's fine. How about you go post some anti-hunting threads and we'll see how far you get. Turnabout is fair play, Non? ;)
Well, in case you hadn't noticed, we already know what your opinions on the subject are. This is the third thread that I know of, so enough already, ok? Just bite the bullet and move along and we all can continue fighting the good fight together on other issues. But you really should just avoid these threads all together. Deal?
---I'd really love to see how the trickle-down positively effects the "local economy" there.
"The other option is to raise taxes in Wisconsin to allow the DNR to hire professional hunters that herd the animals into confined areas and mass slaughter them, or for the DNR to poison the animals, leading to painful dealth and waste. You don't have to be pro-hunter, but hopefully this will allow you to be an informed anti-hunter"
---I hear what you're saying...but Open Season on wild animals is not the best solution. Sure, it's the cheapest.........but has anyone looked at transporting animals to other States....or sterilization for animal population control? Probably not looked at too much. Too costly, even though these are are better options.
What's harmful about hunting, other than in the opinion of the unlucky deer he got? I don't hunt, but I know many people get a lot of enjoyment and satisfaction about it. You must be aware that many places now have an over-population of deer and that they're starving to death and causing a lot of car accidents as they roam around in search of food. I mean, geez, it's not like they developed this set up so the guy could pick off school children from the local bell tower or something.
Rifled barrels with sabot ammo, make these shotguns (rifles) very accurate out to 100 yards or more.
Oh for Pete's sake, what are you, jealous or something?
This guy, w/o hands demostrated that he could provide for, and defend his own.
I say, "Well done!"
I think you meant that is is ojbectively a useless accomplishment. Only to the person who does it does it have meaning, ie subjectively.
ps I agree with you and all the other posters except for FranklySpeaking.
I'm sure I used the correct word.
For example, at the doctor, the subjective portion of your medical record is what you tell the doctor, "I feel hot."
The object portion would be the facts -- the thermometer reading, "101.2f"
I guess it depends on what you meant. If you just meant that to you it is a useless accomplishment, then I guess you used the right word. If you meant that it's a generally useless accomplishment except to the person who did it, then I think "objectively" would have been the right word.
But hey, I'm not the grammar and usage police or anything.
Where have you been hunting? The Amazon?
Climbing Everest is "subjectively a useless accomplishment"?
Oy Vey.........now I've REALLLLY heard it all. Sure thing. Fighting the weather, the thin air, lack of oxygen; pushing one's physical limits to the brink; fighting and crawling up a mountain in the snow and rain; risking life and limb to make it to a place on Earth where very few have risen to.
Think about it. Anyone can point a gun and pull the trigger. There are sad dust covered animal heads on the walls of far too many places to prove that. Know what I mean? But pushing one's self to the limits of athleticism or intellectual pursuits is a whole other thing. Very few can accomplish that. Fortunately, many more are trying; especially the children of the world. This is why sport hunting is fading away. Most parents don't see any positive effect, nor do the children. There is no need in this day and age in America to be "self-reliant" in terms of seeking food. Those days died out with Daniel Boone. People are hip to that. .
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