By KEVIN LILLY

Pharos-Tribune staff writer

Nine-year-old Andrew Ash got up at 5 a.m., two hours before the sun began warming the day.

Anticipation for the morning’s deer hunt had long set in for the Logansport resident. Accompanied by a guide, Ash arrived at the woods and walked to the ground blind in a section of forest that jutted into a field, beans on one side, corn on the other.

Soon after arriving, a deer strolled into range. Andrew aimed and fired. The 138-pound doe dropped close by.

Ash, who is autistic, had never been deer hunting. He was the first hunter in the event called Freedom Hunt to bag a deer.

Freedom Hunt offered 10 special needs kids under the age of 15 a chance to sleep in army tents, fish the Eel River and go deer hunting. The kids also hung out with deer hunting enthusiasts from around the state.

After the hunt, event coordinator Steve Griffey explained the origins of Freedom Hunt.

Griffey grew up in a family of no hunters, but he ended up becoming an avid hunter as an adult. He had to learn on his own.

“Not every child has the opportunity to explore things they might be interested in if their parents aren’t interested in it,” Griffey said. “I always thought it would be neat to have a mentor of some sort.”

Last year was the first time Indiana had a youth-only deer season on the last weekend in September. Griffey took his idea, coupled with the youth-hunt season, and began talking to fellow hunters. The idea took off.

There is an application process. Participants must have a special need, whether it’s financial or a physical and/or mental disability.

Each youth hunter must attend hunter education and gun safety classes to be eligible to buy a hunting license. Brenda Louthain, conservation officer for Cass County, taught gun safety the night before.

“It’s not illegal, but I asked all the guides that the guns are not to be loaded until they are in their ground blinds,” Louthain said.

She also asked that all guns be unloaded before leaving the blind.

“I didn’t want anybody walking around with a loaded gun just to lessen the chance of having an accident,” Louthain said.

Everything went well, she said.

“All the kids had a really good time, and nobody got hurt,” Louthain said.

The adults had a good time, as well. For Louthain, it meant more.

“As a conservation officer having served 25 years on the job, to me, this is the most fulfilling thing I have ever done,” Louthain said of the weekend.

Ash admitted he caught a case of buck fever, an affliction caused by an adrenaline rush at the sight of a deer. The physical shaking and feeling of cold can severely alter a hunter’s ability to shoot accurately.

Ash apparently found a cure. He used a 20-gauge pump action shotgun with what he called a “mean kick.”

The young hunters ate well throughout the weekend. The morning began with scrambled eggs and venison sausage. The kids also partook of Louthain’s famous turkey-kabobs and chili with venison.

Last year, the hunters were confined to less land and could actually hear people at camp from their hunting spots. This year, event organizers spoke to land owners throughout the county and got permission for hundreds of additional acres well away from camp.

The hunters camped on land along the Eel River owned by Jim Rogers.

“It was perfect,” Griffey said. “There really wasn’t anything as far as organizational-type stuff that went bad on us. I was very, very happy with it.”

Seven of the three hunters took a shot, but only three deer were tagged. All three were does. No bucks are allowed during the youth hunt.

One boy might have some fame thrown his way, Griffey said. Much of the weekend’s hunting was captured on video by the Hoosier Hit Squad, a company out of southern Indiana that produces DVDs about deer hunting. A company representative told Griffey that video of the boy’s kill shot is going to be on the next DVD.

Sponsors for the event are too many to list. Griffey said numerous businesses and individuals contributed.

From collecting donations, a golf outing and raffling off a muzzle loader, Freedom Hunt organizers raised about $5,000 to buy hunting equipment for each hunter. Participants came away with binoculars, a knife, gloves, hat, boots, clothing, head lamps, safety glasses and more.

“Everything they could possibly need to go and deer hunt on their own as far as equipment goes except for a firearm, we gave them this weekend,” Griffey said.

For Griffey, a private person who finds peace in the solitude of the woods, the weekend was about more than hunting.

“That weekend is for those kids,” Griffey said. “We try to do as much as we can do to make it a special weekend all around for them whether it’s getting a deer or not.”

Kevin Lilly can be reached at (574) 732-5117, or via e-mail at kevin.lilly@pharostribune.com



Information

• For more information on the Freedom Hunt, how to help next year and/or to apply to be a participant, visit the Web site at www.freedomhunt.com or contact event coordinator Steve Griffey at (765) 776-0659.