Do Hunting and Wheelchairs mix?
If you have ever wondered if the sport of hunting and using a wheelchair mix prepare to be amazed in the quest to answer the question. In this article, we will go over how to hunt even though you happen to be in a wheelchair. Also, there will be links to different places you can go hunting yourself if you are a wheelchair user and you happen to get inspired to experience it.
Wheel Chair Accessible Hunting
Because of the growing popularity of wheelchair hunting, many organizations and also recreational clubs are paving the road for everyone to get involved. Wheelchair hunting is adaptive so you will need special equipment to conduct any hunting. It can get pretty costly if you are on a budget unless you already went ahead and bought them. A source of motivation can be the Disabled Sports USA which we have written an article about and can read it here.
Since the state acknowledges the challenges wheelchair users face they have set accommodations making the outdoors and hunting more accessible than ever. There are certain questions you need to ask yourself first before you actually go out and start hunting. The first question you should ask yourself if you have good upper body strength. Because if your upper body strength is not strong then you should consider an electric wheelchair instead of pushing yourself in a manual wheelchair. Another great question to ask yourself is if the wheelchair is tough enough to handle all terrain or off-road style of a wheelchair? The last question to ask yourself is what adaptive equipment are you willing to get? Try this website and see if they have the adaptive equipment you're looking for. Here is rather a quick video of a wheelchair user hunting antelope for you to get somewhat of an idea of what hunting in a wheelchair is like.
There are available sponsors helping those who wish to hunt and can't afford to. Some of the sponsorships offer help to get the equipment necessary but an application needs to be filled out. The link to detailed information regarding these ways of getting help to be able to start hunting when you have financial problems is here.
To actually start one must obtain a special permit and information regarding that will be linked here. In the link, you will find information on what your steps to get the permit are and what disabilities you need to have the match the criteria they have. If you choose to ride an electrically powered wheelchair you will need to obtain one of these permits. Here is a link to a great website that contains places you can go hunting in and they also have experience in helping the hunters in a wheelchair. Since wheelchair users need special accommodations these places also offer the best which is why they are they listed.