The 28th Annual Accessible Deer Hunt will be held October 12th, 13th, and 14th, 2023. 

Those interested in receiving an application can add their name to our listing by calling (800) 726-3692 or emailing randy@myoptions.info  

Options and the United States Fish and Wildlife Service in collaboration with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources are pleased to announce the 28th Annual Accessible Deer Hunt for people with disabilities.  This year's hunt will be a full venue twenty participant hunt.  To add your name to our applicant pool please call (800) 726-3692 or email Randy with your contact information, please include your full name, address, email address (if you have one) and phone number.  In August those people on the listing will receive a packet from which they can make application. 

See Options Hunt for further details or https://www.optionsoutdoors.org/events/75 

Go to the Deer Hunting Category and find the question which would best give you the information you are looking for.

If you go to www.Optionsoutdoors.org and navigate to the events tab you can see various hunts listed with discriptors.  You can also follow these links to go directly to their web pages.  

Deer Hunts for people with disabilities

http://www.sporting-chance.com/about/

http://www.twistoffatend.org/about.html

http://www.outdoorsmenclub.com/#!deer-hunt-for-the-disabled/c1fwi

http://afarcry.info/

http://mrveteransoutdoor.com

https://www.outdoorhub.com/stories/2014/10/14/400-helluva-hunts-incredible-lies-make/

For hunters with an intellectual disability severe enough to require a guardian or where executive functioning is severely impaired requiring supervision while hunting the optimum choice is where the mentor that will be assisting the hunter in the field is able to attend hunter’s safety with the prospective hunter.  The mentor who assisted the person through hunter’s safety is in the best position to fully understand the types of accommodations needed in the field to give the hunter the best opportunity to be successful due to their experience with the individual while taking the course.  While attending the course the mentor should explain to the instructor, based on the participant’s ability, the level of hunting independence they anticipate the hunter being able to participate in.  The discussion will help the instructor gain the insight needed so they can accommodate the course work and make it applicable compared to the individuals hunting practice. 

As an example a person with Down’s Syndrome participated in our hunt.  The hunter’s Father completed all aspects of gun handling until the act of shooting.  The hunter carried the firearm unloaded to the blind site, where the father took over the gun handling, loading the rifle and holding it until a deer came into their field of vision.  Once seen the gun was handed to the hunter in a prone position where he aimed (the father took the gun off safety) and the hunter pulled the trigger shooting a deer.  For hunter’s safety the hunter had to demonstrate carrying the rifle safely with direction and how to site and pull the trigger, keeping the firearm down range with minimal prompts.

Persons with disabilities have to fulfill the same requirements as others who hunt.  Please see the rules of the state you are planning on hunting in.    

Various accommodations can be requested in order to fulfill your hunter’s safety training and to satisfactorily pass the exam.  For persons with limited physical ability accommodations can be requested in order to complete the test as well as complete the functional portion of the evaluation that show how to handle a firearm.  The goal of hunter’s safety is to keep others as well as yourself safe while hunting.  For the instructor to grant an accommodation they will have to understand what aspects of handling a firearm you can do independently and which actions you will have to direct someone else to do for you.  For those aspects of the hunt the hunter will be directing others to complete, accommodations should be asked for that let the prospective hunter orally explain how to direct others in safely handling the firearm in question.  For those aspects the hunter will be doing independently the hunter should demonstrate for herself.

For hunters with partial vision there are various types of optics.  One of the most recent involve a devise that mounts to a scope where a smart phone with a camera can be fit to the scope that enlarges the optic field so it is easier to see (see adaptive equipment within this section).  Some Ophthalmologists specialize in special shooting glasses matched to your guns sights to help you while shooting.