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Camaraderie and fellowship are terms that keep cropping up from past participants when one discusses the deer hunt conducted the past two years at Rock Cut State Park for people with disabilities. Rock Cut is near Rockford.

All who were interviewed agreed: Getting a deer is fine, but that's not the only benefit offered by the Department of Conservation program, slated for its third running this month. There also are camaraderie, fellowship and sharing with persons who have the same kinds of problems, they pointed out.

Thirty hunting blinds were available for the six-day, two-segment hunt, scheduled November 10-12 and December 8-10. Between 30 and 60 permits were issued in a random drawing held for applicants whose disabilities require that they have help in order to hunt. The drawing was a first this year, needed because the program became so popular after its first two editions.

To be eligible for the hunt, applicants must have proof they passed an Illinois Hunter Safety Education course, hold a valid Firearm Owners' Identification Card, have a 1994 habitat stamp — unless they are exempt and have a class P2A — nonambulatory — disability card.

Participants may hunt with a partner or alone, as they wish. They may bring a partner or have one assigned to them — also as they desire. Non-disabled hunters must have a valid Illinois hunting license and a $15 permit, in addition to the habitat stamp, FOID card and proof of successful completion of a state firearm safety course.

The deer hunt was conducted with slug-loaded shotguns only, in pre-constructed plywood and straw blinds built at ground level by the park staff. Park workers and other volunteers also transported the hunters to and from the blinds, periodically checked on them throughout the day and provided other assistance as requested.

Hunting hours were from a half hour before sunrise to sunset.

Thirteen-year-old Brian Montalbano, who has had a heart transplant, participated last year with his father, Joe, and got his deer. He and his dad, residents of nearby Loves Park, hunted again this year.

The youth enjoyed his success, but the best part was just being there, he thought. "It's like being with family." A first-time hunter last year, Brian since has branched into pheasant, rabbit and squirrel hunting.

Orville Miller of Decatur got a deer in each of the past two outings. But in describing the experience, he also uses the "C" word — camaraderie — as the event's high point. "I would have enjoyed it even if I hadn't got a deer. Just being there with the other guys was enough," he said. Miller, who suffered a stroke some years ago and needs a cane to maintain balance, has been a hunter all his life and still hunts at other times of the year with his crossbow.

Marengo resident John Homatas, who lost a leg as the result of an auto accident, also is a three-time repeater who got his deer in each of the past two years. "This program is a great, rare and much-needed opportunity for persons who have disabilities." Homatas said he appreciates the event especially because he doesn't have much chance to hunt at other times of the year.

Another Miller, R.D. "Griz", of Justice, is not both-

46 • Illinois Parks & Recreation • November/December 1994

Heavily garbed against the cold, a hunter waits for deer behind one of 30 straw bale blinds prepared by Conservation Department staff members for the 1993 Rock Cut State Park deer hunt for the disabled.

ered by the fact that he has not been successful so far. "This hunt is worth the effort," he believes, for the volunteers who help to carry it out as well as for the hunters involved.

"There ought to be more programs like this, not just in Illinois, but also all over the nation," Miller said. "There are a lot of disabled people out there who need this, and most of them never hear about opportunities like this. We need to get the message out to them."

Tom Mansfield of Hinsdale, who is wheelchair-bound and has little use of his hands, participated in 1992 and 1993 and got a doe last year. A lifelong hunter until he broke his neck in an auto accident, Mansfield gave up the sport for 17 years, returning for the first time in 1988 via a similar hunt for disabled people at Rend Lake. He has returned for the Rend Lake program annually.

Mansfield is active in developing and promoting special activities of all kinds for the disabled. The Rock Cut hunt rates as a premier program. He hopes to see more such events developed in the years ahead, he said.

Fred Tetreault is a staff writer for the Illinois Department of Conservation. This article originally appeared in the November 1994 issue of DOC's magazine, OutdoorIllinois *

Illinois Parks & Recreation * November/December 1994 * 47