Heroes New Hope hosts blind hunting

Travis Fugate is assisted by a hunting guide during an all-inclusive hunting trip for disabled Veterans on Friday evening at the Goosepond Lodge and Retreat in Linton.

By Kelly Slaven

The Heroes New Hope Foundation organized an all-inclusive deer hunting trip for disabled veterans from Friday, Nov. 11 until Tuesday, Nov. 15.

The foundation started a few years ago, according to it’s official website, to “help the public remember that ‘limitations’ are merely goals to surpass, and to enable wounded or injured veterans to overcome perceived limitations, and to allow for therapeutic healing of one’s inner self through hunting, fishing and other outdoor activities.”

Scott Goodman started the program with the help of others in Southern Indiana to start raising money to take veterans hunting and fishing.

Heroes New Hope Foundation now hosts multiple annual events such as blind turkey hunting, golf outings and fishing trips.

The group met at Goosepond Lodge and Retreat in Linton on Friday evening to practice and have dinner together before hunting over the weekend, appropriately beginning the trip on Veteran’s Day.

Volunteer Lonnie Bedwell, who is a Navy Veteran and 2014/2015 National Geographic Adventurer of the Year, was injured in a hunting accident that took his sight instantly. He was joined by three other disabled veterans and a student from Sullivan County who will soon be losing her eyesight completely, as the foundation pledges to also “provide the same opportunities to children of the fallen or injured, and to children with physical/emotional conditions who would benefit from similar activities.”

With vision impairments present in the group, normal hunting procedures had to be adjusted.

Scott Goodman, one of the event’s organizers, said Vortex Optics donated 12 special scopes to the foundation for use on the trip.

The scopes are equipped with an attachment for a smart phone, and as the smart phone magnifies what the scope sees, a guide standing behind the hunter is then able to view the smart phone screen to help guide the hunter accurately take a shot.

Scott Goodman explains how the scopes donated by Vortex Optics allow those with vision impairments to still be able to hunt with the help of a guide. The special attachment holds a smartphone which allows a guide standing behind the hunter to guide he or she to taking an accurate shot.

Although some of the Veterans had used the special scopes with the help of a guide before, a few were using the technology for the first time.

Goodman said the scopes are the only method blind hunters can really use, and that is why the student from Sullivan County wanted to learn to hunt with the special scope before loosing her eye sight completely, as he said she enjoys hunting.

The group of Veterans had been wounded in combat, and joined Bedwell traveling out-of-state, with some coming from as far as Utah and others from Illinois.

The group is scheduled to begin hunting on Saturday morning in the Shelburn area, and scheduled to complete the trip early Tuesday morning.

A ‘Hunting Blind’ turkey hunting event is scheduled for late April of 2017.

If you or someone you know would be interested in attending such an event, an online registration is available at the Heroes New Hope website, www.heroesnewhope.org.