Before daylight broke Saturday morning, nearly 100 outdoor enthusiasts mingled over a hot breakfast served in an open barn by local volunteers, while discussing their hopes for the weekend. For most, it’s the weekend of a lifetime, one they anxiously look forward to every year.
That morning 49 hunters, each armed with a volunteer, were able to escape everything but nature at U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Smithville Lake for the world’s largest known managed deer hunt for mobility impaired individuals. Throughout this two-day event, they are provided with 65 different locations, each set up with a hunting blind, camouflaged from the wildlife and allowing protection from the elements.