Friday, October 15, 2010

Douglas Gets It Done!

As many of you know, for the past three years, the Wired Outdoors team raises money to send children with life threatening illnesses on their Hunt of A Lifetime.  This past year we decided to take our fund raising to another level and from that idea came the event "Camo Cares".  This year the entire community pulled together and raised $20,000 for Hunt of A Lifetime.  While we raised enough money to send 7 children on their dream hunt, our main recipient was an AMAZING young man, Douglas Fickel.

Douglas with the Wired Team and Olsen Hunter Group Corporate Sponsors
Wired Outdoors Presents Hunt of A Lifetime a Check for $20,000.00

Douglas suffers from Ataxia-telangiectasia.  A-T is like having muscular dystrophy, cystic fibrosis, cerebral palsy and cancer all rolled into one.  This disease is also very rare and only 600 children in the United States have been diagnosed with this disease.   A-T is a fatal genetic disease that causes progressive loss of muscular control, various types of cancer and immune system problems.  Children with A-T are usually unable to walk by the age of ten and rarely survive their teens.  If A-T wasn't enough, Doug was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia, T-Cell on December 5, 2008.  Douglas has spent almost 200 days in the hospital in 2009 and receives chemo every single day of his life, 365 days a year. With all of Douglas's issues he still loves to hunt and reminds us all of how precious are time in the outdoors is.

Meeting Douglas and his family at this year's Eastern Sports and Outdoor Show in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, I knew then and there, that we had to do all we could to help Douglas' dream come true.  Douglas' first pick for his dream hunt was a moose hunt.  Now, I will be completely honest, I was very hesitant and actually tried to sway Douglas to possibly go with his second choice of a black bear hunt.  Hunting moose can be very difficult, including lots of walking and being very mobile.  Since Douglas is confined to a power wheel chair that weighs over 200 lbs and must be used on a completely level surface due to its very low clearance, I knew a moose hunt could be very difficult. I soon learned that there is nothing you tell Douglas that he can't do.
Kyle, Douglas and Myself shortly after arriving.  He was all smiles and ready to go!

The Cabin we would be staying in with Douglas and his family
Inside the Cabin
We would be hunting in northern Maine the week of October 9th during the second season.  Kyle and I would both be making the journey to share in the hunt with Douglas and his family as well film the entire hunt for an episode this year on Wired Outdoors.  Once arriving, Douglas was very excited to see us and even more excited to go hunting the next morning.  The cabin we would be staying in was beautiful and we were excited to be staying with the Fickels to share the entire experience.
Douglas setup the first morning
Douglas evening set up
The next morning couldn't come soon enough and I don't think any of us slept much that first night and Douglas was all smiles and ready to go.  The first day was very uneventful and we didn't see any moose.  Things were really put into perspective when Kyle and I were both feeling pretty bummed out about not seeing a moose, but you could tell that Douglas loved every minute of it.  Just being in the outdoors, sharing in the hunt with the guys, busting chops like guys do, put a smile on his face all day long.  While it was so important to Kyle and I to see him shoot a moose, we soon realized that regardless if we saw an animal or not, Douglas just got to be a part of something that has been very rare in his life. For Douglas just going in the middle of the woods with all the guys and hanging out was something that he rarely got to do!  He loved every minute of it.

After not seeing a moose the first day, the news got a little worse. Douglas has vision problems that make it impossible for him to use a normal scope.  Instead of a traditional scope he uses a hologram sight that makes it possible for him to see his target and he was also given a laser permit, so his dad could assist and make sure that he was on the target before shooting.  That evening we discovered that the laser was no longer working and it was going to be impossible to get a new one for a couple of days.  This meant that Douglas would be on his own, making sure of his target. I was really beginning to wonder if this was going to be possible.
Douglas ready to go.
The next morning came and once again Douglas was up and ready to go with that awesome smile!  We all gathered before heading out and said a little prayer that everyone would be safe, have fun and god would send a moose Douglas' way.  Needless to say, we weren't out the door and 75 yards in front of the cabin, Douglas got to see his first moose.  It was a big female and we knew then it was going to be a good day!
Douglas taking a nap before the evening hunt
We were driving to our morning location and I look off to my right and there is a big bull moose in the middle of a broccoli field.  The bull was making his way to the wood line and our guide Joe was a little hesitant, not knowing if we could get Douglas into a position where we could call the bull.  I said, "Joe, pull this truck over, we will get him in position!".  Joe was hesitant and for a good reason. The road was bordered by think alders, but at the end of the field in the direction the bull was heading was a small road.  We whipped the truck over and got Douglas in position in record time!  The bull was still about 300 yards out in the middle of the field and we would need him to respond to the guides calls if Douglas was going to get a shot.

After some calling and raking the the tree branches, it didn't take long and the bull was making his way right to us.  Now everyone who knows me knows, when it gets close to moment of truth I can get very excited/nervous/focused, whatever you want to call it.  As I am sitting about 6 or 7 yards behind Douglas and his father, getting very anxious, I will never forget how Douglas just kept looking back at me smiling ear to ear as if to say, "Oh yeah, this bull is in big trouble!"  The kid literally had ice in his veins.

The bull finally came to about 75 yards and turned broadside and Joe gave the green light.  Douglas let the first shot ring out. At that point and time, we weren't sure if he had hit him or not.  The bull wheeled out about 40 yards and turned broadside again and Douglas let another shot ring out and there was no doubt, he put it right in the boiler room, an absolutely PERFECT shot!  After reviewing the footage later that day, we saw that his first shot was only about 4 inches from the other one directly through both lungs.  The kid had just made two perfect shots on a 1000 pound animal all on his own.

Needless to say, the woods erupted with cheers and celebration as Douglas' father Doug ran right at me and hugged me so hard I thought he was going to break my back.  Douglas put both his hands in the air and just kept yelling, "That was awesome, that was awesome".  It wasn't long and the tears started to flow as everyone realized what had just taken place and we all thanked the man upstairs for making it happen. There was no doubt that he sent that bull our way!
Douglas and his father Doug!
The memory that will always stick with me was watching Douglas' father put Douglas on his back and carry him to his awesome bull moose and getting to see such a special moment between a father and son.  In Douglas'  interview he was so concerned that he thank everyone that had helped him.  As he ended his thank you's he said, "and most of all, I want to thank my Dad for coming hunting with me!"  Immediately following, Douglas broke into tears and so did every person in that field.  Still with all the things stacked against this young man, the most important thing to him was to say thank you.  On that day, I realized that Douglas was not only a great hunter, he is an AWESOME human being!
You DA' Man Douglas!
Kyle and I both felt honored and privileged to be there in that field on that very special day.  We both said to each other that we wished everyone who helped send Douglas' on his dream hunt could have been there with us.  There are so many people to thank that I can't possibly list them all in this article, but you all know who you are and should be very PROUD of what you helped us accomplish.  We can only hope that the show will give you all an idea of what it was like to be there that day with the Fickel family.
Myself and Kyle with Douglas and his dad
This show will air the middle of November and more details will be available on our website at www.WiredOutdoors.com and our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/wiredoutdoors.  Many people ask us how they can help us make dreams like this come true for kids.  If you are interested in helping, you can visit our website at www.wiredoutdoors.com and click on Camo Cares.
Douglas' mom Pam on a full sprint to see her son's moose!
Douglas with him mom and dad and Kyle and I