National & International

90.3 WBHM | Demopolis, Ala. -- After a crippling car accident six-and-a-half years ago, doctors told Steve Alvis he would spend the rest of his life paralyzed from the mid-chest down. And that meant he would lose the ability to do the things he loved the most.

"They told me that I wouldn't be able to drive or hunt or anything. And I told them, you know, I will."

wheelchair accessible blind He proves them wrong every time he wheels himself into a blind or shooting shack. Inside, quiet is the norm and accessibility is the name of the game.

An avid hunter for almost all of his 35 years, the only game Alvis has played since his accident was finding a place to hunt. But thats all changed thanks to the Alabama Department of Conservation.

"Alabama got this disability land. It's just perfect. The shooting houses are accessible. The roads coming in are easy to access. Just really pretty neat."

In more than a dozen wildlife areas all across the state, disabled hunters can access open fields in the middle of the woods via car or truck, and access blinds equipped with wheelchair ramps, hand rails and support bars.

The state doesnt pay for the land; its usually donated by private individuals or corporations. Hunting and fishing are huge in Alabama. Its a billion dollar industry with nearly a quarter million hunting permits issued every year. Gary Moody, the wildlife chief at the Department of Conservation says it wasnt tough finding support for the program.

Gary Moody "We didnt get a lot of pressure to do this. It was just one of those thoughts that we developed as an agency. You know, it just felt like we wanted to make sure that everybody had a chance to enjoy the outdoors."

Just like any other hunter, a disabled hunter has to have a license in Alabama. And his or her disability must be certified by a physician and conform to standard medical guidelines.

Other states such as Georgia, Michigan and Washington -- have similar programs, if not as fully developed. Yet many others still have accessibility issues when it comes to the outdoors.

"A lot of wildlife management areas or public hunting areas don't have accessible wheelchair trails.

Todd Smelser is the founder of Disabled Sportsmen of America, a non-profit, all-volunteer agency that advocates disabled hunting and adaptive equipment to be used for it.

"If you can imagine how hard it would be to carry all of your equipment, and wheel your wheelchair - or have somebody wheel you through a wooded area, that's a challenge in itself."

For Alvis, one of the challenges of a recent hunting trip to the Marengo Disabled Hunting Area is mud. The trail is waterlogged because of three days of rain. The Blazer scoops through the terrain thats cake batter thick and deep. The special blind is about a mile in.

Another challenge is to make very little noise. Alvis must carefully transfer from driver seat to wheelchair and roll into the blind without scaring off a potential deer.

Once hes in & fully covered by camouflage, he gets his rifle ready...

...and waits.

Disabled hunters can bring some help along and in Alvis case, its usually his best friend Tommy Brock.

Tommy Brock and Steve Alvis "I get as much enjoyment out of it watching him hunt. Watching him shoot one. Its a lot like me shooting one. Just watching him. Being able to help him do it."

It doesnt matter what day of the week or which wildlife area they visit, Alvis says its a way to be a part of something thats encompassed most of his life.

"Its just an enjoyment for being out here. I could sit here all day and not see a thing."

...and on that hunt, he didnt see anything.

But two days later, he did see a deer and he bagged it. Like the more than 215 other licensed disabled hunters in Alabama Alvis will keep going back until deer-hunting season ends January 31.

~Steve Chiotakis, December 21, 2004

National & International

Metro & State