Dennis Anderson on why we hunt: We hunt for friendship

Brad is the bigger man.

Born with brittle bone disease, Brad, who is a friend of my son, has in his short life suffered about 70 fractures.

Sometimes his bones break when he is getting dressed or opening a door. Other times, doing his homework will break a bone. Or simply rolling over in bed.

He has had four surgeries to put rods in his arms and legs to give him support.

All of which is out of the ordinary.

But there's much about Brad, a seventh-grader at Somerset (Wis.) Middle School, that's normal. He is bright and gets good grades. He dreams about someday being a 911 operator (already he is an honorary member of the Somerset Volunteer Fire Department and attends its weekly meetings).

Or perhaps, he says, he'll be a farmer -- like his surrogate grandparents who farm outside of Hudson, Wis.

But the cool part is that Brad shot a deer a couple weeks ago. To do it he needed help, of course -- a cast numbering in the hundreds, in fact, including landowners near Thorpe, Wis., and an entire fleet of volunteer, able-bodied hunters.

And some volunteers who, like Brad, have disabilities.

The event was organized by Dale Petkovsek of Willard, Wis. Brad was among about 80 hunters with disabilities who participated.

"His brother hunts and his buddies have gotten into hunting, and it was something he thought he could do," Brad's mother, Lori, said.

Brad's stepfather, Roger Gebhard, first had to modify Brad's motorized wheelchair. Important as it was for Brad to be able to aim his .243 properly, it was even more important the gun didn't touch Brad when it discharged.

Otherwise, there would be more broken bones.

So a placeholder was made for the gun on Brad's wheelchair -- the type used to hold rifles exactly in position when they are test-fired for accuracy.

"I shot a little target practice before the hunt," Brad said. "It worked pretty smooth."

A total of 114 farmers and landowners volunteered their properties for the big hunt. Each morning or evening, a hunter met up with one of the landowners. Then the hunter was placed in the woods or other location.

"We put Brad in a blind and either Roger or I would be in the blind with him to help adjust his wheelchair so he could aim correctly at a deer if he saw one," his mom said.

Brad and his mom were in the blind together when Brad dropped his trophy, a young buck.

Making the shot wasn't easy.

"We adjusted the wheelchair for maybe three minutes," Lori said. "It takes a lot of coordination between Brad and his helper. He whispers which way to move his wheelchair, left or right, or whether to raise or lower the gun. The helper does what he says, according to his commands."

When Brad finally gave the OK sign to his mom, meaning the chair and gun were properly aligned, he squeezed off a shot.

The deer dropped instantly.

"It was a lot of fun," Brad said. "I'd like to try it again."

Dave Berg and his son Ken of Edgar, Wis., were among the able-bodied hunters who made the event possible.

I hunt with Dave and Ken during the Wisconsin firearms deer season.

"The Clark County Handicapped Hunt is the largest in Wisconsin and might be the largest in the nation," Dave said. "We hunt over 15,000 donated acres and have a high success ratio. Ken has his 120 acres in the program and also guides on his land and other lands for the hunt. I am amazed how much he loves guiding for the hunt. Last year he guided a blind man who got a nice buck. Some of the guides say you get addicted to the good feelings you get from guiding these hunters."

And, yes, Brad dragged out his own deer.

Behind his wheelchair.

Dennis Anderson • danderson@startribune.com