[nfbmi-talk] Fw: you'd like this story

[joe harcz Comcast]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "joe harcz Comcast" <joeharcz at comcast.net>
To: "Hull, James (LARA)" <hullj at michigan.gov>
Sent: Monday, November 21, 2011 12:17 PM
Subject: Re: you'd like this story


> Hi James,
>
> Wow this sounds like a great story for the Braille Monitor.
>
> We should give some positive play for blind hunters here in Michigan.
>
> Joe
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Hull, James (LARA)" <hullj at michigan.gov>
> To: "joe harcz Comcast" <joeharcz at comcast.net>
> Sent: Monday, November 21, 2011 11:07 AM
> Subject: RE: you'd like this story
>
>
> Thank you for the story, it was very interesting.  FYI, I shot a 4 point 
> in October during bow season and just returned from rifle season with a 
> large three point in my possession.
>
> Thanks for the story,
>
> James
>
> James Hull
> Assistant Business Enterprise Program Manager
> Michigan Commission for the Blind
> ph: 517/373.2064
> fax: 517/335.5140
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: joe harcz Comcast [mailto:joeharcz at comcast.net]
> Sent: Tuesday, November 15, 2011 9:59 AM
> To: Hull, James (LARA)
> Subject: you'd like this story
>
> Blind Hunter Enjoys Success in the Field
>
>
>
> Braille Monitor February 2007
>
>
>
> (
>
> back)
>
> (
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> contents)
>
> (
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> next)
>
>
>
> Blind Hunter Enjoys Success in the Field
>
>
>
> by Larry Porter
>
>
>
> From the Editor: The following story first appeared in the November 19, 
> 2006, edition of the Omaha, Nebraska, World-Herald. Richard Crawford is a 
> longtime
>
> Federationist and second vice president of the National Federation of the 
> Blind of Iowa. The article below is a hunting story, but it is also a fine 
> example
>
> of how to demonstrate our philosophy about blindness in all that we do. 
> Richard did his part in this interview, but the reporter also did a fine 
> job of
>
> writing our positive message into his story. Here it is:
>
>
>
> Richard Crawford pictured here with his deerAmong Richard Crawford's 
> prized possessions is a .45-caliber pistol that his father-in-law carried 
> during World
>
> War II. Crawford, fifty-six, a financial planner in Sioux City, Iowa, has 
> completely refurbished that beloved pistol. The handle has even been 
> fitted with
>
> ivory grips. The pistol is not for show. It isn't on display in some fancy 
> wall mount or glass-enclosed cabinet. No, even though he is blind, 
> Crawford
>
> uses the pistol for target practice.
>
>
>
> For years Crawford has taken his pistol to the farm of a friend who is a 
> doctor. The target this day was a battery-operated Christmas bell, which 
> Crawford
>
> declared expendable because of its annoying tone. "It drove my ears nuts 
> because it was a little flat," Crawford recalled. "I put six shots pretty 
> darn
>
> close to that bell. My doctor friend had a brand-new .357 magnum. He 
> handed it to me and told me to try it. I pulled the trigger and hit that 
> bell. A dead
>
> shot."
>
>
>
> The amazed friend asked Crawford how he had done it. "This doctor had a 
> blind son, who was young at the time," Crawford said. "I said, `Doc, it 
> doesn't
>
> happen if you stay in the house.' I was trying to teach him a lesson. It 
> wouldn't happen for his kid if he stayed in the house."
>
>
>
> A retina disease claimed Crawford's sight when he was ten. "As a child," 
> he said, "my folks were too dumb to know that their blind kid wasn't 
> supposed to
>
> run chain saws, change oil in trucks, change spark plugs, rotate tires, 
> and work around the house. My dad taught me to do things like electrical 
> wiring
>
> and plumbing. He didn't know he wasn't supposed to teach a blind kid those 
> things. He didn't let these so-called sighted professionals put me in a 
> box.
>
>
>
> "I tell the joke that my brother always wanted to use me for second base, 
> but at least I was in the game. It drives home the point."
>
>
>
> It was the opening morning of Nebraska's rifle deer season, and the three 
> men tried to be quiet as they climbed the ladder to the tree house that 
> serves
>
> as a deer stand. It was well before dawn, and at that point two of the men 
> were disabled because of the darkness. But not Crawford. Being blind, he 
> was
>
> in his environment. "Listen to the turkeys," Crawford whispered to Ernie 
> Glup of Tekamah, Nebraska, a semi-retired dirt contractor on whose farm 
> Crawford
>
> was hunting, and Dr. Everett "Buzz" Madsen, an Omaha eye specialist.
>
>
>
> Crawford's companions strained to hear the turkeys. Not until five minutes 
> had passed--after the turkey chatter had grown increasingly louder--could 
> they
>
> hear the birds. By then Crawford knew how many birds were in the trees and 
> their locations.
>
>
>
> Madsen is president of the Nebraska chapter of the Safari Club. He and 
> Glup have hunted together for more than twenty-five years. They were here 
> this morning
>
> because Madsen had asked Glup to donate a deer hunt for a disabled person 
> to be auctioned during the Safari Club's annual banquet. Madsen bought the 
> hunt
>
> himself with the intention of finding a handicapped person to take to 
> Glup's farm. He told Dr. Howard McCutchan, a Harlan, Iowa, optometrist, 
> about the
>
> hunt.
>
>
>
> "If you're going to take a handicapped guy," McCutchan said, "why not take 
> a blind guy. I've got a friend who is just crazy enough to try it."
>
>
>
> Crawford grew up in Grinnell, Iowa, where his father owned a tree service 
> business. At age ten he went to the Iowa School for the Blind in Vinton, 
> but he
>
> was booted out after his ninth-grade year. "I was just so darn ornery," 
> Crawford said, laughing. "The superintendent had a policy that he didn't 
> punish
>
> a kid the first time he'd do something wrong. But he used to say, 
> `Crawford, would you quit figuring out new things to do?' I was finally 
> asked not to
>
> return."
>
>
>
> Crawford implored the Grinnell public school officials that he be allowed 
> to attend high school there. "I begged them to let me try public school," 
> he said.
>
> "That was back before handicapped kids were being integrated into schools. 
> The superintendent looked at my grades. Since I had mostly Ds and Fs, he 
> wasn't
>
> very impressed. He looked at my brother's grades. That didn't impress him 
> either. But he finally agreed to let me try it."
>
>
>
> Crawford made the honor roll that first nine weeks. He then settled into 
> becoming a strong C student, heavily involved in school politics, drama, 
> sports,
>
> and other activities. He found that wrestling was the sport for him. He 
> averaged about nineteen wins--a dozen by pins--each of his three seasons. 
> He qualified
>
> for the state tournament as a senior. "Do you know when I won most of my 
> matches?" Crawford asked. "In the final thirty seconds. I couldn't see the 
> clock,
>
> and I didn't quit early. I'd pin 'em when they flat ran out of gas or when 
> they looked up at the clock and said, `Whew! I've about got it.' Then I'd 
> flip
>
> 'em and stick 'em. To make up for not being able to see, I spent time 
> getting in better physical condition. You could be bigger and tougher, but 
> if you
>
> ran out of gas and I still had some energy left, I could beat you."
>
>
>
> After McCutchan called with the news that a deer hunt might be in the 
> offing, Crawford began to figure out how to make it happen. Answers to 
> questions finally
>
> led him to Ted Hart of Mount Pleasant, Iowa, whose brother built an offset 
> scope for a 30.06 rifle. That rifle, along with a companion who could see 
> through
>
> the scope and tell Hart when to shoot, allowed him to realize a dream.
>
>
>
> After getting the approval of Madsen to be the recipient of the hunt, 
> Crawford borrowed the rifle and went to Glup's farm to practice. Glup 
> stood to the
>
> right of Crawford, almost head-to-head, as they prepared to fire. Glup 
> peered through the scope and placed the crosshairs on a forty-five-degree 
> angle
>
> exactly 3/4 inches up and to the right of where he wanted the bullet to 
> hit. Although Crawford held the rifle against his shoulder, Glup placed 
> his right
>
> hand beneath the forearm to guide and steady the aim.
>
>
>
> "We got to where we could hit a target at one hundred yards and group the 
> shots pretty close together," Glup said. The second time Richard came, we 
> actually
>
> got up in the tree house and practiced from there. That's when I really 
> became very comfortable about it. I knew he could kill a buck."
>
>
>
> Crawford's family was poor, and supper often was rabbits, squirrels, and 
> pheasants provided by his hunter father. But those days in the field with 
> his father
>
> also filled Crawford in other ways. He fell in love with the outdoors. 
> This blind youngster would never stay in the house. Crawford even hunted 
> pheasants
>
> after blindness blackened his world. "They make a ton of noise when they 
> take off," he said. "It scares the pewaddle out of you if you're not 
> ready. But
>
> by sound--and if you get lucky--you can shoot a bird."
>
>
>
> Crawford hunted with his brother and with friends. One day a friend took 
> him out and he shot a bird. Unfortunately it was a hen. "The guy said, 
> `What are
>
> you going to do if the game warden stops us?' I told him it wasn't my 
> problem. `What do you mean, it's not your problem?' I said, `Do you really 
> think
>
> a game warden is going to believe a blind guy shot that hen? It's your 
> problem.'"
>
>
>
> Crawford specializes in solving real problems. For instance, he loves to 
> roar down snow-covered Colorado mountain slopes on skis. "I hire a guide 
> to ski
>
> behind me," Crawford said. "We wear headsets-- surveyor walkie-talkies 
> that are voice-activated. He talks me down the mountain. He tells me the 
> slope is
>
> cutting off to my right, that trees are on the right so stay to the left, 
> that people are coming from the left. I can see the mountain in my mind's 
> eye.
>
>
>
> "It's much better now. Before, he could just holler three commands--left, 
> right, and stop. Back then I just hoped he never said, 'Whoops!'"
>
>
>
> The early-morning light began to nibble at the darkness, and dark blobs 
> slowly became trees and bushes. Glup and Madsen watched for deer to appear 
> at the
>
> edge of the woods that bordered the meadow. Suddenly Crawford pointed 
> toward a patch of timber about fifty yards from the tree house. "I 
> couldn't tell
>
> what Richard was pointing at," Glup said. "I got to thinking--can this guy 
> see a little bit? Finally, four does stepped out of the timber right where 
> he
>
> had pointed. I asked him why he had pointed. He said, `I heard them coming 
> through the trees.'"
>
>
>
> The three saw dozens of deer that day, but all the bucks were small. At 
> 4:45 p.m. a bigger buck stepped into the meadow. Madsen's range finder 
> indicated
>
> the deer was 180 yards away. Glup bent into the scope. Crawford nestled 
> the butt of the rifle into his shoulder and reached for the trigger. The 
> shot rang
>
> out, and the two who could see began to verbally paint the scene for 
> Crawford. He had to sift through the shouts and babble, but he understood 
> that the
>
> buck jumped when the bullet hit, took a few steps, then fell to the 
> ground.
>
> "When I heard, `It's down,'" Crawford said, "it was such a rush. Money 
> can't buy that feeling. It was a natural, God-given feeling that was just 
> wonderful."
>
>
>
> Sara Crawford, who can see, was asked how she met her husband. "On a blind 
> date," she said, laughing. "I know that sounds terrible, but it's true."
>
>
>
> A computer screen sits on Crawford's desk in his Smith Barney office. He 
> taps a command, and some financial figures pop up that his clients can 
> read. But
>
> his screen is a green strip below the keyboard that provides a Braille 
> printout. The blind boy who once was so proud to earn Cs now manages money 
> for clients
>
> who live in twenty-seven states and five countries.
>
>
>
> Crawford has been told that within five years the transplant of miniature 
> cameras in his eyes could give him sight. "If it happens," he said, "it 
> will be
>
> wonderful. But the good news is that it doesn't matter. What else can I 
> have in my life? I've got all the money I want. I have good health, a 
> great family,
>
> good kids. I couldn't script a better life, even if I could see.
>
>
>
> "The Apostle Paul teaches us to be content in all things. I think the 
> lesson is simply that I can't control the deck of cards in life, but I 
> sure can control
>
> how I play the hand."
>
>
>
> After the buck dropped, the three men in the tree house whooped, hugged, 
> and pounded on each other in jubilation. "We truly went a little wild," 
> Glup said.
>
> "As we walked down to where the buck was, Richard said, `Fellas, we need 
> more people like you to help people like us.' That's when it really got 
> emotional."
>
> The emotion is still thick.
>
>
>
> "This is more than a blind guy shooting a deer," Crawford said as tears 
> welled in his sightless eyes and his voice began to quiver. "It was a 
> bonding. Together
>
> we made it happen. The best part was when we were loading the deer into 
> the truck. We knew this friendship was bonded. It will last a lifetime."
>
>
>
> (
>
> http://www.nfb.org/images/nfb/publications/bm/bm07/bm0702/bm070209.htm
>