Instructors and participant in the 2016 HUNTS Course . L-R : Tom Goble , Lisa Daly , Steven Gray , Greg Rendall , Kelvin Clark , Grahame Dyer , Tim Walker , Elliott Keys & Murray in the Polaris , Dale McGuire , Mike Deane ( partly obscured ), Wayne Stachurski , Jason Clark , Dennis Hayfield , Mike Keys
him ( and incidentally , some of the other participants had assistance with the reading component of the test ). In due course everyone completed their exam and passed – great stuff .
From the classroom to the range was the next step for the practical exercises . The ground was wet and Elliott was in his electrically-powered chair but with a bit of help from some of the other lads he crossed that hurdle and soon was set up with his shooting frame and rifle in place and strapped to the chair . Yes , he ’ s tetraplegic so he can ’ t use his finger to pull the trigger , but that ’ s no drama either . The frame has a battery-powered unit that enables him to move the rifle with a joystick , controlling it by moving his chin or cheek to line up on the target .
“ But what about pulling the trigger ? Simple …”
“… delight as the chair rocked at the recoil of the . 243 …”
several rifle calibres on the day and the look of delight on his face as the chair rocked at the recoil of the . 243 summed it all up .
The bushcraft weekend was next on the programme and here again with a bit of flexibility it was easy enough to include Elliott . Originally we ’ d planned to have everyone pack into the Waitawheta Hut area , stay there overnight and do navigation and camping-related activities . However , so that we could include everyone , instead we got the local farmer up there on side to enable us to have ATV vehicle access . This way , Elliott could join us for part of the way on the DOC track in his Polaris side by side . The rest of the group would do the loop track via Daly ’ s Hut and then come back and camp at Dickey Flat , where we could all be
Lisa Daly with her spiker from the 2016
HUNTS course
But what about pulling the trigger ? Simple : there ’ s a hook mechanism with a tube attached that he sucks at the right moment to fire the shot . And he was right on the spot too , with some excellent shot placement and groupings that kept improving with time and practice . He tried firing
NZ Hunting & Wildlife 196 - Autumn 2017 25