WEBB, Iowa | A special hunt has taken place in Northwest Iowa for the past 13 years, a hunt that's offered hundreds of young people an experience they maybe wouldn't have gotten were it not for a committed band of outdoor enthusiasts and volunteers.
"This is geared for physically challenged kids, or kids terminally ill," says Phil Driver, one of the "drivers" behind the hunts organized by volunteers with the Special Youth Challenge Ministries organization, or SYC.
A deer hunt held during the youth/disabled deer season the last weekend of September attracted 24 participants, half of whom came from outside of Iowa.
"We've had one girl before who flew in from Georgia to hunt," Driver says.
Driver, who hails from Linn Grove, Iowa, said the special ministry grew out of a few conversations about providing opportunities for children in 2002. What started small has grown to involve an army of volunteers, lots of hunting spots in a few select counties, and all sorts of fellowship.
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"I enjoyed them," says Nick Rogers, of Moville, Iowa, a participant in three SYC hunts in and around Cherokee and Buena Vista counties. "I didn't get any deer, but we've been really close. The sights were cool and the guns were run by buttons."
Rogers, a 2013 graduate of Woodbury Central High School, suffered a spinal injury in 2011. An accident on a four-wheeler resulted in a two-way fracture of his C-5 vertebrae.
While he wasn't able to traverse fields and CRP ground like he had in the past, Rogers gained something -- an appreciation for hunting, thanks in large part to SYC.
"I was quite the system. The guide had a button (on the gun) and I had a button. All I had to do was push a button," he said. "And it was hard for my eye to get close (to aim), so they had a device that holds an iPod Touch and that has a hole for the camera. The device was hooked up to the scope."
Rogers could track a deer in his sights by looking through the iPod screen.
That's only part of the offering. There's an SYC ranch four miles west of tiny Webb in Clay County. The 4-acre ranch site features a house and a machine shed that's insulated and heated.
"We're working on another project in the bottom of the barn, to put in three wheelchair-accessible rooms, a game room and more," Driver says.
The biggest annual event involves the deer hunt at the end of September. Folks begin arriving on Friday afternoon with new hunters required to go through a target-practice exercise. A 6 p.m. banquet is held for nearly 400 at the fire hall in nearby Sioux Rapids, Iowa.
"We invite landowners, guides, the kids and their families," Driver says.
"It's amazing to see those kids come out of their shell," says SYC volunteer Sam Palmer, of Alvord, Iowa. "It's humbling. These kids all have a smile on their face and they never complain about anything."
After the banquet, children and guides and family members then head to the "SYC Ranch," or to cabins set up in area parks for lodging. Others bunk for the weekend in area homes and motels.
"We take donations during the hunt, but we don't solicit," Driver says. "We do want all expenses covered for the families of these kids."
The SYC organization has built nearly 30 blinds, some of which remain in the woods at locations conducive to hunting. There are also 20 portable blinds assembled by two-person crews.
Rogers remains thankful for the experiences he received while warming to hunting through the SYC program, which provided him with camo hunting gear, boots, pants and more. He even won a raffle for the gun he now uses.
Now a business management student at Western Iowa Tech Community College, the 20-year-old anticipates additional hunting opportunities closer to home. Thanks to the SYC mission, Rogers keeps an eye out for deer and other wildlife. He's also gotten a stand for his gun made to fit his wheelchair, the brainchild of his pal, Moville's Chris Healy.
"I've also got a trailer we've made," Rogers says, indicating again how he's setting his sights on what could become a most interesting pastime.
