Mike Schmitz is a C-6/7 incomplete with limited strength in his hands and no trunk balance. Hence, he has faced many of the same problems I have on the road back afield. He uses either a mono-pod (Level Lok) or a bi-pod (Harris) to support the weight of his weapons, wether it be a rifle, shotgun or crossbow.

"To assist in the balance dept, I use a couple of different things: A tree stand safety harness attached to the back of my chair that I can lean into without falling forward (works great for trap shooting), and a chaise lounge similar to the ones you buy to take to the beach (the back is high and can be set to a pretty good angle to all the way flat - excellent for wing shooting of all kinds) or I'll sit on the ground and lean against a tree.

As for what I hunt, that's easy. Everything. Mostly deer, geese, ducks and dove but I'm planning my first elk and turkey hunt this year. Chances are I'll go after some bushy whitetails as well this year.

Advice and insight? Hmmm......
Number 1 would be get out there. You won't know what you can do if you don't try. If you're confronted with a problem, try to find a way to tackle it and go from there.

Number 2 - if using a manual chair, set it up to be as tippy as you can. This will take some of the weight off the front wheels which keeps them from getting hung up on everything.

Number 3 - get some BIG knobby back tires and watch for sand (I spent close to an hour trying to get un-stuck form a sand trap one day...).

Number 4 - practice with all of your equipment regularly in simulated hunting conditions. Shooting from a bench is one thing but it's a lot different in the field.

Number 5 - get help when field dressing. It sucks to have a spasm and fall into the gut pile....." - Mike

Mike will field questions for anyone with similar injuries. For more info, he can be contacted via e-mail:

mschmitz@bellsouth.net