DES MOINES (KCCI/CNN) – A quadriplegic Iowa woman got a special opportunity to hunt turkey as part of the Wheelin’ Sportsmen Spring Turkey Hunt.
With help from her dad, Ken Hulsebus, and a battery-run gun mount, Angie Hulsebus can hunt on her own.
“I use a 20-gauge shot gun,” she said.
Hulsebus was paralyzed after her sedan slammed into a tractor-trailer several years ago.
“When I was 20, I was in a car accident in 2003 and spinal cord injury; c5, 6 [vertebra] so that left me paralyzed from about the chest level down,” she said.
On Saturday, Hulsebus had a special opportunity to turkey hunt for the first time.
“I’ve been target shooting a few times. I’ve been deer hunting three times and just had the opportunity to try turkey and I said sure, why not,” she said.
Using a specialized machine, Hulsebus can pull the trigger one of two ways.
“When she saw what she wanted to see, it was in the sight she would suck on the straw,” her father said. “And then it would fire.”
She also uses what she calls a trigger finger, which involves a piece that’s attached to a Velcro wrist band. When she pulls her arm back, that piece pulls the trigger.
While Hulsebus may never move from her wheelchair on her own, shooting on her own proves she isn’t letting her disability slow her down.
“My rule of thumb is just to live life to the fullest and live life on purpose and do as much as you can and help other people,” she said.
The group that hosted Wheelin’ Sportsman Hunt is asking for donations of any camouflage clothing or hunting gear, which will be used for people with disabilities on future hunting trips.
Copyright 2015 KCCI via CNN. All rights reserved.
