Mother Nature blanketed the landscape with the season’s first snow fall as the peak of the deer rut welcomed hunters to the Lost Mound Unit of Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife & Fish Refuge in Savanna, Illinois. Paraplegics, amputees and other physically challenged hunters participated in this special deer hunt held on November 10-11.
Sixty-eight hunters harvested 27 deer that included 11 bucks and 16 does. Dennis Kleckner from Savanna harvested the largest buck, an 8 pointer with field dressed weight of 172 pounds.
This special hunt has gained national attention with hunters travelling from 10 states. It provides a boost to the local economy with most hunters being non-residents or residents that traveled from central and southern Illinois. Other states represented were Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, and Wisconsin.
Two non-profit organizations sponsored hunters. Midwest Experience sponsored wounded warrior Chris Miller from Ohio who was shot twice during combat in Iraq, was stabbed in a riot, and fell from a cliff fracturing several vertebrate. Chips Nation Pediatric Cancer Foundation also participated with founder Chip Madren, a brain cancer survivor, travelling from Georgia.
Another distinguished participant was Charles Melton from Richview, Illinois. Charles earned a silver medal in the 2016 summer Para-Olympics in Rio as a member of the American rugby team. In addition, 92 year old William Brown celebrated his 71st year of deer hunting. He has hunted deer every year since 1957, when Illinois began deer hunting.
Down Deer Recovery, a certified United Blood Trackers provider, assisted hunters in recovering wounded deer. Co-owner Seth Nelson, and his bloodhounds Colt and Kimber, successfully tracked several wounded deer. The hounds track the scent of a stress pheromone that is released from the deer’s hooves and is present along the escape path of the injured deer. The hounds will ignore a deer that happens to be along this escape path but is not injured.
The Lost Mound deer hunt began in 2007 and over 1,000 youth and adult hunters have participated. This special hunt is conducted in areas that are closed to public access due to ongoing environmental clean-up at this former military installation, the Savanna Army Depot.
Lost Mound Site Manager Alan Anderson was excited about the continued success of this program and stated “It is a unique hunting experience by a special group of hunters. Their daily challenges of life were overshadowed by the enthusiasm and determination for deer hunting. They provided both inspiration and encouragement to the staff and volunteers that administered the hunt.”