BINFORD, ND (NewsDakota.com) – According to David Lipp with the Outdoor Adventure Foundation on the evening of September 13, Vietnam veteran Dean Pedersen, of Valley City, N.D., got the chance to experience something he never thought he would. He was able to go on a white-tailed deer hunt despite his complete inability to see anything.
Dean was able to make a successful rifle shot on a trophy white-tailed buck with the help of his 11-year-old grandson Jack Lerud, who acted as his grandfather’s eyes to line up his rifle shot while hunting at the Baldhill Creek Adventures property near Binford, N.D.
Dean lost his vision in both eyes during a grenade attack during his military service in Vietnam. He was only a few days away from being shipped home at the time of the attack. His recovery was not easy, but he hasn’t let his disability stop him from making the most of his life. He is well known in the Valley City area for his inspirational speaking engagements in local schools, as well as his carpentry. That is correct, Dean is the owner and operator of Pedersen Wood Craft, and is well-known for his carpentry work.
The idea of Dean going deer hunting originated with George Berger, the owner of Baldhill Creek Adventures, who is from Valley City, but now lives on his home near Binford. George has helped many young hunters harvest their first deer and has hosted several charitable hunts for the North Dakota Outdoor Adventure Foundation and the Injured Military Wildlife Project of North Dakota, who donated the tag for Dean’s hunt. He came up with a plan to set up a solid shooting rest in a deer blind for Dean and have Dean’s grandson, Jack, line up the shot for Dean to pull the trigger. George contacted the North Dakota Game and Fish to find out if it would be legal for Dean and Jack to work together on the hunt and they said they would approve the hunt, with consideration for some special allowances for the charitable hunting organizations. Many donors stepped up to have a special portable trailer-blind built, so family members could be present with Dean and Jack for the hunt, with the trailer-blind being available for future injured or mobility-challenged hunters. George invited Dean and Jack to test the blind and the shooting plan two weeks prior to the hunt. He placed the blind in a likely location, put out a target where the deer should be and had them take a practice shot. They put the rifle in a solid shooting rest, Jack looked through the scope and told George how to adjust the front support for the shot.
Jack guided Dean’s finger into the trigger and Dean squeezed off an accurate shot to the target.
“I looked up at Jack and Dean and said, you know this just might work,” recalled George as he described the practice session.
The Outdoor Adventure Foundation paid the lodging and outfitter fee for Dean to hunt with George at the Baldhill Creek Adventures ranch, and Sept. 13 was selected as the date. They picked the weekend of Sept. 13 because it was the opening weekend for the youth deer hunting season and Jack obtained a youth doe tag. George offered to guide Jack for his doe when Dean’s hunt was finished…if it was finished! There was no guarantee that the plan would work with an elusive white-tailed buck as the target.
Dean and Jack arrived at the ranch with Dean’s wife Betty, and Jack’s parents Mike and Sarah Friday afternoon with plans for all to sit in the trailer-blind for the hunt. They got in place in the blind at about 3:30pm for up to a four-and-a-half-hour wait until the end of legal shooting hours. Luckily, it didn’t take that long. At about 7:15 a four-by-five buck stepped out in just the right place to make the shot, and everything came together for an ethical harvest. The deer expired in less than fifty yards. The group gathered for photos and the Outdoor Adventure Foundation will provide a head and shoulder mount of the deer to preserve the memory for the group, just as it does on multiple hunting and fishing trips for veterans and youth suffering from serious illness throughout the year.
“This is a memory that Jack and I will never forget,” said Dean, as he knelt with Jack next to his trophy for the photos.
The following evening Jack topped it off by getting his doe in a very ethical one-shot harvest of his own. Both animals are being processed at Valley Meat Supply Inc., of Valley City, N.D., to be eaten by the families.
The Outdoor Adventure Foundation provides hunting and fishing trips for people under the age of 25 that are suffering from a serious illness, as well as veterans who have been injured in combat. Visit the website at www.NDOAF.org to nominate someone for an outdoor adventure.
Feature photo; L to R Grandson Jack Lerud and his Grandfather Dean Pedersen.
