Just a Great Day

Justin McFarland was a young boy when he was injured in an accident and lost most of his eyesight to the resulting infection. Justin saw his family take deer and add it to the freezer, but had never been able to join in the thrill of the hunt until the introduction of Lasergrips by Crimson Trace.

Travis Noteboom, Crimson Trace’s Director of Public Relations, was on the phone with freelance writer Tracy Breen, who mentioned that his brother-in-law also had vision problems. Because the Withey hunt they were both scheduled on in November was set in Michigan, Tracy and Travis were able to organize a hunt for Justin McFarland later that same week.

Ruger stepped to the plate, donating a .41 Magnum Blackhawk to Justin, while ATK sent ammo to get Justin familiar with the firearm. This would be the first time Justin ever fired a gun. He had always wanted to be part of a hands-on hunt. 

Even though Justin and Tracy were coming from one part of the state and Travis from the other, they arrived in the parking lot of Legends Ranch (www.legendsranch.com) within two minutes of each other. Lunch was being served in the Grand Lodge for all the hunters and guides.  The food was fabulous and the atmosphere relaxing, yet charged. The afternoon hunt was getting set to begin.

Once lunch was over, everyone took their rifles to the on-site range to make sure they were still sighted in from the morning hunt, especially important when the hunts range from $3,000 to $9,400 for the trophy whitetails that live on the Legend Ranch.

The hunters and guides watched while all the rifle shooters made their shots. When Justin pulled out his .41 Ruger Blackhawk, even the most seasoned hunter eyed his marksmanship.

With the help of a custom monocular that helps take the fuzziness out of his eyesight, Justin, with the heat on, drilled the 10 ring at 30 yards. Scott Helms, Justin’s guide for the day, smiled and said, “That’ll kill a deer.”

The party was then taken to a ground-blind where Justin would have a chance to shoot his first deer. Travis headed for an elevated blind several hundred yards from Justin to see it all play out.

An hour or so into the hunt, a shot rang out – Justin had his first deer. One shot did the trick. Afterwards, Scott said he wasn’t sure who was more excited, Justin or himself.

After hearing about Justin’s success, Skipper Bettis, owner of Legends Ranch, asked Justin if he would like to hunt again the next morning. There was an Old Mossy that had out-lived his breeding days on the ranch but had a rack worthy of Boone and Crocket.

Justin jumped at the chance. The next morning, he harvested his second deer in two days.  Not the Mossy he dreamt of, but another fine deer taken with one shot from the newest member of the Legends Ranch Family.

“I couldn’t have done this without the help of all of you,” said Justin when saying goodbye in the parking lot where they’d all first met.  “It’s just been a great day.”  There were smiles all around and nodding in agreement.  It had indeed been a great day.