Episode 52: Back Doing Something I Love

These days, virtually anything is possible for individuals with disabilities, and outdoor recreation is no exception! Here to prove just that is this week's guest, Greg Traynor, who hosts the “Accessible Hunter” podcast, along with his partner Mike Hudson. Greg continues to reap the benefits of the great outdoors, and is an active hunter just as he was prior to becoming a wheelchair user. Grab a comfy seat (preferably on the front porch swing) as Greg describes his extensive hunting background, explains the incident which caused his paralysis, and details the specialized equipment he uses to effectively hunt. He also tells us how he formed a friendship with podcast cohost Mike, discusses the general purpose of the show, and enlightens us on some of the disabilities that have been represented among his guests. Below our links to visit The Accessible Hunter podcast and Facebook page.

https://open.spotify.com/show/63T8O75wc9p6hN2FlAOslG https://www.facebook.com/Accessiblehunterpodcast/

Thanks to Chris Ankin for use of his song, “Change.”

The book "A Celebration of Family: Stories of Parents with Disabilities." is available from Amazon here.

Be sure to follow the Advocado Press Facebook page

Visit Appalachian Assistive Technology Loan Fund for assistance.

Visit Moving Forward, the Advocado Press blog.

Send comments and questions to [email protected]

Demand and Disrupt is sponsored by the Advocado Press and the Center For Accessible Living.

You can find the transcript in the show notes below when they become available.

Transcript

You're listening to Demand and Disrupt, the podcast for information about accessibility, advocacy, and all things disability.

Kimberly Parsley

Welcome to Demand and Disrupt.

I am your host, Kimberly Parsley.

Sam Moore

And I'm your co-host, Sam Moore.

Happy Easter, Kimberly.

Kimberly Parsley

Happy Easter.

Sam, how are things going up there in the North Quail Motel?

Sam Moore

Well, it's beautiful today as we record this happy little podcast.

In a few days on the actual Easter, I don't know if that's going to be the same, according to the forecast, but luckily I'm too big for Easter egg hunts at this point, we've had several in this area that have been canceled due to projected inclement weather.

Kimberly

So that's sad, but you know what?

You're never too old for Cadbury Easter eggs.

Do you like a good Cadbury egg?

Sam

Gosh, it's been forever since I've had one of those.

I like, you know, pretty much anything that you could stuff in an Easter egg.

I would always gladly devour, especially jelly beans.

Jelly beans have always been a weakness of mine.

Kimberly

I am such a snob.

I like jelly bellies, but not jelly.

Sam Oh yes.

In fact, that's really what I meant.

Cause jelly bellies are the bulk of what I've had.

They're bigger and definitely better than the jelly beans.

Kimberly My daughter got me, is this a hot take?

Here it comes.

my daughter got me a bag of just butter popcorn jelly bellies.

So how do you feel about the butter popcorn jelly bellies?

Sam I've never had those.

Kimberly I mean, oh my gosh, they're so good.

Sam I like popcorn and I like jelly bellies, but I just can't, I can't see those flavors meshing.

Kimberly Yeah, it's, it's maybe something you got to, you have to experience, you know?

Sam Yeah.

It's kind of like, I didn't use to think barbecue chicken pizza would be good.

And then I had it and then I liked it.

Kimberly I'm still a no chicken on pizza kind of person, but then again, yeah, you know, but then again, people don't like fish tacos and I like fish tacos.

Sam So, yeah, mom does too.

I'm not too big on the fish tacos, but you know, different strokes for different folks.

There you go.

Kimberly There you go.

Now that we've made everyone hungry, Sam, you did our interview today.

So tell us who we're talking to.

Sam I did, he was great.

His name is Greg Trainor.

He lives on a peaceful piece of property, right outside Pittsburgh.

And, he hosts an accessible hunter podcast along with his cohort, Mike Hudson, who is, actually in, in South Carolina.

Now, both of these men had incidents, which you will hear about that, left them paralyzed, but, but through it all, they have still managed to find ways to hunt.

They're both avid hunters and, they have overcome their disabilities quite admirably, and I think you'll be quite, fascinated by the adaptive equipment they use to make hunting happen for them.

Kimberly Well, that is interesting to hear about.

I, I listened to your interview and it was just amazing.

All the things that are out there for people who, who want to continue pursuing, hunting and fishing.

That's, so interesting to me.

Now, are you much of an outdoors person, Sam?

Sam I definitely love the great outdoors.

I've not had, I'll just be honest.

I've not had much inspiration to actually, dive into hunting yet.

Although as we'll hear some folks with, visual impairments have, and, Greg will tell us about that.

I've, I've not been too tempted to, you know, partake in that just yet, but I do enjoy the simple things like sitting on a porch swing or, or a lion in a hammock, swimming, boating, all that stuff I'm all about.

Kimberly Yeah, that's, that's kind of me too.

I do like a bird listening, I guess, you know, when the birds are singing, that's quite soothing.

I like, I have an app, I think, I believe it's, Cornell puts out an app, called Merlin bird ID, where you can record the, bird sound and it can identify the bird for you.

So I think that's, yeah.

Yeah.

Sam So that's, do you have a hammock Kimberly?

Kimberly I do not have a hammock, but I have a screened in back porch.

Sam So, okay, that, that works.

We, we used to have a hammock, but, it, it's seen its last day.

So, you know, if we want to partake again, we'll have to invest in a new one.

Kimberly I think now getting in and out of a hammock, that's kind of a, that's kind of a skill, right?

Sam It's kind of an adventure.

I do recall that once you get there, it's comfy and you don't want to get out for a while, but when you do, you have to sort of work at it.

Kimberly Really holds onto you, doesn't it?

Sam Right.

Kimberly Greg Trainor of courses, like you said, from Pennsylvania and, want to go ahead and take the opportunity to plug the Appalachian assistive technology loan fund, which is our partner here in Kentucky to supply low and no interest loans for assistive technology.

Sam And it's also based in Pennsylvania.

Kimberly Yeah, it's based in Pennsylvania.

Yeah.

So I believe you did our interview with Ryan Creech about that.

Sam Yeah.

So if you want more details on that, we definitely, we spent at least two or three minutes on it during our chat.

Kimberly So great, great program there for both Kentuckians and people from Pennsylvania.

What's the person from Pennsylvania called a Pennsylvanian?

Sam Is that that'd be my guess.

That'd be, yeah.

Kimberly Anyone listen to this?

If I've wrong, if I'm wrong, reach out and let me know.

Sam Yeah, as soon as an email [email protected].

Kimberly Right.

And you know, another place you can find demand and disrupt is we are now on YouTube.

Yeah, I know.

At least the audio is up there.

Now we're working on the video.

We're working on learning how to do that.

Sam We got to start somewhere.

Kimberly Yeah.

Yep.

Getting past my hesitancy on, on doing that.

I'm going to figure that out, but we are a podcast.

The audio is per is posted to YouTube.

And so I'd love for you all to check that out.

And especially they have a captions feature.

So I would love for some of our deaf and hard of hearing folks to give that a try and let me know how that captioning feature works.

We're still, of course, going to provide transcripts, but I'd love to know how that works.

So give us feedback.

Sam That's, that's just another outlet that you can stay in touch.

Kimberly Exactly.

And I'll put that, I'll put that link to YouTube in the show notes.

And I've, I've always wanted to say this.

So you all check us out and hit that subscribe button.

Sam Sam Yes, absolutely.

Kimberly So we're, we're, we're hitting the big time now on YouTube.

Sam So it's not that hard, but it means the world that subscribe hits.

It's very important.

Very important to us.

Kimberly Yes, exactly.

Exactly.

So, all righty then now let's take this chance to listen to Sam's interview with Greg Trainor, the accessible hunter.

Music

Sam Well, the accessible hunter podcast is perfect for those who are country men and women or country men and women at heart.

It's not just about honey.

It's about how those with disabilities and special situations, can adapt and adjust and enjoy the great outdoors.

And so, we have one of the two hosts of this particular podcast with us today, maybe potentially the second one, if he decides to chime in here, I will gladly let him in on the party, but we have one of them anyhow.

And so we're going to learn about, their background, how they met their disabilities, how they deal with them in the great outdoors and, some of the, special guests that they've been privileged to feature on their, accessible hunter podcast to this point, which is going strong by the way.

So, joining me direct via zoom from, just outside of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania is none other than Mr. Greg trainer.

Greg Trainer Well, thank you, Sam.

I sure appreciate you taking time out of your day to talk with me.

And I appreciate, appreciate everything you're doing to let people know that there's different ways to get outdoors.

And I'm really just glad to be a part of your podcast today.

Thank you so much.

Sam We're, we're glad to have you.

And, like, like we mentioned all fair here, you're, you know, you're, far enough away from Pittsburgh to still enjoy the country life, but close enough to, to get there when you need, or, or want to, you said you're about, 20 miles south of the city there, but you gotta be, you gotta be a Pittsburgh Steelers fan, right?

Greg Trainer Yeah, I, I grew up watching the Steelers and, I'm not what you would call a huge, sports fan.

As far as NFL and things and, and baseball, we're, we're having kind of a rough go with our pirates the last, probably 15 or 20 years.

And the hockey team's not doing so good, but I follow it pretty casually, but I'm, I'm glad to be a part of the Pittsburgh community because I know a lot of people love, the NFL and the sports teams and they're, it's just a really good, group of people to be around and a good place to come from.

Sam Yeah, between the pirates and the penguins and, and the Steelers, there's, you know, there's plenty of teams to get behind.

I had a guy from Pittsburgh tell me one time, he was like, Sam, you don't understand, there are, Pittsburgh sports fan, there are other sports fans and then there are Steelers fans.

Greg

So you're, you're right about that.

I used to follow the penguins pretty, pretty heavily.

I had even season tickets.

Me and my wife did for a number of years before COVID.

And I always liked the good works that the penguins did with the community.

They've, they've donated a lot of things and they've gotten a lot of people interested in hockey that could not afford the equipment.

And I know, Sidney Crosby's foundation used to, outfit kids from head to toe, from helmets to skates and really give people an opportunity to try the sport and try to get out.

So they sure do a lot of good work for the community.

Sam Well, I always like to hear about sports teams that are involved and, and get people involved, you know, in their surroundings and get them interested in their sport and what they're doing.

So it's great to hear that the, the penguins are such a great asset to the city there.

Well, Greg, let's talk first since, you know, you're an avid outdoorsman.

You host, you co-host an outdoor podcast.

So talk if you would, about what made you fall in love with the great outdoors and when exactly this happened, sir.

Greg Well, I was fortunate that my dad was a hunter.

he was a casual hunter.

He got into the, the sport later in life himself, but like a lot of people here in Southwestern PA, we, we all go hunting, at least we used to.

And when you turn 12, you kind of go and take your hunter safety course.

And, the first day of deer season, the schools shut down and everybody kind of goes out into the woods with their family and friends.

And, and, it's kind of a family experience, at least that's how it was for me.

So I was introduced to hunting really early.

I started shooting at the range with my dad whenever I was 10 or 11.

And then, as I said, whenever I turned 12, I got my hunter safety course and started hunting, whitetail deer and rabbits and pheasants and squirrels just locally on, on some of the local farms that we had access to, my dad would ask for permission to, to hunt certain places.

And we're also blessed here in Pennsylvania with a lot of state game lands.

I know not everybody's fortunate to have public access and public lands, but here in Pennsylvania, we sure did.

Sam Well, that's, that's so neat.

And the fact that the first day of deer season was, actually a, a no school day in your neck of the woods.

That's pretty awesome about my hometown, even though we do have our, you know, country parts,

Greg it really was Sam.

And, not only did we usually take the first day off because that was, that was a given that was a holiday.

It used to follow the Monday after Thanksgiving, but I would, I'd probably take two or three days and play hooky and still walk and try to do some hunting.

So it was probably the first three days and the first Saturday.

Every year that we kind of look forward to.

Sam

Oh God.

So you were usually off that Monday anyway, and he would drag it out in some cases to Tuesday or Wednesday and just prolong that weekend as, as much as you could get away with.

Greg If my mom and, if my mom and dad would let me, I sure would, you know, I'd, I'd beg and plead if I didn't get a deer that, that first Monday.

And then, you know, as, as I got a little bit older, I started working, you know, part-time in high school.

And I met a really nice guy that was just a few years older than me, maybe five years older than me.

He was really into archery season, archery hunting and turkey hunting.

And, his name is Mark Powell and, you know, he became a lifelong friend, but he really mentored me as far as archery and, turkey hunting.

as I said, my dad was kind of a casual hunter and Mark took it really pretty serious with scent control.

And, and archery is a whole different game when you have to get really close.

And that's when I really fell in love with hunting in the outdoors was archery season.

Sam Oh, and archery rolled around.

Well, that's neat.

It's great that you had such, you know, fond experiences and such great exposure to the great outdoors.

And you still do.

So, you know, we're going to fast forward a little bit now.

And, you know, your incident was, in your, early twenties.

I know we'll talk about that here momentarily.

But before that, Greg, why don't you give us some insight into, what life was like for you prior to, your incident where you go into school or you're working.

What was, what was happening for you in that timeframe?

Greg Well, my injury, I had a diving accident.

It actually happened whenever I was 31. Sam

So I was a little later than I thought a little later in life.

Greg So, you know, growing up, I graduated high school and then I went to Penn State university and I got my bachelor's degree in administration and justice there.

I went to work and, worked, you know, a couple of different, places all over the country.

Really.

I, I worked down in West Virginia and then I worked out in Kansas and up in, Massachusetts.

So I traveled around for my, my job, you know, quite a bit.

I was working with Payless Shoes for about 10 years when my injury happened.

And, I had a diving accident in a lake and broke my neck at the C four or five level when I was 31.

And that really, you know, changed everything to say the least.

Sam Oh, I can imagine for sure.

So which, w which lake was that?

Just curious.

Greg It was on, on Cape Cod in Massachusetts, Glen Charlie pond, actually.

Glen Charlie pond.

Sam Okay, Massachusetts.

Greg Yeah, that it's been 26 years.

I haven't really, I haven't really thought about it.

Sam Yeah, no, you're fine.

I just, I just thought if it was a, if it was a, a big lake, maybe, I would have heard of it, maybe some of our listeners would, but I definitely have it, but, anyhow, so you were, you were 31 when this happened and, let's talk a little bit about, some of the complications that, you had to deal with and sort of fight through in the days, weeks and months, following this incident.

Greg Sure.

Well, fortunately I was, I was with a friend of mine at the time.

And you know, when I broke my neck, everything stopped.

I mean, I didn't have any, any movement whatsoever instantly.

So, I was kind of floating on top of the water and, Matt, Matt Cepas is the guy I was with, he got me over to shore and, they called life flight and they life flighted me up to Boston to Brigham and Women's Hospital.

And, I was in Brigham and Women's over a month.

I was on a ventilator.

I had pneumonia several times.

it was a really touch and go situation.

if I wasn't in the shape I was, I was, I was always athletic.

I had a karate school in high school and, and taught for about five years after high school.

Sam Oh, you taught karate.

How cool.

Greg Taught karate ,was a varsity fencer for Penn state.

And I was, I was really pretty athletic.

And I think that's what would save me even at, even at 31, I was in good shape.

But I spent a little over a month in, in Brigham and Women's.

And then, I was flown down to Georgia to Shepherd Center, which I'm sure you're aware of it, but it's a specialty spinal cord injury hospital.

And I spent several months at Shepherd Center where they really, number one, they, they got me off of the ventilator and they, got me to really learn as much as I could about the spinal cord injury that I had and how I was going to go forward with my life.

And one of the big things that shepherd center did was they had a fantastic therapeutic recreational department and, right, probably two weeks after I was there and got medically stable, they took me down to the gymnasium and let me shoot an air rifle using adaptive equipment.

And I, and I just thought, man, if I could still be able to shoot and get outdoors, that's what I want to do.

but it took me several years after, after I got out of shepherd that I wanted to go hunting again, but that, that always was in the back of my mind that there was a different way to do it.

And the technology was, was available, but it actually took me about 10 years after I got out of Shepherd before I wanted to go hunting again.

And I went back to school and got my master's in rehabilitation counseling and assistive technology from Pitt.

And, in 2000 is when I started Accessible Hunter and I started it as a blog, just to kind of let people know, you know, what I was doing, because when I, when I researched adaptive hunting or, or deer hunting with a spinal cord injury, there was literally nothing out there, nothing available.

So I wanted to kind of document it and it rolled into something, something special.

Sam Absolutely.

I'd say so.

And we'll talk more about that shortly.

So you got your, you know, degree in rehabilitation counseling.

Do you, do you serve as a counselor now in addition to the podcast?

Greg I did, Sam part-time for a while.

I worked at Pitt rehab, for, for a short time.

And what we did was, we did assistive technology evaluations to get people either back to school or back to work.

So if somebody, you know, had a disability with taking notes or reading, we would work on that type of technology to, to get them back.

And, I did that for a number of years part time, but, having a high level spinal cord injury myself, I could certainly empathize with people and knew how important assistive tech was and controlling their environment and getting them, you know, through school and things of that nature.

Sam Yeah.

And you were a tremendous help to a number of folks in that capacity, no doubt.

Now you weren't, like you said, you weren't able to enjoy hunting, for an extended timeframe.

In fact, it was 10 years after you got out of Shepherd, but in one of your podcasts, Greg, I remember, you mentioning that, an organization known as Buckmasters, assisted you tremendously in, getting back out into the great outdoors.

So for those not familiar, talk a little bit, if you would, about Buckmasters and to the purpose that, that it serves and the means by which they eventually made it possible for you to resume hunting

Greg Sure, I contacted Buckmasters probably, like you said, about, about 10 years in my injury where I got strong enough that I wanted to go back out and, they had had a program, the Buckmasters Disabled Hunters program.

And, I just sent them an email and I said, Hey, I'm a high level quadriplegic.

I'd like to get back into archery.

That's always been my passion.

And, what, what can I do?

What, what type of equipment do you guys recommend?

because I had that experience at Shepherd Center with the adaptive triggers and mounts and I thought, well, you know, you guys are, are the leading experts in, in getting people outdoors and back into hunting and, they contacted me almost immediately and said, Hey, we have a mount, a real simple mount that you can attach to your wheelchair and not only are we going to send you a mount, we're going to send you a crossbow.

So they did all of this free of charge to me.

And I was, I was really shocked and thankful for it.

Sam Yeah.

Greg because as you know, adaptive equipment can be so expensive.

Sam Oh yeah.

And, and, and I was just so thankful that number one, they knew a manufacturer to be able to, to get this and they were willing to send it to me.

So they had sent me the mount.

It was really simple, nothing, nothing fancy, but it held the crossbow.

And, me and my, my family, my brother and I, and some other folks would go to the archery range and, and started practicing again.

And I thought, man, I can do this.

I mean, I'm, I'm hitting the target really well.

I'm shooting, you know, 20, 30 yards.

And if, something stands still for me, if, if it's out in my, my zone, which I can move the mount two or three inches one way or the other, and that would translate to 10 or 12 yards at 20 and 30 yards.

So if I could set up where I thought the deer was going to walk into that, that zone, I could actually get a shot at it.

And yeah, I was, I was surprised myself that I was, you know, accurate.

Now, by this time, Sam, I had had a lot of experience archery hunting.

I had hunted a couple of different States throughout the years being able bodied and I wasn't new to hunting.

So it was actually just relearning a way to shoot and aim and, and hunting from the ground in a wheelchair and a ground blind, as opposed to hunting from a tree stand, that was all new to me and different.

And I, I had a big learning curve, but it was so much fun doing it.

Sam And, and well, well worth it.

I'd say what's great that they stick to that, that mounts and, and the bow free of charge.

And I believe Buckmasters is, based in Montgomery, Alabama, right?

Greg I believe so, Sam, I believe so.

Sam And I think I did read that.

Greg And when I got that equipment from Buckmasters, I also contacted a group here in the Pittsburgh area.

It was White Tail Management and these guys did, deer management in the local cemeteries and parks that I thought would be, you know, ideal for me in a wheelchair, as far as accessibility to be able to get out.

So I contacted them and they were more than happy to let me into their program and take me hunting.

And, that year I ended up getting a doe and a nice eight point buck.

and we, we donated the meat and we, you know, were able to reduce the herd numbers, in the cemetery.

So it was a win for everybody.

And I just could not have been, been more happy with the guys in the program.

They were excited that a quadriplegic was able to do this and do it effectively.

You know, I'm, I'm not saying that as a hunter with a disability, we, we can't do it.

We just do it a different way.

And, we're very ethical and, it's, it's just a great program when, folks can do this for, for deer management.

Sam Oh, for sure.

You were probably like a kid in the candy store when you shot that doe.

Greg I, I don't know if you can hear the excitement in my voice or not though.

Sam Well, I still can.

Yes.

Greg When that doe came by, she, she was just walking and she stopped right in that little zone where I had the window and I took the shot and it was, it was a great shot.

She, she almost went down immediately and I was so excited.

You know, we, we called the guys over and everybody was high fiving and congratulating me.

And I said, well, you know, I, I so appreciate everything you guys done getting me out here.

And, Joe McCluskey looked at me and said, Greg, you're not done, buddy.

We, we, we have a buck tag.

You have a buck tag and we, we, we think you can get a buck today too.

So I was just beyond myself when I got a doe and a buck on the same day.

Sam You felt like you'd hit the jackpot.

Greg You know, I was just really feeling that I was back, back doing something I loved and it wasn't, it wasn't like a charity hunt.

It was guys getting together, that I had experienced my whole life.

You know, I, I didn't really know these guys, before I met them, but I felt like I knew them and bonded with them instantly because of all of our shared experiences, Sam.

it was just remarkable and I'm still friends with them all this time, you know, after, and, just you meet the best people out in the outdoors for sure.

Sam No doubt.

And, and it's great that you developed such a camaraderie with these people that you felt like you'd known them all your life, even though, you were just getting to meet them for the first time in many cases.

Now, although you're in, well, just south of Pittsburgh, you proudly host the, Accessible Hunter podcast along with your partner, Mr. Mike Hudson.

The Mike actually resides in South Carolina, Greg.

So tell us how you and Mike first cross paths and, ultimately struck up a friendship.

Greg Sure.

Well, Mike Hudson is just an outstanding guy.

if anybody knows Mike, he is a, retired police officer.

He had a diving accident in his parents, pool.

I believe whenever he was 22 or 23, so he was pretty young.

Sam Oh so, he was in his early twenties.

Maybe that's what I was thinking about a little bit ago.

Greg Yep.

So he, he's actually in June, he'll be paralyzed 30 years and, I just hit 26 years, but Mike, was a Marine, you know, I don't want to say retired Marine because Mike would correct me on that, that he's always a Marine.

And, he has just such a great attitude.

You know, he's a, he's a type A kind of guy that sets his mind to doing something.

And he has a charity down in South Carolina called War Outdoors.

And he's just a phenomenal guy that tries to get as many people out hunting and shooting and fishing that he can.

And, thanks to the internet, you know, we were crossing paths on a lot of, a lot of different, sites and mutual friends and things.

And Mike and I have been doing podcasts, probably.

I want to say at least probably seven years.

we've been friends probably, I don't know, maybe 15 years.

And, it was a shared bond because we went through so many similarities.

He had also went to Shepherd Center, but at a different time.

And, Mike went back to school, got his masters and, he's a, he's a man of God.

He, he believes in helping people and, just, a great guy.

So he and I clicked and one of, the big things that we try to do is just encourage people all we can to get outdoors, whether it's hunting, fishing, just getting out with your family, getting out of your home and enjoying yourself.

You know, it's a, it's a great, great thing that I get to talk with Mike.

And, I'm sure glad that he's my friend.

Sam Well, it's a great duo for sure.

And, it's wonderful that you've developed, such a, friendship and, and such chemistry on the podcast.

Now you actually started the Accessible Hunter show solo, didn't you?

Before Mike came into the picture.

Greg I did, I started it and it wasn't very long though, that I, I pulled Mike in because he brings just such a wealth of information.

And, when you're talking with Mike, it's, it's always a good time.

So I did start accessible hunter, from a blog.

And then that rolled into my Facebook page.

And then that rolled into the Accessible Hunter podcast.

So accessible hunter was, you know, my creation, it all started from the blog.

And my, my desire to share my story with people so that we're not always reinventing the wheel, you know, we, we all have great ideas.

And if we can collaborate on things, you don't have to think everything up yourself.

There's always somebody that's doing it, maybe a little bit smarter, a little bit better.

And I thought we could all learn from each other.

Sam Yeah.

And a lot of the greatest ideas that have ever been established have been team efforts.

So it's great that, you know, you got that little community with the, with the podcast and it's going strong.

Greg You know, Sam, it's funny.

We always say that the disability community is a small community.

You know, you know, people by reputation, it doesn't take long to, to find out who's trying to manipulate a system or something like that.

And Mike and I have both been blessed to, hook up with some great, great people like Robin Clark, who, who runs the Virginia, wheeling sportsman and, just different guys throughout the country.

Robin, he's, he's been hurt, I think 50 years.

so he, he's a wealth of knowledge and then younger guys, you know, like Chad Wallavira down in Texas that runs Able Outdoors.

we're all trying to do the same thing from our, our individual parts of the country, but thanks to the net, you know, the ability to use assistive technology, we all get on and talk.

And if somebody wants to go hunting in a different state, or if we meet somebody that's newly injured and they want to go out west or what have you, we, we generally say, Hey, I got a guy for you to talk to, or I've got a girl for you to talk to that can help you out and point you in the right direction.

So it's definitely a small community.

Sam Yeah.

So clearly it's been a blessing to an awful lot of people.

Now, we could technically, I guess, devote an entire show to, this particular discussion point, but, as far as some of the disabilities that have been represented, by guests on your show, talk about, a few of those, if you would, and maybe, some of the most fascinating means by which they've, coped with the disability and, and conquered it in their efforts to, make the most of the hunting realm.

Greg Sure.

well, recently we've, we've had a guest on Aaron Ritter, who is a person that had, limb loss.

He lost, he lost a leg and, Aaron was, was in the military, was in the Navy and, his injury isn't service related, but he does a lot of, outback, like deep in the woods, camping and hunting and, and things like that.

And Aaron's just a fascinating guy.

so we, we had him on and then we had a double amputee on Cam Triblett and, Cam, was actually, carjacked and shot and he ended up losing both legs and Cam worked with, Buckmasters.

I didn't know it, but Cam, Cam worked with Buckmasters and was probably one of the guys that sent me the original equipment, you know, many years ago.

And then we've, we've had, had on different, different ladies and, people with spinal cord injuries and people that have lost their vision.

We've had a couple of people that are blind on and that's always a fascinating, you know, disability to deal with in the outdoors because I think there's maybe a little bit of prejudice or hesitancy when, when somebody is, is blind and you talk about using a firearm or a bow and, well, how does this person hunt?

And, it's really a team effort where they, they put a scope attachment on, either a smartphone or they have different screens that go on over top of a scope.

And then their partner sitting with them will kind of touch them on the back or shoulder and kind of make movement without, without talking of up, down, left or right.

And when that animal is in focus and where they need to pull the trigger, then they give them a double tap on the shoulder and the person can fire the crossbow or the rifle.

And they're highly successful, but that's a great example of where teamwork comes in.

Sam And so it's all about those nonverbal cues.

Greg It is Sam and you know, no matter what disability we're dealing with, all of us need some type of assistance.

I'm fortunate enough that I get a lot of assistance from my wife when we go hunting.

She's, she's not really a hunter, but she does everything for me.

She gets me all set up and she'll sit and take pictures and we can, we can have a great time hunting, but as people get older, you know, if you have an older parent that is, you know, disabled or not able to walk very far into the woods and things like that, sooner or later, we're all going to need assistance outdoors.

So we try to encourage people to do everything that they can, but to ask for help, don't be afraid to, to ask for it.

And it can really, can really be beneficial to not only you, but a lot of times when you're helping somebody, you know, you get a lot out of that as well.

if, if I'm able to help somebody and get them on an animal and, and get them out, then I actually feel probably more excited than they do sometimes.

Sam Yeah.

It gives you a great sense of pride and gratification, doesn't it?

Greg It does.

It does, Sam.

And, you know, we all, we all take care of each other in some way.

And, it's just good to be a part of a community where you give back, because so many people have been there for me.

So, I enjoy it.

I really do, buddy.

Sam Absolutely.

Now, you know, you mentioned, you know, what a big help your wife is when you're hunting and that special mound that you use courtesy of, Buckmasters.

Is there, any other specialized equipment that helps you to hunt more easily and effectively?

Greg Sure.

Well, several years ago, I, I upgraded my mount.

there's a company in Indiana called Be Adaptive Equipment, and, they've just been phenomenal as far as producing high level mounts and sip and puff triggers.

I don't know if you're familiar with, with that or not, Sam.

Sam Sip and puff triggers.

I can't say that I am.

Greg Okay.

they have an electronic trigger that you can plug into the USB port on a power wheelchair, or if you're in a manual chair, you can hook it up to a little 12 volt battery.

And, it acts like a, like a car door lock on, on your cars.

it's an actuator that when you take a sip on a straw, it activates and pulls the trigger straight back.

And as many times as you suck on the straw, it'll keep pulling the trigger.

So if you have a semi-automatic 22, you don't have to reload.

You can just kind of keep shooting or, or a high power powered rifle, or even a shotgun.

If you haven't a semi-automatic shotgun and it really is, and they have done so much to donate to groups and charities to get this equipment out for people so that not only an individual can use it, but the entire organization can take multiple people.

So I've been using a, be adaptive trigger, a sip and puff trigger.

And then I designed a mount, my buddy welded it up for me.

And I've been using that the last seven or eight years that works specifically for me, but be adaptive makes a ton of equipment, a ton of mounts and even fishing equipment that can hold your fishing rod and things like that.

and the other big thing is there's multiple companies that do track style wheelchairs.

so that's a huge part of getting in the outdoors because you and I both know mother nature is not generally ADA compliant.

These track chairs will go, you know, like a small bulldozer almost anywhere that you want to want to get them.

I mean, I'm sure you could get it stuck or if you were careless with it, you could probably tip them over and things like that.

But, there's several different makes and models available.

Action track makes a great chair.

I, I currently have a, a track fab that's made in PA.

a buddy of mine, makes the echo Rover.

it's, it's another, another great chair.

And I think when you're trying to purchase one of these chairs, you want to look at, you know, have, has the company been around a long time?

Do they have a dealership close to me?

What's their, their track record, that kind of thing.

Are they able to fix it when it, when it breaks?

Because there's no real funding for these.

a lot of people will fundraise on their own and do go fund me accounts and things like that.

But the equipment's really expensive.

It can range in between 10 and $20,000, depending on rehab seating and things.

So it's a huge investment, but I definitely could not get out as far as I do in the woods without some type of tracks track style wheelchair.

Sam So the point here, boys and girls, where there's a will, there's a way.

Greg Absolutely.

Yeah.

Sam And for all you avid hunters and fishermen out there that need specialized equipment, remember, be adaptive.

And you said they're in Indiana.

So I guess Indianapolis are thereabouts.

Greg I believe so.

And it's a family run business.

Jacob and his parents are doing it and his brother and, you know, they're, they're always available if you have questions and things and they're, they're on the internet and everywhere, social media, but just a quality company that they probably are the world's leading producer of this type of equipment.

But when you call, you either talk to Jacob, his brother or his mom.

It's not, you know, overseas.

It's not something like that.

Sam You're not having to sit through a menu and punch in a bunch of numbers.

Greg No, sir.

And, you know, if you're going on a hunt and something, you know, breaks while you're practicing, they try to get you out the equipment right away.

And, I've had several instances where I said, Hey, I'm, I'm going on a hunt.

I want to have a backup trigger.

can you, you know, get it to me right away?

And they do.

And, I'm not, I'm not trying to do a commercial for them.

They're, they're just, they're great people.

And I appreciate what they do.

Sam That's a testimonial from personal experience, which is always the, the best advertising it leads to me for sure.

But, anyhow, folks make sure that you, take a listen to the Accessible Hunter podcast with Greg trainer and Mike Hudson.

And we do need to mention, before we call it a day here that, just as of a few weeks ago, maybe a month, the show was picked up by the Outdoor Call radio app.

So for those not accustomed to that at this point, give us a little feel for the outdoor call app, Greg, and all that it has to offer now, of course, including your podcast,

Greg Sam, I was really surprised.

I had been listening to Dan young and his outdoor radio show, a couple of years really, and he does, you know, great, great, interviews with people and just an outstanding guy.

And I'm sitting in my house just a couple of weeks ago and Dan contacted me and he said, would you like to be on the outdoor radio call app?

And I'm like, I was speechless, Sam.

I didn't know what to say.

I was like, absolutely.

Sam It took a few seconds to muster up a yes.

Greg It really did.

You know, when, when somebody catches you out of the blue and says, Hey, I've been listening to your podcast and we think you have something to offer a greater audience and we'd like to have you on the show.

And he said, we're going to, we're going to put you on, on Mondays with a couple of other podcasts and it'll be a rolling event every Monday.

It will feature a different podcast you have.

So, I was shocked and just thankful that somebody's, you know, getting a benefit out of it.

It really made me feel good.

And of course I contacted Mike right away and he was thrilled and we've been on the outdoor call radio app now two weeks and we're, we're excited to be a part of it for sure.

Sam Absolutely.

So every Monday, you folks, if you download the app, you can catch the accessible hunter podcast.

Do we know what time on Mondays or does that vary?

Greg It varies them because there's two other podcasts that they feature on Mondays and I think it's just a rolling start.

Sam So when one podcast ends, another one, another one starts.

Okay.

So, but, but this app is, it's a must if you're an avid outdoorsman because it's outdoor talk 24 seven, isn't it?

Greg It is.

And they, they do a great job and there's some really awesome podcasts on there and people that I've followed for years and just down to earth people, you know, that kind of enjoy what, what I enjoy.

And I like listening to them.

It's nothing, nothing, nothing crazy.

It's all, all about the outdoors and people enjoying it and trying to get out.

Yeah.

Sam You know, you've got something in common with the listeners and hosts just in your love of, of the outdoors.

So definitely worth checking into if, if you're a true fan of hunting and fishing to say the least.

So, looking ahead, bike, you know, it sounds like, you've got a great thing going with the podcast that the future is definitely looking bright.

Do you have, any goals that you might have set for yourselves in the not too distant future that, you'll be working towards?

Greg We, we do.

we're, we're actually branching out a little bit with an accessible pursuits podcast and accessible pursuits.

And, and that that's going to allow us to talk with people just about what they're doing in their everyday life, what their pursuit of happiness is, and not, you know, just concentrate on the hunting side of it.

So as far as podcasting, we're, we're trying to get that started.

We've, we've only done a couple of episodes of that, and, we're looking forward to talking with more people that may not, you know, focus on the outdoors so much, but maybe going back to school or, or their, their goals of, of adaptive driving or, or what have you, I think it kind of opens up the outdoors or opens out the audience a little bit for us.

and, first week in May starts turkey season here in PA.

So I'll be doing some of that.

Sam you got to partake in turkey season.

Greg Yeah.

Yeah.

So I'm looking forward, looking forward to that.

Sam So keep your eyes open, the ears peeled folks for the accessible pursuits podcast in the near future that will deal with, you know, the endeavors of folks with disabilities outside of, outside of the outdoors, shall we say.

Greg I might steal that for a tagline saying that's, that's pretty good.

Sam Oh goodness, just sort of rolled off my tongue, but anyhow, we'll, we'll be sure to keep you folks posted when the, when that comes out and the debuts as well.

But as for the accessible hunter podcast, obviously we mentioned the outdoor call app that, you can download and listen to it there every Monday.

I assume the podcast is available, through most of the other traditional directories as well.

Greg We, we are on YouTube and we're also on Spotify and, you can either watch us or, or listen to us.

and of course we're on, we're on all the social media, stations, podcasts and on Facebook and, and Instagram and things like that.

Sam Perfect.

And, what I've observed accessible hunter comes out, is it once a month or thereabouts?

Greg Well, we, we try to, we try to post, really a couple of times a week on Facebook, but our podcast we do about once a month.

And then of course, every Monday on the outdoor call radio app, we, we sent Dan about 14 episodes that we thought people would enjoy.

So every Monday you can check out a different one there.

Sam You can check out a different episode each week on the outdoor call app.

And, of course you can also find him on the net.

Like we said, which I know I've been using an email address.

It's different than the one on your accessible hunter Facebook page.

So which, which email address would you prefer that patrons reach out to you with questions that they might have as far as what we talked about today?

Greg If they would like to email me, they can email [email protected] or message me through, the accessible hunter Facebook app.

I mean, yeah, Facebook, accessible hunter, but [email protected] is a great way to get ahold of me.

Sam Could not be any easier than that.

Well, Greg, thanks a bunch.

It's been very insightful and enjoyable.

I hope you've enjoyed chatting with us.

Greg Oh, Sam, it was wonderful talking with you.

And I truly appreciate you taking time out of your day and having me on your podcast.

And I'm looking forward to listening to more of yours and, and, staying in touch and, and seeing what we can do to help each other in the future.

Music

Kimberly Demand and Disrupt is a production of the Advocado Press with generous support from the Center for Accessible Living based in Louisville, Kentucky.

Our executive producers are me, Kimberly Parsley and Dave Mathies.

Our sound engineer is Michael Parsley.

Thanks to Chris Ankin for the use of his song, Change.

Don't forget to follow or subscribe so you never miss an episode, and please consider leaving a review.

You can find links to our email and social media in the show notes.

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Thanks everyone.