Once a year, in the small city of Olney, Texas (population 3,500), a group of arm amputees get together and shoot doves. Yes, doves. Dozens of participants, each an arm amputee, go out into the woods and fields of Olney and hunt real-life doves with shotguns.
It’s the One Arm Dove Hunt, the brainchild of arm amputee and Olney resident, Jack Bishop and his friend Jack Northrup, himself an arm amputee living in the same small town.
It’s the only such event in the world, says Northrup. But you don’t have to shoot doves; there are plenty of other events to participate in. Actually, he says, “Dove hunting is secondary.”
It’s also a family event, Northrup emphasizes; most people bring spouses, parents, siblings, and their children. It’s a time to meet other arm amputees, make new friends, and exchange information.
The motto of the Dove Hunt is “Our Guns are Guns That Heal.”
“We help the amputee to overcome his amputation by helping him get back to shooting and how to handle a gun with one arm,” Northrup explains. “Our aim is right on target when helping arm or hand amputees towards a better way of life.”
Northrup himself became an arm amputee when he lost his arm at the shoulder in 1956 at the age of 21. Back then, he had no support group as he offers others today.
“I had no association to go to,” he recalls, “to help me towards a better way of life. It would have definitely helped me to accept myself as an amputee and how to do things one-handed.”
In addition to hunting doves, there’s a one arm golf shoot, country skeet shoot, old fashion hamburger supper with auction, one-arm tales, one arm entertainment, 10 cents a finger breakfast, cow chip chucking contest, and washer pitching.
The 39th annual One Arm Dove Hunt will be held on September 10 and 11, 2010. To register, visit: www.onearmdovehunt.com
