Special Hunter Bags Special Trophies

Roscommon High School student Nick Bennett, age 16, earned his hunter safety certificate this fall and didn’t waste anytime bagging 2 trophies. In September Nick shot a 371 lbs. feral hog at the Vaunderosa Ranch in St. Helen. In October, Nick used the same 30-30 Winchester to bag an 8 point buck at Anscheutz Whitetail Way in Spruce, Michigan. Such success at that age is one thing, but the special aspect of Nick’s success is that he is legally blind!  Through special regulations in the Michigan hunting laws, visually impaired people can obtain a hunting license and a hunter safety certificate.
Nick’s hunting career began when he started attending Roscommon Baptist Church and started to hang out with Dan Holbrook of Roscommon and Mike Ritchie of Higgins Lake. “Dan was teaching me about reloading ammunition and I was teaching him about hunting,” says Ritchie. “And Nick pipes up and says he wants to go shooting with us.  Just what the world needs--a blind teenager with a gun. We laughed!”
Nick began with a pellet gun and shot so well that he advanced all the way up to a 50 cal. muzzleloader. “We would line up the shot with a shooting bench and with a laser site on the rifle,
then we would have Nick take off the safety and squeeze the trigger” explains Holbrook.
After hitting the target time after time, Nick asked “ When can I go hunting with you guys?”
This is when Nick was enrolled in hunter safety class with lead instructor Richard Keissel of Eldorado. Richard has been an instructor of hunter safety for 32 years and has instructed thousands of students young and old, but has never had a challenge quite like Nick Bennett. A volunteer mentor was assigned to Nick to help him through all the hands-on activities and finally to take his test as they didn’t have a copy of the test in braille. Nick’s aide at school typed up all the notes in braille and lecture tapes were acquired  from the DNR. Nick’s mentor was Mark Copeland who is the Store Director at Jay’s Sporting Goods of Gaylord. Mark attended all 4 sessions with Nick and administered the test orally with Nick missing only 2 questions of 50.
With the hunter safety certificate in hand, Nick held Dan and Mike to their promise. “We told Nick if he would pass hunter safety we would buy him a hunt at Vaunderosa Ranch” Ritchie says. “Our church puts on a wild game dinner in March and we always shoot a boar for the dinner.”
With the help of Mark Copeland, Nick shot a monster feral hog that tipped the scales at 371 lbs.
Richard Keissell was so impressed with Nick and his accomplishment, he contacted Diane and Floyd Moore who are officers in the Safari Club International of NE Michigan and they arranged to take Nick bear hunting in the UP, all expenses paid. With clothes donated by Jay’s Sporting Goods and determination, Nick hunted hard for four days but had no luck shooting a bear. Diane and Floyd shared the experience with a fellow SCI member and local businessman Bruce Anscheutz and their disappointment at not getting a bear for Nick. Bruce offered to let Nick hunt at his private ranch where Nick shot an 8 point buck that weighed 150 lbs dressed out.
Nick would like to thank the Moore’s, Bruce Anscheutz, Richard Keissel, Safari Club North East Michigan chapter; Mark Copeland of Jay’s, the Michigan DNR, Mike Ritchie and Dan Holbrook for helping him achieve success.
“In 32 years of teaching hunter safety, I never had a student touch my heart like Nick” states   Richard Kiessel. “He is truly a special young man.” When asked what Nick’s dream hunt would be he said, “I would like to go to Africa and hunt big game. Then give the meat to the orphan children and tell them about God’s Love.”  Nick Bennett is a special hunter indeed.