The Steuben County Youth Hunt

Good on ya , Steuben Co. ! Let's hope it spreads .

Anyone know any kids that would qualify?

If so get ahold of John Deem at the email address provided in the post.

Here are some pictures from last years hunt.

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If anyone knows a qualifying youth get ahold of John Deem (Greendeem)at..

(260) 665-3546 or email at j.deem@mchsi.com.

Back to the top.

Here is a story I found:

www.fortwayne.com/mld/journalgazette/sports/12977906.htm

Posted on Sun, Oct. 23, 2005


Auburn hunter finds way to help

Phil Bloom


Paul Branch and his friends are like most people in one respect.

They care for others who are less fortunate.

For Branch, the compassion goes back to when he was a Boy Scout working on the service project requirement to achieve Scouting’s highest rank – Eagle Scout. His project involved acquiring and donating clothing and other goods for underprivileged, inner-city youth.

“Over the years, I’ve always had a place in my heart for those kind of people,” he said.

It was easy for him, then, to transfer that caring attitude to the physically challenged and terminally ill. An avid hunter, Branch’s heartstrings were tugged every time he watched a TV show that featured hunters with disabilities.

In Auburn, where Branch works as a forester for Pike Lumber Co., he found others who felt the same as he did. So, they decided to do something about it. They formed Hunting Helping Hunters.

The group is heading toward its fifth fall of outreach with a pheasant hunt Nov. 7 in Edgerton, Ohio, a weekend deer hunt Nov. 12 and 13 in northeast Indiana and a deer hunt Nov. 19 and 20 in southern Illinois.

Initially, Hunting Helping Hunters worked with the national group Buckmasters, which gave hunting supplies but no financial support. Hunting Helping Hunters severed ties with Buckmasters but got a break when Russ Bellar offered a hunt at his high-fenced preserve near Peru for a boy Hunting Helping Hunters was sponsoring.

“We felt like it was the right thing to do at the time to give this boy the opportunity,” Branch said.

Bellar was indicted in 2004 for numerous violations of state and federal hunting laws, went on trial in South Bend in January, and currently is serving a one-year sentence in a Terre Haute prison for his transgressions.

Branch and his group deliberated the appropriateness of relying on high-fenced preserve owners and adopted a thanks, but no-thanks policy because they realized there are plenty of open spaces to hunt.

“We don’t want a black eye,” Branch said. “None of our members do that kind of (high-fenced) hunting, so we wanted to get out of that altogether. We decided to go with all free-range hunts.”

It’s the same motto John Deem used a year ago when he arranged a weekend deer hunt in Steuben County for nine disabled or terminally ill youngsters. Deem, a state conservation officer, is planning an event for Nov. 17-20.

The support both Hunting Helping Hunters and Deem have garnered is significant. Local businesses have anteed up money, goods and services. Volunteers have stepped forward to serve as guides, and property owners have made their land available for hunting.

Those interested can contact Branch at 260-925-5132, by e-mail at pbranch @pikelumber.com, or go the Web at www.huntershelpinghunters.org. For Deem’s program, call Terry Gary or Billy Harter at the Angola Fire Department, 260-665-5555, or e-mail j.deem@mchsi.com