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Whoever said idle minds are trouble never met Ken Buchholtz. His mind wasn’t really idle, he just had a lot of time to think while receiving dialysis for kidney failure.

Ken had acquired Wegener’s granulomatosis (WG), an inflammation of blood vessels that affects the nose, lungs, kidneys and other organs of the body. In his case, the majority of damage occurred in the kidneys.

While in dialysis, Ken (or Buck as most people have grown to call him) met up with another guy receiving the same treatment. His name is Bob Miller. His need for care was failure secondary to an ATV accident that left him paralyzed as a quadriplegic.

Both men had shared interests as outdoors enthusiasts and in fact had known each other before. They had both participated at the Bays deNoc Gobblers Chapter of the National Wild Turkey Federation annual pheasant shoot held at the Black Duck Sporting Clays facility in Rapid River.

Buck soon learned the differences between he and Bob. While they both had to have their blood cleansed three times a week, once away Buck had the ability to go on with pretty much a normal life. Bob however, was still limited to what he could do, given the fact that his paralysis kept him in a power base wheelchair which he controlled via a joy stick.

It’s kind of hard to share stories about hunting when one of you is strictly looking memories and that bothered Buchholtz. Thus came the idea of creating a means for guys like Miller to once again have the opportunity to exercise the privilege of taking aim at upland game.

Several years ago, Buck collaborated with friends and constructed a mechanism that would attach to the front rigging of a wheelchair, like Miller’s or anyone else’s for that matter. It would hold a long gun and have accessories that would enable the user to aim and fire with ease and accuracy.

Included in the mix was a manufacturer of wheelchair lift gates, and another disabled hunter, the late Mickey Salmon and a welder, Joe Wellman. Mickey was wheelchair bound due to a spinal injury received in a motorcycle accident that left him paralyzed from the legs down.

The group made a prototype and Bob Miller agreed to field test it.

While he was able to aim and fire, the recoil was a bit extreme. In fact it was so bad that Bob’s first comment after the initial shot was a pause, followed by “Does this thing come with a spare set of teeth?”

Another consideration was hunting in the elements.

Disable hunters are more susceptible to temperature and foul weather than most others. Unless met with ideal conditions, where and how much time spent outdoors was still limited.

A bit of brain storming with long time friend Bob Benson, a building trades instructor for the Intermediate School District (ISD), and the consent to provide construction of a trailer-able blind by the ISD administration, and the contemporary Wheelin’ Sportsman was started.

The unique mobile hunting units are equipped with state-of-the-art electronics that incorporate the use of a joy stick controller for aiming the firearm, which is itself mounted on a pivoting frame, and a “sip-n-puff” vacuum appliance that engages the trigger with as smooth a squeeze as the most accomplished shooter. The mobile blind is heated with propane and runs off a battery that can be recharged from an affixed solar panel.

A second unit has since been built and was donated to the Wheelin’ Sportsmen by Henry LaFave from Bay Engineering and Manufacturing (BEAM) of Escanaba.

A third modified version mobile hunting unit was built by Tim DeClaire, his choice of project to achieve level of Eagle Scout as a member of the Boy Scouts of America.

Today all three see action in different parts of the Upper Peninsula, most recently in Iron County, as MDNR Conservation Officer Dave Painter took a young hunter, Robby Ivey, on a successful bear hunt near Crystal Falls.

Buchholtz has since received calls from as far away as southern Wisconsin and just this week, the Lower Peninsula, from individuals and organizations who heard about the Wheelin’ Sportsmen and want to enroll into the same program.

While it is flattering, Buchholtz will be the first to tell anyone interested, that “If it weren’t for the donations for materials and labor, none of these would be possible. Moreover, is has taken a network of individuals who continuously come forward and donate their time in either transferring the mobile hunting units to isolated locations, or scouting for locations to hunt and then spending time with the sportsmen during their hunt.”

Ken also explained that when it comes to processing the game, even then he is astounded by the outpouring of support as individuals donate a good portion of not all of the cost of preparation of the meat.

So what’s in it for Buchholtz?

Ken will be the first to tell you that seeing the continuity and support of everyone that comes in contact with the project is enough to make any man feel fulfilled.

I can see why.

Along with all the other projects Buchholtz has undertaken (i.e. The Archery in the Schools Program, the Youth Shooting Sports Program and NWTF Habitat Projects, to name a few), I think if you look up the word “partner” in any good dictionary, it will reference the name Ken Buchholtz as part of its definition.