Kansas hunter finds healing therapy in woods

When Bruce Holt lay in a hospital bed last June, paralyzed from the head down by the sudden onset of Guillain-Barre syndrome, many doubted that he would ever hunt or fish again. Or at least, in the near future.

But Holt had other ideas.

Yes, he knew he faced the fight of his life. A strapping, healthy man with a passion for the outdoors before he had been stricken, he was fighting a disease in which the body's immune system attacks the nervous system, leading to serious muscle weakness. He listened as doctors told him it would be at least 11/2 to 2 years before he would be able to walk again. And that would be with months of grueling therapy.

But Holt, 59, of Mound City, Kan., had a powerful incentive to significantly reduce that timetable.

He wanted to be back in the turkey woods this spring
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"I've hunted and fished all my life, and I wasn't going to give it up," Holt said. "Even when things were at their worst, I knew I could make it back."

Holt embarked on a long journey, filled with therapy sessions three days a week and lifting weights most of the other days. He began to notice slow, steady progress as his legs and arms strengthened. He was able to get rid of his wheelchair three weeks ago and began relying on a walker.

And the afternoon of Easter Sunday, he celebrated the achievement of a goal. He went turkey hunting again.

With the help of family members, a blind was put up and decoys were set on a farm in eastern Kansas where Holt leases ground. Then Holt was left alone - as he wanted it - to hunt with a crossbow during the Kansas season for youth and hunters with disabilities.

Holt waited patiently for almost two hours before he saw two turkeys come out of the woods and head toward his blind. One passed so close that Holt was unable to take a shot.

But when that turkey wandered off just a bit and then stopped at the sound of one of Holt's calls, the hunter fired and hit his target.

That was just the start. The other bird walked off, but it later returned. Holt fumbled to reload his crossbow, a task that took him almost 20 minutes because of his muscle weakness. He thought for sure that the turkey would have taken off by then. But when Holt was finally ready to go, he gave a couple of soft calls and the bird walked within shooting range. Holt fired and had his second turkey.

Both were jakes (young birds), which Holt estimated to weigh 18 pounds apiece. He's taken bigger gobblers in the past, hunting eastern Kansas, but these birds were special. They represented an accomplishment that some said couldn't be done.

"I've caught a lot of crappies already this spring at La Cygne (Lake), and I'm getting out more," he said. "I'm getting around with my walker better all the time."

Holt knows he still as a long way to go before he has his total strength back. The road back from Guillain-Barre is often a long, exhausting trail.

But for now, Holt is looking on the bright side. He is getting there, he says. The important thing is that he is able to get outdoors again.

"Even though I've taken my limit (of turkeys) this spring, I think I might get out with my call and see if I can get them to gobble," he said. "I love being out at this time of the year."

by Brent Frazee

Read more here: http://www.bradenton.com/2012/04/18/4003551/kansas-hunter-finds-healing-therapy.html#storylink=cpy