Intro. I've alwaysweighed the idea of taking someone disabled hunting, but since elk hunting is my thing, I'm worried that it may be a bit too much of achallenge for a disabled hunter even though we would strive toarrange for it to be easier for the disabled hunter, it is still elk hunting.

Requirements.Our elk huntwould require the disabled hunter to have the ability to ride horseback (with help getting on and off being okay --- horsewould be led by someone else), the ability to navigate short distances on uneven ground (20 yards or so), the ability to get in and out of a sleeping bag and go to the loo on ones own.... Elevation 8,000 to 10,000 ASL --- Craig, Colorado area.

Main Camp. We use a main camp with a 16x58 wall tent with propane and wood heat, etc. just off graded road. Floors and surrounding grounds are uneven and loo tent is typically 30 yards away. Main camp has provisions for temporary privacy (in the shower area). Weuse cots and usually we sleep in our clothes in sleeping bags... this is a co-ed camp with 6 to 8 hunters, usually just my wife as chef, but sometimes another female present.

Spike Camp. Closer in to the hunting zone, we use a spike camp that is amore crudecamp 4-5 miles back in via horses/walking. It is a 16'x18' tentandand up to 8 of ussleep on the ground (it has a floor ofvisquene or tarp)with Thermarests, sleeping bagsand wood heat which means it can get cold at times, but is comfortable overallandthe cooking is basic--- but it is shelter and heat and food. The ground at this camp is is even more uneven than the main camp and onethere is a lot ofsmall fallen aspens. Normally we would walk from this camp to the ambush sites, but we could take along a horse and then hide the horse back in the trees somewhere. Typicallymost of usare only here a couple days & nights and by then we have harvested most our elk.

The Hunt. The hunting is mostly done by ambush from ground locations on ridges or saddles and we position ourselves to create a"picket line" that the elk pass through. Rifles 30-06 minimum --- no bow hunting --- season typically Oct 10 thru Oct 15 zone--- usually warm fall weather but have dealt with 12-14 inches of snow on rare ocassions. Though the season is 5 days long, usually we've maxed out in one or two days, of course we'd arrange it where the disabled hunter could hunt longer than 1-2 days.

After The Hunt. We do a communal butchering session and cut up and package and freeze all the elk meat (we take two freezers) and then we divided all the meat equally before we all go home so win lose or draw everyone gets an equal share.

My Question. Is this a reasonable scenario for some disabled hunters? I figure motorized wheel chairs are definitely out; however,someonethat can use crutches for short spurts (20 yards or so)I would think should bea candidate,but I don't really have an informedsense of where to draw the line. Based on what I've describedcompared toyour experiences and other disabled hunters you may know, what is the profile of a disabled hunter that would likely thrive in this scenario? How much supportis commonlyneeded? One dedicated helper per one disabled hunter? Two? Any cautions for someone like myself who is inexperienced atthis sort of thing?