I know that I do not have a disability like most of you. My disability is not visable. It is a severe balance problem (vertigo). Here is what I would like your opinion on.

I have been asked into a hunt camp for Moose, deer are on the property as well. Trouble is, this camp is a basic camp. Everyone is expected to carry their own work load. I can' t do much for work, I can' t even garantee that I can hunt two days in a row, maybe not even hunt a full day. IF I drop a moose, I could not do anything to get it out. One thing I can do is shoot, I am able to keep cool under excitement of animals. The meat from the camp is all split evenly amoung all in camp.

Now am I over reacting when I think that I would not be able to carry my load of work or should I think about going. To me a hunt camp is the friendships, and the memories generated while hunting and working together. I also feel that some might not like having to do extra work which I can' t do, or that since I could not hunt every day, that I do not deserve a share of the meat. I do not want to cause hard feelings amoung the others in the camp.

I know alot here on this forum will know exactly what and how I feel about this. This is why I asked here for your advice.

Thanks.

If you had a visible disability, they would know - if you had a serious health condition, you' d probably tell them. I' d toss it out there " I' d love to go, but I have this condition, and am concerned about my ability to contribute.." Chances are, if they' re the type of guys you want to hunt with, they' ll say " no problem - come right along"

Muskrat gave some good advice. I certainly agree with you about the aspects of a hunting camp. It' s almost an entity of it' s own and understood by most folks who participate in one. I would put your feelings out on the table and explain that you would do whatever you could to be part of this group, even though you will have some limitations. If these hunters are like those I hunt with, they would understand completely and welcome you aboard. Times spent at hunting camps are special times indeed and hopefully these people understand that as much as you do. Good luck on this.......Jimmy

Hey Grumpy,

I have only 2 yrs of hunting under my belt, but here' s my thoughts.

I deer hunt in Northern Ontario with two of my buddies and one' s father and his friends. You can imagine that the father and friends are all sporting grey.

We would never expect them to help dragging even a deer out of the bush. But as you can imagine, some are too pigheaded to let us younguns do all the work. The oldest of the bunch comes in with an axe and helps with the advice and any other minor problems we have. My buddy' s dad pulled one out last year with a heart condition and a Colt hanging out of his mouth the whole time .

In the end, I' d rather do all the work for the older guys. They are extremely useful in planning the hunts, helping with dressing, sitting around afterwards etc, etc. and in the end, any deer shot is split evenly amongst all. So it' s not like my work is for nothing.

So, make sure you communicate this to your new potential hunting party. There should not be any complaints. If you' re not sitting in that tree, that moose might have simply had a quiet stroll through the woods. You are a valuable member of the team! Make sure you help with the dressing, quartering AND dragging, where you are fully able to. Don' t be pigheaded like the guy above.