From the Outdoor Wire:

FORT LAUDERDALE, FL- Over the course of three days, the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) rescued 12 people from three disabled boats in Florida and Georgia. All were saved as a result of Personal Locator Beacons (PLB) alerting authorities to their distress and location.

The good news is these rescues had happy endings.

The same cannot be said about a Florida boating accident five months earlier that ended tragically for two NFL football players and a friend who did not have a satellite-detectable emergency locator beacon. After days of an extensive search in heavy seas-230 combined hours of Coast Guard aircraft, cutters and motor lifeboats-only one survivor was found clinging to the up-ended boat. The other three are presumed lost.

According to cost estimates, the search for the four missing fishermen totaled a staggering $1.6 million.

U.S. Coast Guard Petty Officer Cindy Beckert said the USCG cannot emphasize enough the importance of having a registered EPIRB or PLB on board when boating. “The beacons really help with rescues. They shorten our response time and we go right to those in distress. Beacons are valuable time savers that save us from searching over wide areas. We know exactly where to go. Everyone should have one,” Petty Officer Beckert said.

In the recent rescues, all three boats were at least 20 miles off the coasts of north Florida and southern Georgia. Their extensive distance from shore limited communication methods, like cell phones or VHF radios. One boater, who was 150 miles east of Brunswick, Ga., had a satellite phone that did not transmit reliably.

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With three years of development and patented technology, the OutBounder has arrived.

You will be amazed as you easily navigate over logs, curbs, and other obstacles. Maneuver through snow, mud, sand, and other rough terrain with ease as you visit beaches and hunting properties. You will be able to mow the lawn, garden, and do other yard maintenance with the Outbounder. The Outbounder provides power and confidence, personal freedom and outdoor enjoyment through rough terrain. Its torque will allow you to go hunting, fishing, and ice fishing as conditions allow. You will be able to explore the back country wilderness, transporting wild game, firewood, and many other items.

The Outbounder will operate all day on a full battery charge. Silently enter the woods or parks and enjoy the great outdoors. Enough power to haul your gear and get you to places you may not have been before. No more limits. This machine is tough enough to handle many obstacles, terrain, and abuse. This is truly a vehicle to get you outbound. This machine is beefy and built to last. It is designed specifically for outdoor use yet small enough to fit through a standard 36″ door.

There is no need to worry about the turning radius. This machine turns just like a skid steer or tank. The six-wheel Outbounder can turn within the radius of the machine virtually making it a zero-turn radius to get in and out of tight spaces. Use this machine while hunting and be able to turn or spin within a hunting blind or tent.

The 24 volt battery-powered machine provides extremely quiet operation, essentially silent, with enough power to get you where you want to be. It can be customized to your specifications to help around the house, farm, business, or hunting.

http://outboundmobility.com/index.html

About Outbound Mobility

Located in Grant Michigan, Outbound Mobility is a privately-held company dedicated to improve your lifestyle so you can get outdoors. All Outbound Mobility members are outdoor enthusiasts who want you to experience all nature has to offer. Don’t let conventional wheelchairs and vehicles prevent you from enjoying what you love. Pursue the outdoors with the Outbounder.

While surfing the net tonight I was reminded that our fellow disabled hunters are always in need of hunting partners.  As my dad’s cancer slowed him down,  I never liked  the fact that he sometimes went hunting with out me, alone.  The family always pitched a fit to the point that I almost bought one of those emergancy GPS tracker things to keep tabs on him but we never got around to it.  When my dad started taking other people with him, I felt good that somebody was there or knew where he was.  Im glad he had other hunting partners.   He shared something he loved to do with people he thought highly of.  If he didnt think much of them he would never had taken them hunting to start with.  Man I miss my dad…

Let me get back on the topic here……….

Hunting and being in the outdoors can be dangerous if something bad happens and no one is around to help.  Now if your an abled person, you maybe able to fend for yourself.  But if you are a disabled or physically challenged outdoorsmen, having a partner is an almost requirment for some.  Alot of disabled outdoorsmen and women give up on the outdoors because its to hard or not worth the hassle.    Accessible outdoor activities are alot more easier if there is a partner to help out and the numbers are out there to back it up.  Millions are spent every year on outdoor activities but the number people are mostly declining.  The disabled segment could help rebound and inject much needed capital into the outdoor industry and national economy.

We all love the outdoors and there are groups who want to carry on the outdoor traditions reguardless of their abilities or lack there of.

One such group is the Physically Challenged Bowhunters of America, Inc.

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Hunters Helping Hunters, Inc. currently has an opening on the Board of Directors
for the Vice President of Fundraising. The candidate must be able to dedicate at
least 20 hours per month towards fundraising activities and commit to a 3-year
term. Hunters Helping Hunters, Inc is a not-for-profit, 501c3 organization and
all Board of Directors are made up of people who volunteer their time and energy
to fund this charity.  Board members of HHH do not receive salaries or any other
compensation for their work. If interested, please send request for copy of the
Job Description and questionnaire to kzeringue@tx.rr.com.

Visitors to the indoor range will witness thirty of the top precision air rifle and air pistol marksmen from across the nation, displaying their skills in two days of high level competition. What makes these events so interesting is that because of the physical challenge, all of the shooters will be performing from wheelchairs utilizing adaptive marksmanship techniques and equipment.

In addition to the competition events, both days will see the appearance of the two most experienced adaptive shooting sports innovators in the nation, Bob Robertson and Dave Baskin.

Bob Robertson is a two-time United States Paralympic Team coach, while Dave Baskin managed the National Rifle Association’s Disabled Shooting Services Department from it’s inception in 1994, until his retirement in 2007. The two shooting sports experts will be available to answer visiting sportsmen’s technical questions on how to hunt and shoot with a physical challenge.

These unique events for challenged marksmen have grown in stature over the past ten years due to the support of the Ohio Gun Collectors, Ohio Rifle and Pistol Association, Buckeye Chapter of the Paralyzed Veterans of America and the Hillside Rehabilitation Hospital of Warren, OH.

The competition programs will commence at8:00AM on Thursday the 19th of March, and at 7:30 AM on Friday the 20th of March 2009. Each day’s events will end at 3:30 PM. Visitors are welcome at the range and no charge for admission.

For more information and directions to the range call Colleen Connelly of the Hillside Rehabilitation Hospital @ (330) 841-3845.

Specialty Graphics for your wheelchair

I was contacted by someone looking for info on camo wheelchairs.   Well the options are not very camo friendly.  There are a few out there but they are few and far between.  However,  I had an idea awhile back about have some disabled equipment camo dipped.  If your not familure with the camo dipping, its the new rage in guns.  Well not new, but its cool to say the least.  The camo print is dissolved from a tissue paper on the surface of water in a special tank.  The pressure from the water wraps the floating camo ink pattern around the object that is dipped.  Cool yeah!

Now what do you think about dipping your adaptive equipment?   Well I have been talking to a new friend of mine about dipping things other then guns……..  Chad Moody, aka “Camo Man” the owner of Specialty Graphics,  said he can dip any thing.  All you have to do is give him a holler and talk to him.  He can certainly hook you up with some camo dipping for your equipment.  Look up his web site at  www.camoyourgun.com

And Make sure you check out God’s Country Camo!

WASHINGTON – It could have been the world’s first prescription pistol. The single-bullet Palm Pistol set the Internet abuzz with speculation that Medicare might even pay for the elderly and disabled to pack heat.

But on Monday the Food and Drug Administration said the Palm Pistol doesn’t have a shot of being listed as a medical device, and revoked the registration issued to its inventor only last week.

“The FDA has determined the product is not a medical device,” the agency said in a statement.

The inventor is crying foul. “I would assume it’s due to political pressure,” said Matthew M. Carmel, from Maplewood, N.J. He said he’s researching a possible appeal.

Medicare, the giant health care program for seniors and the disabled, would never have covered guns for grandmas anyway. “Medicare will not cover it because there is no approved category for weapons,” said spokesman Peter Ashkenaz. “So it would not be viewed as reasonable and necessary.”

Carmel said the elderly and disabled are easy targets for criminals, and the Palm Pistol could be an equalizer. Shaped like an oval, it fits in your palm. The barrel sticks out through your fingers. And instead of pulling a trigger, you push down on a button with your thumb. No working models exist yet, Carmel added.

But he said he wanted to start advertising to seniors, so he called the FDA and was advised to register his company, Constitution Arms, as a medical device facility and list the Palm Pistol as a “recreational adaptor.” The registration seemed to go through without any problems.

FDA spokeswoman Siobhan DeLancey said Carmel apparently got some bad advice from a representative of the agency.

And maybe he should have paid more attention to the fine print on the registration notice. It said: “Registering … does not, in any way, constitute FDA approval of your facility or your devices.”

An earlier version of this article reported that the FDA had accepted the Palm Pistol as a medical device, based on last week’s registration.

I thought I would share some information on a new gun I saw while reading today’s edition of The Shooting Wire.  I would’nt normally talk about a new gun but this one kind of fits into the Help4hunters.com mission of helping others.  The makers of the Palm Pistol say its a tool for disabled or mobility impaired people.  I’ll let you judge……..

the Palm Pistol

The Palm Pistol is an ergonomically innovative single shot double action only defensive firearm chambered in 9mm that may be fired using either hand without regard to orientation of the stock. Suited for home defense, concealed carry or as a backup gun. It is also ideal for seniors, disabled or others who may have limited strength or manual dexterity. Using the thumb instead of the index finger for firing, it significantly reduces muzzle drift, one of the principal causes of inaccurate targeting. Point and shoot couldn’t be easier.

For more detailed information, read the Palm Pistol Specification.
(Adobe Acrobat Reader required. Download it for free.)

The folks at Wake Up Outdoors have added an adjustable shooting rail to the Tree Glider stand.  This stand is awesome and is the perfect tool for those hunting from a wheelchair.  Check out the video below and check out Wake Up Outdoors and the Tree Glider.