Jan 2, 2011 By Rod Schoener 6 min read

Nothing makes a day of hunting more enjoyable than going afield with a good friend or an old hunting buddy. Bob Hunyady of Grays Landing is fortunate to have both in his neighbor, Rick Keener.

Hunyady has been a quadriplegic since 2008 and is confined to a wheelchair.

The 50 year old was a diehard deer and turkey hunter, but through the effort of Keener and others has begun to experience the joy of hunting once again.

This year he bagged his first deer, since becoming disabled, with the help of Keener, a retired coalminer who lives next door.

Hunyady is able to get afield in a recycled Greene County FACT bus.

He hunts off the rear of the bus, which Keener drives to where the game is by using improved forest roads that will support the vehicle.

Hunyady explained how he killed a doe on Oct. 23 during the early antlerless deer season for muzzleloaders and disabled and junior sportsmen.

“I have to hunt from the bus, using a setup to support my gun on my wheelchair,” he said.

Joe Tiberi, of Tiberi Services in Fairbanks, custom built it for him to fit on his wheelchair.

“It was the first time I was able to kill a deer since I became paralyzed. We hunted three days in the early season. Last year we hunted two days, but we just saw turkeys. They were all around the bus.”

Hunyady hunts with a .270 Winchester with the stock cut off.

“I shot the deer at 80 yards — right through the heart,” he said. “It didn’t know what hit it.”

“I used to hunt with a bow, too — turkeys and deer, mostly.

“I used to get a deer every year before this happened to me.”

Hunyady said of Keener, “He’s been a good neighbor for the last 30-some years. We hunted together before this happened to me. He’s the one who started to come up with the idea of the setup for my wheelchair, and Joe Tiberi ran with the design for it.”

Hunyady finds it exciting to be able to hunt again.

“We went back out in the late season, but I didn’t get a shot. All the does were running. They have to be standing still for me to be able to get the scope on them.

“I saw a lot of deer in the late season. I just didn’t get a shot.”

Has the boom in the use of crossbows prompted him to think about reinventing his bow hunting?

“I’ve thought about using a crossbow, but I haven’t tried one yet. I tried shooting a shotgun off the setup to see if it would work. I shot a turkey gun fitted with a pistol scope.”

(A pistol scope allows for longer eye relief.)

The thought of turkey hunting again has him excited.

“I had three dozen turkeys feeding around the bus one day,” Hunyady explained. “I put my scope on one just to see if I could get on it with the rifle.”

When hunting, he uses a device held in his mouth to squeeze the trigger. The joystick on the wheelchair allows him to move the chair up and down and sideways, shifting the chair into position so that he can see through the scope and adjust his rifle.

Hunyady’s bus was purchased at an auction in Waynesburg and is equipped with a wheelchair lift. He explained that the seats on one side of the bus fold up, allowing his wheelchair to roll easily to the rear of the bus from where he shoots out the back door.

The bus is only capable of traveling where there is a road. “I’m fortunate. I have a friend with property with roads who lets me hunt on his place,” Hunyady said.

This year’s hunt was as special for Keener as it was for Hunyady.

“It was special to Rick,” Hunyady said. “He was just as excited for me as I was.”

When asked about the decision to take on the hunting adventure, Keener said, “I hunted with him before he got that way. I couldn’t just let him sit there.

“I killed so many deer, I don’t care if I get another one. I go for him. I buy my license and take my gun along in case he takes a nap.

“When he does nap, I take my rifle and walk around awhile.

“I got really excited when he got the deer. He said his chest was sore from me beating on it. His eyes got bigger than saucers when the deer fell.”

Keener went on to say, “I’m going to put my shotgun on the rest and hook the trigger device to it, so we can go spring gobbler hunting, explaining that his turkey gun is shorter than Hunyady’s and will fit better on the shooting device.

He said, “Bob can squeeze the trigger with two fingers, but on some days he can’t move them. He can bite down on the device to pull the trigger. It is a special trigger-pulling device made for quadriplegics that was purchased online.”

Keener said that they got the deer at 8:30 a.m. while hunting in Nicholson Township.

“There were five does in the bunch,” Keener said. “It field-dressed at about 125 pounds. I give him credit. He picked out the biggest one.

“He told me, ‘I thought I’d never go hunting again.’ It was a lot of work to get it all together, but it was worth it to see the look on his face.”

Keener said that he came up with the idea for the rest and built a prototype from aluminum.

“I made one out of aluminum and gave the idea to Joe (Tiberi) who beefed it up and made one out of steel. I had one anchor point on my model, but Joe used two. The one made of steel is much stronger. It only adds about 30 to 35 pounds of weight to the wheelchair.”

The rifle rest itself was purchased separately out of the bargain bin at Cabala’s and incorporated into the device.

Keener explained, “We had to alter his rifle to fit on the device.

“Bob uses the tilt wheelchair to get elevation and the joy stick to move from right to left.”

Hunyady killed his deer while it was standing, but Keener explained that he could sight on one if it is walking slowly enough for him to follow it. Running deer are almost impossible to fix on, so Keener told him, “Don’t waste ammunition.”

Keener said, “I see him just about every day. If I don’t go over, we usually talk on the phone.

Besides deer hunting, the pair took in a couple of ball games, and is now planning to do some spring gobbler hunting together.

With their determination, there should be a turkey hunt story coming in the future.

Herald-Standard Outdoor Editor Rod Schoener can be reached online at rschoener@heraldstandard.com