Hunting After a Stroke

An older member of our deer camp is recovering from a massive stroke, when he found out he may not recover much use of his right side he was devastated (he is a lefty however). Determined however, we went to the range a few weeks ago - he was unable to chamber his 30-30 lever, and when we did manage to get one chambered for him - he could barely hold it to shoot it, and when he did manage to shoot it - the recoil seemed hard on him.

I may be grasping at straws, but looking at the hunting community for suggestions here. He's not opposed to buying a new rifle either if a lower caliber helps, or a semi-automatic if that's what he needs. We're not even sure where to start looking, but for him to stop deer hunting would be the end of him. He lives two seasons a year - deer hunting season, and "preparing for deer hunting" season.

Thanks for the suggestions.

Sorry about the news. Take a look at this website:

http://www.adaptiveoutdoorsman.com/handicaphunting.html

There may be products that he could use with an existing rifle.

I went through a similar situation with a very good old friend. On the days he was able to hunt, I sat right beside him to assist. With respect to the firearm, a lighter recoil would definitely be a benefit. Have him practice with a good tripod rifle rest.

Ground blind with a nice rest. Caldwell field pod and a hunting partner.http://www.cabelas.ca/product/30392/...dshot-fieldpod

A solid rest would be of massive benefit. Most recoil is directed straight back, so as long as the forearm is supported by the rest and the butt is securely in his good shoulder he'd be to go.

For calibre I'd look at a 243. Plenty for deer and light recoiling. As for action, I cant really say. Semi is likely the best bet.

A ground blind would also be a good idea. Build a shooting bench right inside it if need be.

As previous poster mentioned a good adjustable tripod is a start. What distance would he be shooting? Might look at a 20 gauge slug gun. 2-3/4" will work just fine no need for a 3". Less recoil than a 12 and can shoot a good distance. The shells are larger than rifle cartridges and might be easier to handle, hold and load into firearm. Hope things work out. Was tough for my father who had similar circumstances but we got him set up and he still fills his tag.

A falling block single shot like a Ruger #1 would be even easier to operate then a semi. Charging a semi can require significant force depending on the gun. In the end though, he'll have to go to a gun store and try out different guns to see what he can operate.

As well a heavier gun may be better than a lighter one since it should absorb recoil better.

Remington makes a 30-30 in a manage recoil load. If he wants to use the gun he has now you can look for that.

I have an old computer chair in my ground blind. The shooting ports have 2x4 s that form the bottom. The walls below the ports are broadloom so the gun rests on broadloom at about the right height for a shot while seated in the chair. By simply shuffling your feet you rotate for access to three sides of the blind. Its the closest thing to bench rest shooting that I could do in my bush but with a roof overhead and some apples tossed on the ground about 200' down the hill in front of the blind, it fills the tag for me.
Just a coincidence that my gun is a 243 Ruger #1 as well. A 30-30 would be easier to swing around in the blind but might be harder to load with one hand.