TAMAROA, IL (WSIL) --- Koen Theil shared that he was shocked when he saw his first deer in the woods.
“It made me a little nervous,� Theil said.
Theil and his family came from Salt Lake City, Utah to hunt some Whitetail deer with other limb-different kids through the NubAbility Athletics Foundation.
“I learned how to stay calm when shooting at the deer. And I thought it was fun when the deer walked up right in front of me,� Theil said.
Theil's mother Jacquelyn shared that she found the hunting camp for him, and it's different from other camps for limb-different kids.
“They tend to focus on getting the experience for the camper,� Theil says.
“They'll take them mountain biking, but they're doing all the steering and they're doing all the navigating.�
Theil says NubAbility let her son take the lead.
“Cohen got to do everything himself. So when the buck came by it’s his responsibility and his experience to actually get the rifle, get it cited in, decide if he wanted to take the shot or not,� Theil said.
Dalton Dull is from Beaverton Michigan, and has been to several NubAbility camps, and goes hunting regularly with his dad.
“Don't be afraid to just do different things that you haven't done before. And there's a bunch of other kids out there just like you and they're trying different things,� Dull said.
The group got some practice in while they were on break from their morning hunt.
Courtesy: Sam Kuhnert
Dull shared that the hunt is really about patience.
“Well as you get out there, a couple hours before dark and waiting in your tree,� Dull says. “We hunted in a tree stand this morning and usually wait for 'em walk by.�
Sam Kuhnert is one of the co-founders of NubAbility. He loves the athletics camp they do, but this one is special for him.
� We started out at Pyramid Park,� Kuhnert shared, but they moved to his family’s land to better their chances of getting deer.
“Since I was four years old, going on hunts with my dad trying to stay still, and then getting the opportunities to harvest many animals here and feed my family, Kuhnert says it’s special to share with other families too.
“To be able to bring my NubAbility families and bring a new family who's never experienced NubAbility before to this ground it's a big deal to me,� Kuhnert said.
He shared that his camps set these kids up for life.
“If you truly believe that you can do anything and you have the perception or mindset that you can do anything, that you can do anything, our coaches are testaments to it. These kids are testaments to it,� Kuhnert said.
Courtesy: Sam Kuhnert
Since NubAbility’s start in 2011, Kuhnert shared that they have seen over 1,900 campers, and hosted more than 60 camps.
“What you see at this camp is not just the mentorship from the coaches,� Kuhnert says. ”You'll notice is the 13-year-old is helping the 10-year-old. It is a trickle-down mentorship and it just continues on. And what's great about NubAbility is we've had 20 of our former campers come back as coaches because they want to pay it forward,� Kuhnert shared.
