Our beginnings

My name is Eric Olson, and I was injured in a freak accident while jumping off a dock at my family's cabin in the summer of 2009. This left me with my C4 to C6 vertebrae shattered, (Also known as an incomplete Spinal Cord Injury) and changed my life forever. I wouldn't be here today if not for the incredible level of love and support from my Amazing family throughout every part of it, from my nightmarish hospital experience to Inpatient rehab, Outpatient rehab, and the hardest part of it all: trying to figure out what to do next. I can never thank them enough, so I at least try to do it often!

In the process of trying to figure out life since then, I have acquired a number of handicap adaptations such as a tracked wheelchair, an adapted gun trigger, all sorts of voice operated interfaces, as well as knowledge of the necessary tips and techniques that help make everything that is easy and natural for a "normally abled" person more accessible as well as more easily usable to those of us who may be differently abled.

Another key resource that was available to me is the property I grew up on. Our road is named Wild Turkey Rd and with good reason. We have plenty of whitetail deer, wild turkeys, coyotes, raccoons, squirrels and the occasional black bear sighting.

As time passed, I moved through the stages from grief to anger, but probably still working on that acceptance part. It only seemed like the next logical step given the resources at my disposal to create something which would not only give other people like myself access to some of the equipment they might not otherwise have, but would do so in a way that would allow me to create a sustainable future for myself without being a further drain on my friends and family.

Thus was born the Handicap Hunting Hideaway!

“No 2 ways about it, being disabled, severely injured, or even just the natural progression of Age and Entropy can change a person's life and outlook drastically and irrevocably.

It's just that every time I start to go down that rabbit hole of listing everything I can no longer do, the scientist/engineer part of my brain can't help but respond with the thought that: "If a person Absolutely Positively Had to be injured or have a disability, what better time in history to have that happen than now, when we have the technology to both enable independence and possibly even find a cure?”

— Eric Olson, FOUNDER

Get Involved

Would you like to go hunting, but no longer have the use of your hands or arms?

We have a breath operated trigger adapter for a rifle or crossbow as well as a wheelchair accessible range to figure out how it best works for you.

(Have you heard of Tannerite? If not, we'll introduce you... :-)

You can get dropped off at whichever of our wheelchair friendly blinds/stands is your favorite, or blaze your own on the adapted Action Track Chair (made here in MN).

Hunting/Shooting isn't your thing?

That's okay!

There is always more than one way to shoot a deer or Not skin a cat… :-)

We also have a variety of photography equipment, including cameras, mounts, camera holders, adapted shutter triggers, as well as plenty of backup batteries for anyone that would just like to experience the outdoors and capture what they see!

What would you like to experience in the Great Outdoors?

We are right over the hill from Welch Ski Village, (which is currently offers downhill mountain biking in the summer, FYI) and minutes from the Cannon River, as well as having access to both adapted and regular cycling on the Cannon Valley Trail.

Our Mission

We like to ask people to name their Ideal Outdoor Experience, and then try to produce that in the most Inclusive way possible for our Guests and their families.

While respecting the constraints of the Individual we try to Push the constraints of both physical and perceived ability, with the aid of technology and imagination

Potential (and past) possibilities that I have personally explored include photography, drones, drone photography, quadriplegic chainsaw art, accessible glass blowing, and quadriplegic/accessible skydiving (although the company we worked with has since gone out of business)

My place in all this is both creator and constituent, in that much of the equipment and methodology is my own.

That really is the primary source of the inspiration for our place, is that "I had fun doing these things so why wouldn't others"?

Ultimately, we have the equipment that will Enable people to do things they wouldn't normally be able to do as well as Access to places that they might not be able to normally go, but our primary focus is in finding out what each individual person would most like to experience and doing our best to help bring their vision to life given the means available.

Our goal is to do our best to set up the Experience to be anything but what "We" want or think it should be, and everything the client can imagine, if not more!