By ANNA BROWN

Staff Writer

When Matt Keil got home from serving in Iraq, one of the things he wanted to do was go hunting for the first time.

The 26-year-old Parker, Colo., resident didn't know a gunshot wound in the right side of the neck from an Iraqi sniper would leave him a quadriplegic.

It took a little longer than Keil had anticipated to get that initial hunting trip in, but last Friday he accomplished it with help from the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources and the men of Beulah Creek Hunt Club in Union County. Keil was a participant in the annual Mobility Hunt that DNR organizes.

“It means a whole lot,” said Keil, who has been paralyzed from the chest down since he was shot on Feb. 24, 2007. “I'm learning the ropes out here so I can do more disability hunting. I'm just really excited to come out here and hopefully bag a deer. There aren't many places that offer mobility hunting, but we are going to try and take advantage wherever we can. For South Carolina DNR to put this on with all the sponsors and all the hosts, it means the world to me.”

Other mobility challenged hunters who were hosted by Beulah Creek were Steve Murphy of Cross Hill and Eric Edmundson of New Bern, N.C. This was the second year in a row Edmundson has participated in the hunt at Beulah Creek. Friday, both Keil and Murphy harvested a deer.

Mobility Hunt day started with a lunch for the hunters at the Spartanburg Gun Club. They were brought to Union, where they hunted for a few hours and then were treated to a fish fry supper. At Beulah Creek, club member Joe Wright is chief cook. Wright, a metal works engineer who lives in Greer, also cooked a big breakfast on Saturday that included sausage and bacon, biscuits, grits and gray.

Wright, one of two charter members of Beulah Creek Hunt Club, said the men feel blessed and love giving back and they respect the grit of a handicapped man who wants to overcome a mobility problem and hunt.

“Most of the time your real hunters and outdoorsmen are good people in the heart,” he said. “It doesn't have to be a hunter. Any outdoors person usually respects nature, respects his fellow man and tries to do what is right.”

Charles Craig, a Beulah Creek member who owns the land the club is on, said the club is glad to work with DNR.

“We look forward to doing this every year,” said Craig, a locator for the City of Union Utility Department.

Keil said he found out about the mobility hunt through Edmundson. They became acquainted through “Homes for Our Troops,” an organization that builds homes for severely injured veterans. Keil's wife, Tracy, and Edmundson's sister, Anna Frese, are good friends.

Edmundson's father, Ed, said his son is very grateful for the opportunity to hunt. Eric is wheelchair-bound and can no longer speak after being injured in Iraq in 2005. This is the second year Eric participated in the hunt at Beulah Creek.

“The Beulah Creek Hunt Club guys are wonderful; they are so kind to him make the trip exciting for him,” Ed said. “The most important part of rehabilitation is getting your life back and a large part of that is getting back the things that they love to do most. Hunting and fishing was one of things Eric lived for and enjoyed the most. The other part of his rehabilitation that is most important to him is being a parent and husband again. Eric has a 3 1/2-year-old daughter.”

Murphy, 61, was injured in Vietnam in December of 1968. “Gunshot wounds to both legs that ended up in an amputation of my right leg above the knee,” said Murphy, who is retired as a counselor with the Veterans Affairs Office in Greenville before retiring.

Murphy became acquainted with the mobility hunt through his friend, Beulah Creek Hunt Club member Ron Roberts, who is manager of property management in Greenville County.

Murphy said participating in the mobility hunt helps him forget his pain.

“It gives me an outside adventure, helps me forget about a lot of problems,” he said. “I hurt pretty much all the time where I got shot. My leg has got bad nerve in it. It helps me get out, get my mind clear and just enjoy what God has given us.”

According to the Department of Natural Resource's website, the event began in 1995 after Danny Cain from Waterloo asked the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources to consider providing a special deer hunting opportunity for mobility-impaired people in the Upstate. Cain had fallen from a tree stand while deer hunting in 1985 and broke his back. Though permanently wheel-chair bound, his love and interest for deer hunting had remained strong.

As a result, a cooperative venture was formed among various Upstate private landowners, hunting clubs sportsmen's preserves, industrial timber companies and the DNR to allow this group of disadvantaged sportsmen a unique hunting opportunity. Participants are able to experience the challenges, enjoyment and thrills associated with hunting white-tailed deer at some of the most well-managed and exclusive private hunting properties in the Upstate.

The event is restricted to people who have very severe and permanent mobility impairments. Applicants must be permanently confined to a wheelchair, permanently require some type of mechanical aid to assist them in walking or have had a single or double leg amputation. Each participant can bring someone to assist him or her in a non-hunting capacity and all hunting is conducted from ground blinds.