A Wyoming regulation allowing disabled people to start hunting five days early was meant for those with “severe mobility disabilities,” a Wyoming Game and Fish Commission member stated.
When the regulation was drawn up, the Veterans Administration didn’t factor such things as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) into its disability rating system, Game and Fish Commissioner Ashlee Lundvall stated in an email to Cowboy State Daily.
The VA has since included PTSD, traumatic brain injury (TBI) and other invisible or less-visible service-related conditions in its 100% disability ratings.
That, in turn, has led to some questioning whether those without severe physical limitations should be allowed to participate in the early hunts, stated Lundvall.
She is herself paralyzed from a 1999 ranching accident that broke her back.
“In the last few years, we have received feedback from G&F staff as well as other hunters with disabilities and organizations that work with them, that there was a growing number of hunters using the extension permit that did not live with mobility issues,” she stated.
“These hunters were mostly veterans who legally met the regulation requirements due to a medical condition that did not specifically limit their physical mobility,” Lundvall added.
The commission is considering removing from Wyoming’s Chapter 35 hunting regulations a provision for counting a “100% service-related disability,” based on a letter from the VA to qualify people for the early hunts.
Veterans’ advocacy groups that host Wyoming hunts have taken veterans with such disabilities on early hunts, and argue that the proposed revision would take away those opportunities.
Lundvall stated that she’s received comments from “people on both sides of this issue.”
No decisions are made by the commission without the opportunity for public comment first, she added.
A public comment period on the proposed revision is open until June 10.
The commission is expected to rule on the matter during its July 14-15 meeting in Sheridan, which is open to the public.
It’s About Access
The revision might align the early hunt provision with its original intent, according to Lundvall.
“This regulation was never meant as a ‘reward’ or ‘thank you’ for hunters who are also veterans,” she stated. "There are not enough hunting permits or licenses in the world to thank veterans for their sacrifice and service to our country.
“This was always about access and opportunity for hunters with mobility disabilities, regardless of their status as a civilian or veteran,” she added.
Revising the provision to include only those with severe mobility disabilities will not take away other veterans’ opportunities for “full access” during regular hunting seasons, Lundvall stated.
She noted that she also has a TBI, so she understands the effects of such “unseen disabilities” and the healing power of being outdoors.
‘I Call Their Bluff’
Bill Brinegar is executive director of Hunting With Heroes Wyoming, which hosts disabled veterans’ hunts.
He told Cowboy State Daily that he doesn’t think the proposed changes to Chapter 35 are about returning the regulation to its original intent.
“I call their bluff on that one,” he said.
“Disabled veterans have been part of the language since the inception of the extension permit,” Brinegar said. "It was not an addition afterwards it has always been included in there so why would they want to take away that privilege to veterans."
Brinegar said he attended a Game and Fish public meeting in Laramie.
“Everyone who attended that meeting spoke against it,” he said. “Even though this was a really emotionally charged issue for these people, they were very respectful.”
Mark Heinz can be reached at mark@cowboystatedaily.com.
