When a benign brain tumor that was putting pressure on his optic nerves started stealing Connor Gaston’s sight at age 3, taking up his family’s tradition of hunting one day seemed as if it might be out of the question.
But Gaston has never accepted any limits he didn’t absolutely have to — even after he was declared legally blind.
Now 13, he shot his first big-game animal, a mule deer buck, near Upton this fall.
He wants to go elk hunting next.
The Challenge Of Elk
Being legally blind “doesn’t really affect me, because I don’t know any different,” Gaston told Cowboy State Daily.
“He’s supposed to navigate himself around with a cane but prefers not to whenever possible because he’s fiercely independent," said his mother, Sondra.
Under the supervision of his mother and his dad, Gabe, Connor “started shooting guns when he was about 4 or 5,” Sondra told Cowboy State Daily.
When hunting, he has one or both of his parents help him line up shots.
His shot on the deer was “good, really good,” and dropped the buck in its tracks, Sondra said.
Elk hunting usually involves more searching across broader swaths of country, and Connor relishes that challenge.
“I’ve heard that elk are harder to get, but I’d really like to try to get one, to get better at hunting,” he said.
Connor has a general elk tag, and the family hopes it can connect with somebody who knows a good spot, Sondra said.
They prefer flatlands, because Connor has more trouble moving about without direct assistance in mountain country, and he wants to do as much as he can by himself, she said.
Connor added that he’d prefer to get a bull elk but realizes that many general tag bull hunts are closing, so he’d settle for a cow elk and “try for a bull next year.”
Sondra said, "He just wants to show his mother up,” because she hasn’t gotten an elk yet either.
Rounds of Chemo
Since doctors found the brain tumor, it’s been an on-again, off-again battle.
Connor underwent chemotherapy sessions to shrink the tumor, only to have it grow again, leading to more chemotherapy.
"The ordeal should be over," Sondra said.
“It (the tumor) is expected to grow one more time” and then stop, she said.
Along with severe loss of vision, “Connor is color-deficient,” so what others see as distinct colors blend together for him, Sondra said.
Connor can’t locate animals if they’re standing still.
“There has to be some sort of movement, a leg, an ear or a tail,” he said.
He’s been certified as a disabled hunter by the Wyoming Game and Fish Department, Sondra said.
That means he could legally hunt and shoot from a stationary vehicle, she said, but he doesn’t want to. He likes to get out and hike.
“Everyone tried to coddle him, and he was like, ‘No, I want to be independent.' He wants to get out and explore the world,” Sondra said.
Connor’s In Good Company
As Connor takes his first steps into the hunting world, he’s not alone.
There are many more blind and visually impaired hunters than most people realize, Idaho resident Tj Cartwright told Cowboy State Daily.
A hunting accident left him blind at age 23. Thinking he’d never hunt again, he slipped into a deep depression.
He credits his father, Randy, who now lives in Wyoming, for snapping him out of it by insisting that he at least try goose hunting again.
Randy Cartwright and the other hunters made sure things stayed safe. Tj Cartwright did his best to zero in on the sound of the goose wings and honking to calculate his shot placements.
From there, he learned to hunt all over again, with sighted companions assisting him to line up safe and ethical shots on big game.
He came to Wyoming and shot a white-tailed deer buck in Park County in 2024.
Cartwright went on to found On Target Idaho, Inc., a nonprofit group that connects and helps arrange hunts for blind and visually impaired hunters across the region.
He said he’s eager to welcome Connor into the fold and perhaps help arrange an elk hunt for him.
So long as they have sighted hunting companions, blind and visually impaired people can enjoy the outdoors to the fullest, he said.
“It’s been pretty amazing for me to find out how many blind and visually impaired people want to hunt,” he said.
The hunting community has been supportive, he added.
“The people saying that blind people can’t hunt usually haven’t hunted a day in their lives,” he said.
Mark Heinz can be reached at mark@cowboystatedaily.com.
