Disabled get their guns — and outdoors

There is no "disabled accessible" placard anywhere visible on Mark Robison's pickup truck. Which is odd. Because there may not be another human on planet Earth who gets the disabled more access than he does.

Mark puts the wheelchair-bound in places some have never been and others thought they thought they'd never, ever go back.

He deposits them in duck blinds; he ensconces them at the bottom of ravines where elk like to come for an afternoon break; he perches them on the edges of cliffs and atop remote mountains.

He takes them hunting.

No one told him to do this. It all started innocently enough seven years ago when Mark, an avid hunter, was "b.s.-ing about hunting" with a bunch of guys in the tire store he manages in Sandy and he asked a customer, Bret Remington, if he hunted.

"Does it look like it?" huffed Remington, gripping the sides of his wheelchair.

The next thing either of them knew, they were out in the wilds, together.

It was not only the start of an enduring friendship but an epiphany for Mark, who after organizing the trip, hefting Remington and his chair here, there and everywhere, soaking up the great outdoors and talking about it all the way home, discovered something he loved even more than hunting: watching other people hunt. Particularly people who were convinced their hunting days were over.

"The look in their eyes, the excitement. ..," says Mark, groping for the right words. "I think I get more enjoyment out of it than they do, to be honest with you."

He started MTM Hunting, an organization devoted to help the physically challenged not get off their butt and still hunt to their heart's content.

MTM stands for Mark (that's him), Tina (that's his wife) and Mike (that's his best friend, Mike Olson). By word of mouth and who knows how many phone calls, hundreds of disabled Utahns have gone hunting because of MTM since 2003.

But not everyone who is physically challenged has had the opportunity — which is why Mark has decided to expand.

MTM Hunting is affiliating with the Wheelin' Sportsmen, an outreach program of the National Wild Turkey Federation that has the exact same goals as MTM.

The Turkey Federation is holding its annual Hunting Heritage Banquet in two weeks — 6 p.m. Saturday, March 6, at the Airport Hilton — and Mark is urging everyone to support the combination fundraiser/hunting celebration.

The Wheelin' Sportsmen are very active with disabled hunters in the eastern part of the country, he says, and this is an opportunity to move that activity level farther west.

"This lets more people get involved," says Mark. "Disabled hunters, especially, need to support this. The rewards are just so great."