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 September 2008
The Outdoor Experience and Northern Arizona Hunts for Hope
 

Please Check This Link Out!
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This was posted by my GOOD FRIENDS with the Chandler Rod & Gun Club (Outdoor Experience). It is a slide show about my donation to Thomas Widenhofer and his past September's AZ Antelope Hunt.
ENJOY and God Bless!

Chandler Rod and Gun Club and Howell Wildlife Outfitters have teamed up for their first youth hunt for kids with life threatening illness. Words can not describe what a person goes through when they have the pleasure of this life changing experience.

This planning started last year in November when we were part of Hunt of a Lifetime. It has been a long hard road to travel to get this hunt off, and everyone involved has spent many hours on the computer, phone, and on the road to make this happen. It was well worth it, and what a success it was!

            Gary “Goose” Howell is a special kind of man with a heart of gold. Goose with out a doubt was in my mind the person who was the foundation of this great success. He was drawn for a 5B rifle antelope tag, and after having the privilege of being able to hunt elk with Thomas last year, decided to donate this tag to him. Northern Arizona Hunts for Hope believes that positive thoughts are instrumental in the healing process. Any child that has the desire to hunt should be given the opportunity to hunt, no matter how debilitating their illness is. He and his wife Sue are stars, and they are, and should be proud of what they had and have done to get this off on the right foot. Chris Denham from Western Hunter Magazine was also a key factor in this. Chandler Rod and Gun Club was part of the three in this group to help everything take off and were able to get the tag transferred from Goose Howell to our young hunter.

            Thomas Widenhofer is now 16 years old and has been on the upper end of the battle with brain cancer. He has had 2 surgeries and many chemo treatments thus far, and he has been a great inspiration to us all. This young man has a great attitude and is the type of young man anyone would be proud of to call son and friend. For those of you who do not know, he not only has his own battle, but two weeks before his hunt, his father, Walter was diagnosed with leukemia. He is going through chemotherapy. Walter could not join us for this hunt, but was with us in spirit. Thomas dedicated this hunt to his father.

            Thomas’ best friend, Isaiah Sawhney has joined him and supported Thomas with his battle, by standing by his side. Isaiah has the qualities anyone would want as a best friend in good times and in bad. Isaiah has been at Thomas’ side during hunts and was with him during this one, also. Rajiv Sawhney, Isaiah’s father helped, by getting the plane tickets for them. When Walter could not make the trip, Rajiv was able to find friends that stepped up and committed to come along to make sure these young men made the trip okay. Mark Kalafut and his son Josh were a great addition to this team. All four flew from Pittsburg PA and landed in Phoenix, Thursday at 10:20 AM. I picked them up we had lunch and headed to Flagstaff to meet up with Goose at his home. Some of the team was already waiting, and others showed up later that night. Goose and Sue made room in their home for all the team to stay. Sue can cook and our meals were very good and plentiful for thirds. Dessert was served every night, and I can honestly say that this is the only hunt I have been on that I gained weight.

            Darell Nunez from ‘First Hunts’ and his assistant Lana Robbins where there to film for a television program that will air on the Sportsman Channel starting in January of 2009. Show host Darell is professional, and he and Lana did a fantastic job with filming and being part of making this all happen. Please visit the First Hunts web site at www.firsthunts.com and check out the pilot for the show. First Hunts Television Series is produced by Keith Warren and its focus is on children in their first time hunting. Their goal is to preserve the heritage that our forefathers have passed down for many generations capturing moments, focusing on the importance of practicing safe and ethical hunting habits. We as outdoorsmen are lucky to have people like Darell and Lana helping promote our future into the great outdoors.

            Friday at 4:30 AM, Goose came around waking everyone up and I can speak for everyone that we didn’t get much sleep due to the excitement of our first hunt as a team. After a cup or two of coffee and a few muffins, all eleven people piled into trucks. Everything was loaded up and we headed out to our hunting grounds. We stopped to sign in at the ranch, when we spotted a goat heading our way. It was funny in a way that everyone grabbed their binoculars and spotting scopes to glass this antelope. Goose who had been scouting this area for months finally said that is not the one for Thomas. I was thinking to myself that I would take this animal if I had a tag, but Goose is our head guide on this hunt. We finished signing in and moved on. After about 2 or 3 miles we saw a herd on our left side. The clock was at 6:37 am and Goose stopped and glassed. He had found the antelope he had been scouting. Goose, Thomas, Isaiah, Darell and Lana exited the truck and got ready. The rest of us stayed in our vehicles glassing until they got further away. Then we got out and positioned our selves on tailgates and camper shell rooftops to get a better view. The original goal was to get to this area and Goose would head in one direction as the rest of us headed into other areas to locate this goat. As fate would have it, we didn’t have to separate. As the hunt unfolded and the excitement got higher, all we could do is wait and cheer. At 7:05 AM we heard the crack of a round and the antelope went down. All you could hear was cheers of eleven people that were louder than any football stadium with 70,000 fans could put out.

            Smiles ear to ear, hugs and high fives were in abundance as we waited for Goose to give us the okay to move forward. The antelope was a dandy measuring at 84 4/8 and for those of you that may not know with Boone and Crockett, anything above 82 is great. We figure that after the 60 day drying period and some small deductions Thomas will have his name in Boone and Crockett. After many pictures and interviews for the show we finally headed back to Goose’s home, our base camp. We took care of the meat and cape for a shoulder mount.

            Now what do we do the rest of the time? Well Thomas had wanted to see the Grand Canyon. Since we had the time, we loaded up and went. We arrived back at base camp around 7:00 PM on time for dinner and a shower. Saturday we spent the day glassing elk, deer and looking for antelope to take pictures of. We covered around 130 miles that day and spent a lot of time laughing at Blue Collar Comedy.

            Goose had prepared a cook out for the team and the great people who donated time and money for this hunt. After handshakes and a t-bone steak we loaded up and headed for Phoenix. Chandler Rod and Gun Club were hosting the Jr. Dove hunt for its 17^th year in a row. The plan was that if Thomas got done early, I would take him and Isaiah hunting dove. Isaiah had never hunted before and it was a great time for both of them to hunt together. Thomas bagged 2 doves and Isaiah ended up with 8. Isaiah went through 180 rounds, but he was now hooked on hunting. This was something he had only been part of as Thomas’ best friend, and now he was doing it for the first time. Both young men along with everyone else were having a great time. Just watching those smiles was the greatest reward a person could ask for. Thanks to Scott and Shane Fritz for coming out to help with the dove hunt.

            We left and went back to my home to rest. After a 4 hour nap my wife Karen had already marinated the chicken for the grill. As we sat at the dinner table talking about the last few days and cracking jokes, our bellies full of food and laughter, I just sat back and tried my best to take it all in. WOW, just kept going through my mind, and thanking the good Lord above for this young man that has again given me the opportunity to be amazed. My life and many others are forever touched by a young man’s life, as he and his father battle cancer.

            Monday we went to TMP Todd McFarlane Productions head quarters in Tempe. My friend Al Simmons was able to get a tour of the place set up for us. Joey our tour guide spent all the time we wanted with us and explained what everyone does. All the employees at Todd’s were great. Todd finally came out and greeted us and hung out just like one of the guys.  We took a few photos and Joey gave Thomas and the rest of the group a lot of gifts.

            It is hard to say good bye, but everything comes to an end. After long good byes and hugs I left the airport alone to thank God for this gift. Tears ran down my face and I smiled and smiled, for once again I had a life moving experience. As I share this with you I can only think about the next time, when will it come, that I again get a chance to have my heart touched by a gift from God in the form of a child’s smile, thank you or hug. We as outdoorsmen hunt for that big rack or fish for the biggest fish. I now hunt and fish for the opportunity to have another life changing experience. A moment like this is what I would like to carry with me for the rest of my life.  I invite anyone to join us on our next adventure for there is plenty of this to go around without end, if you open up and let the moment takes you where you have never gone before. Then you can experience what I am talking about.

            We currently have a few more tags to fill with kids. This being our first Outdoor Experience and Northern Arizona Hunts for Hope, we plan to have many more kids to help fulfill a dream. If you know of any child that has a life threatening illness, boy or girl that would like to hunt, fish or just camp out, please contact me at 480-529-8340. If you would like to donate your tag, money, or time, please call me. My name is Eddy Corona, a proud American and a changed person that has been touched by God through a 16-year-old young man that I call my friend. Thank you, Thomas Widenhofer for the gift you have given all of us. I would like to thank the great team of Chandler Rod and Gun Club for allowing me to represent all of you and for helping me get this started as another extension of CRG.

The Team of Dreamers:

Thomas Widenhofer at his website www.tommywidenhofer.com

Walter and Arlene Widenhofer

Gary “Goose” Howell and Sue Howell at www.howellwildlifeoutfitters.com

Chris Denham at www.westernmagazine.org

Chandler Rod and Gun Club at www.chandlerrodandgunclub.com

Darell Nunez and Lana Robbins at www.firsthunts.com

Robert Adams at www.accurateammo.net

Casey Hayes at www.caseysprocessing.com

Chris Favour at www.mountnviewtaxidermy.com

Rajiv and Isaiah Sawhney: Air fare and family friend

Tom “Tank” Paz: Chandler Rod and Gun Club

Mark and Josh Kalafut: Supervised and family friend

Perry Shirley Guide and Cook

Arizona Game and Fish Department

And all the people and organizations that helped with your time and contributions a special thanks to all of you for with out you this would have not happened.

My wife Karen Corona for her support

My name is Eddy Corona and I thank all of you.

If you would like to donate money for these types of events please send it to the following address. Make all check payable to Chandler Rod and Gun Club.

Chandler Rod and Gun Club
c\o Eddy Corona (Outdoor Experience)
12826 S 38^th Place
Phoenix AZ, 85044
480-529-8340-cell