06/03/2010
NWTF Helps Courageous Youth Enjoy Dream Hunt
GREEN SPRINGS, Ohio — Eleven-year-old Tanner Hisey of Green Springs, Ohio, is like any other boy his age. He enjoys sports like football and baseball, but most of all, he likes hunting with his dad, Dave.
 Eleven-year-old Tanner Hisey, from Green Springs, Ohio was all smiles after harvesting his first Osceola turkey with the help of Zack Morgan, NWTF regional director for Florida. Click image for print quality version |
The elder Hisey has been a member of the National Wild Turkey Federation's Sandusky County Beardbusters Chapter for eight years and has kept Tanner active in the NWTF's JAKES (Juniors Acquiring Knowledge, Ethics and Sportsmanship) program for youth who enjoy the outdoors.
At first glance, Tanner is like any other active, carefree boy. But beneath the surface is a big heart loaded with courage unseen in most adults, let alone a sixth grader. On August 28, 2008, Tanner was diagnosed with t-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) - the most commonly occurring cancer in children, with approximately 2,400 children and adolescents diagnosed with ALL each year in the United States.
Since his diagnosis, Tanner has spent nearly two years fighting an uphill battle each day and is currently in the "maintenance" phase of his treatment. This requires Tanner to receive chemotherapy daily in the form of pills, monthly through a port in his chest and once every three months by spinal tap. The maintenance phase will continue until 2012.
"His chemotherapy regimen makes him sick and has forced him to miss more than 80 days of school this year," said Hisey. "He has worked so hard that he's stayed current with all his coursework. Sometimes his teachers have to force him to go to recess because he wants to stay inside and work on his assignments to stay up-to-date."
Through all the prescriptions, pills and needles during the past couple of years, Hisey has made sure that Tanner doesn't miss out on the enjoyment of being a kid. In early 2010, Tanner voiced his desire to, one day, travel south to hunt the famous Osceola wild turkeys of Florida's swamps. Upon hearing his son's dream, Hisey decided to see if he could make it a reality.
Hisey's search led him to Zack Morgan, NWTF regional director for Florida, who only needed to hear a little about Tanner before inviting the eager youth to Florida for an April turkey hunt.
"The NWTF's JAKES program helps tens of thousands of youth enjoy the outdoors each year, but after talking with Tanner's dad, I knew we had to go the extra mile for Tanner," said Morgan. "Tanner spends many miserable nights sick from chemotherapy, but never fails to remind his dad to wake him up to hunt the next morning. His dedication to hunting and learning the skills of a successful outdoorsman are admirable."
After determining a date for the hunt, Morgan needed a prime piece of hunting ground for Tanner's hunt, and he called lifelong NWTF supporter and Diamond Life Sponsor, Jeff Budz of Tag It Worldwide, LLC. Like Morgan, Budz wanted to help fulfill Tanner's quest for an Osceola gobbler and agreed to let Tanner hunt on his property.
On April 2, as the first hint of sunlight touched the palmettos and Spanish moss on a farm near Kissimmee, the Hiseys met Morgan for the first time at a gate on Budz's property.
The father and son, along with Tanner's grandfather, had traveled more than 1,000 miles from Ohio to Florida the day before.
"To be honest, I was nervous since we'd never met Zack face to face," said Hisey. "From the moment he and Tanner shook hands, it was all smiles. Tanner's anticipation was sky-high as Zack told us the plan for the hunt. After that, it was like magic."
"It was awesome!" said Tanner of his first morning in Florida. "At sunrise a big gobbler answered Zack's calling and after about 15 minutes, he came right to us off his roost and I made a good shot on him."
After hugs, high-fives and photographs of Tanner with his magnificent Osceola gobbler, Morgan set up Tanner for an airboat ride through the local swampland so he could see the other wildlife in the Sunshine State.
"Zack approached a father and daughter who were using their airboat as transportation to go turkey hunting," said Hisey. "They gave up their time to go hunting together to take Tanner for a ride. It was pretty special to watch everyone treat Tanner so kindly."
"We went really fast and I even got to steer," said Tanner. "We saw three alligators and a deer. I had a great time."
Even at their hotel, the excitement of the trip continued. On April 5, when space shuttle Discovery launched from nearby Kennedy Space Center, a good-hearted hotel employee treated the three Ohioans to a birds-eye view from the roof of the hotel.
Tanner and his dad agreed that their trip had it all - excitement, happiness and lots of laughter. Like most experienced turkey hunters, Hisey knows how challenging it can be to outwit a wily gobbler. However he admits for the Florida hunt, luck was on Tanner's side.
"In 2009, Tanner got his first turkey while undergoing cancer treatment that had caused his hair to fall out," said Hisey. "As time passed his hair returned, so he told me before we left for Florida that he had one thing left to do - get his head shaved since it brought him luck last year. Obviously, it worked again."
Along with Tanner's good luck haircut, Hisey believes the success of the hunt started eight years ago when he became an NWTF member. "I still can't believe how great of a host Zack was. It was like we were lifelong friends after only a few minutes, but that's how it is when you're a part of the NWTF."
Through dynamic partnerships with state, federal and provincial wildlife agencies, the NWTF and its members have helped restore wild turkey populations across the country, spending more than $306 million to conserve 14 million acres of habitat for all types of wildlife.
The Federation works to increase interest in the outdoors by bringing new hunters and conservationists into the fold through outdoor education events and its outreach programs — Women in the Outdoors, Wheelin' Sportsmen, JAKES and Xtreme JAKES.
For more information call (800) THE-NWTF or visit www.nwtf.org.
