Hunt Journals 2023

Aiden Pavetti’s Story:

My name is Aiden Pavetti. I’m 20 years old and live in Pennsylvania. I was born with a condition called muscular dystrophy (CMT specifically). My condition definitely makes life challenging at times, but both my dad and I refused to let it get in the way of hunting. I grew up hunting whitetail with my dad, brother and a couple of other close family members. There were only 3 Saturdays for rifle season, but it was hands down my favorite time of year.

Up until Thanksgiving in 2019, I was fully mobile and able to walk despite my condition. Around that time, I fell extremely sick with an unknown virus for 11 days. During this time, I wasn’t very active and lost a major amount of weight and strength. As a result of that, I was prescribed a wheelchair to help maintain some independence.

Fast forward to 2023, I’m still in the wheelchair but have been practicing in physical therapy to build up strength again. I also run a social media account on Tik Tok and Instagram focused on outdoors. When I’m not hunting or fishing, I’m tying jigs on a livestream. I’ve grown rapidly and that’s when I found out about Nevada Outdoorsman in Wheelchairs. I threw in an application without a second thought and couldn’t believe I drew a tag. I couldn’t be more excited or grateful for this trip!

Karen Trolan ’s Story:

After my plane crash and healing my broken body, I got back to work in Real Estate Sales and eventually was able to do all my volunteering and sport activities I did previously (some adaptively). Archery and duck hunting are interesting from a chair, but very fun and rewarding. Water and snow skiing adaptively were a challenge to learn. It does allow me to continue to do Ski Patrol at Northstar. Horseback riding gets me out in the open trails and in nature. Kayaking, surfing and mountain Biking are also very fun, with great support from others. The best part is how wonderful people are to help make my dreams come true.

I had the honor of being told about the amazing NOW hunting program a number of years ago (from Mike), and so hoped I could be a part of it. Although I learned to shoot at a young age, I have not gotten out with a rifle much since my accident. My son takes me duck hunting when I am lucky enough to get the draw for an accessible blind but didn’t think I would get the chance to hunt game due to my limitations. I am so very excited that I was selected and can see how I do in the field with a live moving target. Being able to hunt antelope is another dream come true for me.