Hunting dreams come true

Ask any Western hunter for his list of go-to spots for big muley bucks, and the Arizona Strip probably will be near the top of the list. Anyone lucky enough to draw a strip tag has a realistic chance at putting his tag on a 30-inch trophy with huge bases.

Many hunters wait years for that chance -- those tags are difficult to acquire.

But imagine going to the mailbox and finding one of these coveted tags. Would you be willing to give it to someone else?

Kensen Lee is looking for someone to accept the 2010 Arizona Strip tag as a gift, along with a guide's services and a new Savage firearm if necessary.

Lee, a former member of the Clark County Advisory Board to Manage Wildlife, serves as the Southern Nevada ambassador for the Hunt of a Lifetime Foundation. The foundation is a nonprofit organization whose purpose is ''Making Hunting & Fishing Dreams a Reality'' for hunters 21 years old and younger who have life-threatening illnesses. Tina Pattison of Harborcreek, Pa., whose son Matthew died of Hodgkin's disease, founded the foundation in 1999.

One day as Matthew lay in a hospital bed, Tina asked him what he wanted to do in the future.

''He looked at me with eyes that were for that moment not those of a dying child but those of a boy who wished for adventure -- outside of the sterile confinement of a hospital room. He said, 'Hunt moose with Dad.' They had hunted together since Matt was a boy,'' Tina wrote.

Costs for such a hunt were prohibitive, so Tina contacted a wish-granting organization devoted to making the dreams of terminally ill children come true. But her request was denied because the organization no longer fulfilled hunting wishes.

Undaunted, Tina began contacting outfitters looking for help.

A guide in a tiny community in Alberta, Canada, rewarded her efforts. The guide and his wife offered help. As it turned out, the entire community of 68 opened their doors and made Matthew's hunt happen by providing everything from lodging to groceries to guide services and horse feed.

On the first day of their hunt, Matthew's guide put him on a huge bull moose, which the youth secured with two well-placed shots.

Matthew died six months later. But by then, his mother found her new life's mission, making possible the Hunt of a Lifetime for youth with life-threatening illnesses.

The Arizona Hunt of a Lifetime chapter has two such opportunities available for qualified youth this fall hunting season -- the mule deer tag on the Arizona Strip and an antelope tag in unit 13A. Both tags have been donated.

Anyone who knows a youth with a life-threatening illness who might be interested in one of these hunts can contact Lee at Kensen@huntofalifetime.org or call 702-596-2403.

More information about the foundation is available at www.huntofalifetime.org.

Freelance writer Doug Nielsen is a conservation educator for the Nevada Department of Wildlife. His "In the Outdoors" column, published Thursday in the Las Vegas Review-Journal, is not affiliated with or endorsed by the NDOW. Any opinions he states in his column are his own. He can be reached at intheoutdoorslv@gmail.com.