FLORIDA HUNTER WINS STREAMLIGHT CHALLENGED HUNTER OF THE YEAR

Contact: Tony Young (850) 488-7867

A Sopchoppy resident has been named Florida’s first winner of a prestigious national award for physically challenged hunters.

Jay Leonard, paralyzed from the waist down and wheelchair-bound after falling from a tree stand in 1990, was named the “2006 Streamlight Challenged Hunter of the Year” by the worldwide flashlight company and Buckmasters American Deer Foundation.

The award is given each year to an outstanding disabled outdoors person who “has overcome great obstacles in order to participate in the sport of hunting, then applied his or her knowledge and insight to help and inspire others to do the same,” according to information provided by Buckmasters and Streamlight.

The honor has been bestowed to just four hunters across the country since its inception in 2002, but this is the first time a hunter from Florida has won the award.

The 50-year-old, computer-assisted design draftsman was a “shoe-in” to win this year, David Sullivan, director of Buckmasters Disabled Hunter Services, said.

“We are really proud to recognize Jay for being such an accomplished deer hunter and for what he has done for other disabled hunters. He is so deserving of this award,” Sullivan said.

Leonard, who has been a hunter for 35 years, beat out 20 other nominees to take the honor.
Since his hunting accident, Leonard has consistently harvested up to 10 mature bucks a year while
hunting on Florida’s public lands. He has placed six deer in the Florida Buck Registry, including the state’s second-highest-scoring buck for 2005, which was a 10-point that had a net score of 145 1/8 Boone and Crockett points. According to records, Leonard is the only hunter to have six or more entries in the registry.

Leonard has 24 mounted trophy deer he took, all while hunting from his custom-modified, handicap-equipped, four-wheel-drive Kawasaki Mule with hydraulic lift that can raise him to up to 10 feet.

“But even more than his hunting accomplishments is Jay’s desire to give back to the sport he loves,” said David Jones, president of Florida Disabled Outdoors Association.

Leonard, who is a volunteer for the association and the National Wild Turkey Federation, enjoys assisting other disabled hunters and youngsters, and often holds seminars teaching how to successfully call in and take trophy whitetails.

Along with Jones, Leonard was very instrumental in helping expand the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission’s mobility-impaired person hunts by taking on-site tours of several properties to identify which tracts would prove suitable for the program. Leonard also was featured in the September/October 2006 issue of Florida Wildlife magazine.

Leonard wins an all-expense-paid deer hunt and will be the guest of honor at Alabama’s Sedgefield Plantation during the Buckmasters Life Hunt Classic in January, which will be televised. He and his wife, Marilou, also will be outfitted with clothing and gear from Buckmasters and its sponsors.

“I’m really thankful for all my friends, family and supporters who nominated and assisted me in putting together a resume that convinced Buckmasters to select a deer hunter from Florida, of all places,” Leonard said. “If it wasn’t for these mobility-impaired hunts, there’s no way I would’ve been able to do what I’ve done. It really proves what kind of great opportunities we do have for hunters in this state – disabled or not.”