When another foundation decided not to participate in granting wishes of young hunters battling life-threatening illnesses, by providing hunting and/or fishing trips, Martin Wilson, Larry Dotson and many sportsmen and women were ready to jump in with both feet. Martin and Larry got the ball rolling and the Safari Wish program was created overnight. This program, a product of the Central Missouri Foundation of Safari Club International began making dreams come true. Its goal is to grant any hunt as a last wish for kids battling life-threatening illnesses. We currently are accepting volunteers or anyone who is willing to assist us in providing hunts, fishing trips or related merchandise. The response has been overwhelming. We have a long list of outfitters ready to help. We are also looking for any kids who want to go on the hunting or fishing trip of a lifetime. The mission of this site and this organization is to bring the children and the outfitters together, to make dreams come true………
All of the outings are carefully planned. The safety of these kids is top priority. Martin, along with many other dedicated and hard working members of SCI will be glad to help you in any way we can.Anyone who knows of a kid having a wish to hunt or fish can complete the application and a member will be in contact to help make their dream come true!
Robert's Wish
I could hear Robert’s breathing getting faster and deeper.
The 3 gobblers were close and we had been caught out in the open woods when they came in silently. There were 4 of us sitting together. Trying to look like 4 stumps was challenging and I don’t think the 2 year old birds were buying it. They were just out of range. Finally, they started to get nervous and turned to walk back from where they had come. We tried a desperation call, but they were already convinced we weren’t the real thing. Larry, Dan, and I were disappointed. Not only had we missed up a golden opportunity, we knew we were down to just one morning to get Robert a bird. However, it didn’t take long to get over the disappointment. When we got up to leave, Robert had a big ole grin on his face and said “That was Cool”. He had never been that close before. That afternoon, we took him fishing and barbequed up some hamburgers. Sleep came easy. We had been outside all day.
The next morning we elected to try a deer stand in a good location where two roads came together. Turkeys always seemed to feed right by the stand. At daybreak, the birds were gobbling and heading our way. Since it was early in the season and they still seemed grouped up, we decided to call just a little and wait them out. About an hour into the hunt, the birds had gotten to within about 100 yards and we starting to get excited. As we watched the approaching group, I heard a faint purring sound coming from below the stand and knew it had to be a turkey. It was so close that I had to stand up to look out of the blind. I couldn’t believe there were three jakes standing right beneath us. I eased back down and whispered to Robert to get his gun and ease up to take a shot. He didn’t have time to get nervous. He made a great shot and the bird went down immediately. I don’t know who was more excited, Dan , Robert or me.
Grant's Wish
Grant Toomey was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis at the age of three. Cystic fibrosis affects breathing and thus, limits activity. Grant, 19, had a dream of going elk hunting, but because of this disease, was unable to go in high altitudes.Eagle Ridge Outfitters of Linn, Missouri provided a solution—elk hunting in Missouri.Johnnie Fowler, Grant’s guide planned a spot and stalk hunt. After providing Grant with a hat and shirt, it was time to target practice. Once the hunt began, Johnnie and Grant spotted a bull from the four-wheeler. It wasn’t long before Grant had shot his bull.
When Grant was asked what he was going to do now, he said, “Go tell Mom where we’re hanging it.” Mark, Grant’s Dad, says having a child with this type of disease has put everything in perspective—having a house and nice cars are not important. Mark and Grant were both very touched that people would take time out of their schedule for people they don’t even know.
Nathan's Wish
On October 4th, we granted a Safari Wish hunting adventure to Nathan Coleman from Auxvasse. He has always wanted to harvest a “big” buck without much luck. His father, Walter, talked to Bill Moore and then filled out the application from our web site and the ball was set in motion.
We contacted Charlie Redden of Halls Creek Whitetails (www.hallscreek.com) and he was gracious enough to allow us to hunt on very short notice. We had to speed this one up because Nathan was scheduled for another operation on October 12th. We arrived at Halls Creek around 10:00 a.m. and met Brock Ray from Better Built Outdoor Adventures. His show airs on the Outdoor Channel. Got all of the introductions done and then had some lunch. After lunch, it was off to the firing range. Nathan brought his own rifle but wanted to try out the club’s .270. One shot at 100 yards and a hole in the 10-ring. Just a little too much kick, so back to his rifle and an 8-ring hit. Everybody agreed, no need for any more target practice. Nathan, Brock, Walter and the cameraman headed out to the field Charlie suggested around 3:45 p.m. The rest of us hung around the cabin waiting to hear the sound of Nathan’s rifle. Sure enough, around 4:45 we heard the bang then a second one a few minutes later. We all headed up to the stand and there was a 14-point buck lying in the field approximately 150 yards from Nathan’s stand. Nathan was pretty excited to say the least.
He did throw us for a scare. When asked if it was as much fun as he thought it would be, he said “no”. We all kind of looked at each other, then he smiled and said, “much better”. He also made sure we old timers new the proper way to count points on a whitetail. When he finished counting them, there were 16 points not 14. According to Nathan, if you can hang a ring on them, they count! Thus, he surpassed his dad’s whitetail by 6 points. Thanks to Nathan and Walter for allowing our chapter to be a part of his hunting adventure, chapter members Bill Moore and Allen Stark for assisting in the outing, Jack Pawlak of Linn Creek Safaris for capping and donating the taxidermy work, Brock Ray for agreeing to videotape and make a television show of the hunt and especially Charlie Redden of Halls Creek Whitetails for hosting another successful and rewarding Safari Wish hunt.
Ben's Wish
We could see the tips of their antlers sticking up over the grassy hill. I knew if we couldn’t see their heads that they probably couldn’t see us. We kept low to the ground just in case. I eased up to an old fence post and told Ben to use it for a rest. Dan was right behind us with the camera. He stayed behind a small cedar tree and we used the old fence line for cover. The setup was perfect! I squeezed on the cow elk call and it let out a surprisingly good long cow-like squeal. I saw the tips of the largest bulls antlers turn and look directly at us. Then his rack got larger and larger. He was coming right at us and coming fast! The bull was closing the distance at a fast walk but was facing directly toward us. I kept whispering to Ben to wait. He was much calmer than I was! Not seeing a cow elk, the bull finally turned to circle down wind. As he cleared a small thorn tree, I again squealed on the cow elk call. He stopped and looked directly at us. He was about 75 yards away and broadside. The words “now” had barely left my mouth when Ben fired. The shot was perfect and the bull turned and only ran about 20 yards. As we walked up to the huge massive rack, I could barely feel my legs. I was walking on air. When I looked at Ben I could tell he felt the same way. The smile on his face told the whole story. It was the end of a perfect hunt!
Ben Bushjost has been diagnosed with Leukemia. He is the first child in our program to be from Callaway County and currently attends Fulton High School. He loves fishing, hunting and any activity related to the outdoors. He is an avid whitetail hunter and has always wanted to pursue and take a large trophy elk. In most ways, Ben is just like any other child. He dreams of days a field and fun times with his friends and family. He had been looking forward to this hunt for a long time.
We started the weekend with a barbeque for friends and family on Saturday followed by a scouting trip through the hunting area to see if we could locate some bulls for the next morning. We saw several nice ones and Ben said he had a little trouble sleeping that night. So did everyone else. When I arrived at the cabin the next morning, Ben was already up and dressed! We headed out long before daylight. We chose to hunt a stand on a small hill overlooking a swamp where several large bulls had been spotted the afternoon before. It was foggy and the first hour went by without seeing a thing. I called periodically on a cow elk call and tried to bugle like a mature elk bull.
Ben and Dan said it sounded like a hyena. Miraculously, 3 large bulls responded to the calls and emerged from the swamp at about 300 yards. They circled down wind and came in to about 100 yards. They seemed to get a little nervous that no other elk were around and went into some near by cover and disappeared. That’s when we decided to climb down from the stand, loop back around and try a stalk. The fog had burned off and the sun was starting to climb. The hunt was on! After taking the bull, we field dressed it, and headed back to the cabin for a huge country breakfast. It was a great day and one that we’ll all remember our entire lives. Thanks Ben, for letting us make your “Safari Wish” come true.
Charlie's Wish
Larry Dotson, of SCI’s Central Missouri Chapter knew of a young man diagnosed with leukemia who wanted to go hunting. After making a phone call to Mark Hampton, owner of a game ranch, the two eagerly set up a hunt.
12-year-old Charlie Murphy of St. Charles, Missouri had had little opportunity to experience the outdoors and was anxious to do so. Larry Dotson of Wildlife Creations donated his taxidermy skills to mount Charlie’s trophy and Bushnell Optics donated a set of binoculars for Charlie’s hunt. The stage was now set and it was time for Charlie to decide what he wanted to hunt.
Charlie began by target practicing with his .270 Winchester. After only two shots Charlie was ready.
Once in the field, a black Hawaiian ram with more than a full curl was spotted. Charlie decided this was the animal he wanted to pursue and thus, Charlie and Mark began their stalk. After setting up the shooting sticks, only to have the rams scatter several times, the opportunity finally came. Charlie made the perfect shot between two trees to hit the ram. The smile on Charlie’s face said it all.
Charlie was ready for more action, though. While scouting for the ram, Charlie had spotted some wild hogs. He decided he wanted to look for one of them. Late in the evening, just before dark, a nice boar was spotted. Charlie was ready. After setting up, Charlie took a shot and once again, scored a one-shot kill. This was icing on the cake because it made for a perfect ending to a great day of hunting.
Eddie's Wish
Nancy Finley, of Fredricktown, used the words easy-going and active to describe her son Eddie.
She jokes that the first words out of Eddie’s mouth were, “I gotta fish”. Eddie was diagnosed with a brain tumor in September 2000, however, and spent 48 days in the hospital after his diagnosis. Since that September, Eddie has been greatly limited on his activities.
When the Safari Wish program heard about Eddie, they jumped at the opportunity to provide a day of fishing.Tom Dawson, owner of Cedar Lake, hosted Eddie and Dennis Wyatt, former professional fisherman and cancer survivor, performed as guide.After being presented with a rod, reel and “Bodacious Bass” t-shirt, Eddie was ready to fish.In Eddie’s own words, “I would like to thank the Safari Club and hospital very, very much ‘cause I love this.Can I go fishing now?”
Fishing was not going to be easy due to a high-pressure front and East wind, but Eddie caught 8-10 nice bass and by the end of the afternoon had reeled in a 40 pound Marco Polo fish.
Few would be excited about sunburned hands, but for Eddie it would be a reminder of his fishing trip at Cedar Lake.Eddie and his mom were both very appreciative of the “chance to get away” that the Safari Wish program gave their family.
David's Wish
The big buck stepped into an opening at about 75 yards. David raised his gun and took careful aim. I could hear the safety click once and then a second time indicating the new Ruger 270 was ready to fire. For a 17 year old kid who had never harvested a deer, he was extremely cool. The next couple seconds seemed to take hours. Finally the shot thundered and the deer immediately wheeled and took off for the woody draw from where he had came. He was trying to run but everyone in the blind could see he was going down. The shot was perfect and he skidded to the ground just inside the woods. He had run only 50 yards.
I own an operate a whitetail hunting preserve. I’ve helped hunters take many big whitetails. I’ve even been lucky enough to watch many young hunters take their first deer. But this one was special! Very special! You see David was diagnosed with leukemia several years ago. He has been fighting the battle of his young life and had just completed chemotherapy and a bone marrow transplant. On his “wish list” he had indicated that one of his dreams was to take a big whitetail. Finally he had gotten that chance. Words can not describe what everyone involved felt that day. I won’t even try.
Nico's Wish
Nico, a brave young warrior from our Missouri community, is battling Rhabdomyosarcoma, a rare and aggressive cancer. But on this crisp fall morning, cancer was not the headline of his story—courage was.
Thanks to the generosity of our guides and the support of the SCI family, Nico experienced a powerful and emotional elk hunt surrounded by men who treated him not as a patient, but as a fellow hunter, a brother, and a young man with a warrior’s heart.
Standing beside the massive elk he harvested, Nico wore the proud smile of a kid who—just for a moment—got to forget chemotherapy, hospitals, and lab results. Instead, he was simply a hunter in the woods, living a dream.
Travis' Wish
Travis, age 13, is battling MPAL (Mixed Phenotype Acute Leukemia)—a rare condition in which the body fights both Acute Lymphoid and Acute Myeloid Leukemia at the same time. His strength, determination, and fighting spirit humbled every adult who had the privilege of hunting alongside him.
Guides and volunteers watched him stay focused, patient, and determined. And when his moment came, Travis harvested a stunning Missouri whitetail buck—an animal as impressive and resilient as the young man beside it.
Hunter's Wish
Our chapter granted a Safari Wish to Hunter Simmons on January 29 and 30, 2023. He is 11 years old and has been battling leukemia for over a year. Hunter loves the outdoors and wanted the chance to shoot a Hawaiian Ram. Thanks to our chapter and Sam James and Dan Robinson from Foggy Bottom Whitetail Ranch, Hunter’s dream came true! The first day he was so excited he missed his shot, but the next day he took down a beautiful ram and he was thrilled. His parents Brad and Michelle Simmons and his younger brother, Klayton, were there to help him celebrate. After field dressing the ram, the Simmons family was given the meat to take home. Our Chapter delivered the head to Backwoods Taxidermy in Montgomery City where Gary Vohsen donated his labor to taxidermy the shoulder mount.
Hunter used a Savage 6.5 Creedmoor for his hunt and he was begging his parents to buy him one just like it. Little did Hunter and his family realize that after the hunt was over, the rifle would be given to Hunter. You can see the joy on his face when he was told the gun was his to keep. We received a very nice thank you note from Hunter’s family which said, “Thank you for helping provide an incredible weekend for our family. The hospitality shown by you is unmatched. During our dark time you helped put a smile on our family’s faces and gave us memories to last a lifetime. We will always be grateful for you.” It is impossible to describe the difference a hunt like this makes to a boy fighting leukemia and to his family who will cherish the memories forever. This is why our chapter works tirelessly to make wishes come true!
