Independence for Disabled Hunters

Before Independence Hunting Towers was founded, the company’s presidents, Ryan Coley and Wade Sutherlin, were brainstorming ways they might help people. It was not long before an idea formed to assist disabled hunters. With both men’s backgrounds in the elevator industry, the concept for the new business was born.

“I wanted something that somebody would actually enjoy, something that could help people out, get disabled hunters back out in the woods, get them hunting again, get them back in the outdoors,” said Coley.

As Coley and Sutherlin shifted away from their elevator businesses, Coley came up with a design for an elevated hunting blind that would be up to ADA and OSHA standards. Once they began to talk about the idea further, they threw themselves into the project and started setting up their company. Before starting their new venture, Coley had had a service and repair business that worked with Sutherlin’s cab interior company. As Sutherlin put it, “I made the elevators pretty on the inside and [Ryan] made them work.”

Rich Fitzgerald, who Sutherlin describes as a hunter and a “savvy businessman,” was brought on due to his resourcefulness and passion for the sport. With Fitzgerald on board, that made three business partners and friends with expertise in the proper fields for helming such a project. Combined with Coley’s military background, the idea was a serendipitous one.

As the trio conducted market research, they found that there was no other company out there that provided this type of service. So, they got to work on the prototype. After its completion earlier this year, they requisitioned Ken Dunham of Apex Imaging to shoot a two-plus minute promotional video.

Much like the partners’ start to their business, their meeting with Ryan Kress (the hunter featured in the promotional video) was “fortuitous,” Sutherlin noted. They had been having difficulty locating someone who was wheelchair-bound as well as a hunter who could be a part of their video before they found Kress at the last second. It was so close to the shoot that Kress was not officially set to be a part of the video until the day before the recording happened.

The next day (June 6), he was one of the first to show up. Since ease of use is paramount, Sutherlin simply confirmed that Kress had used a vertical platform lift (VPL) and then let the hunter “go have at it.” With basically zero instruction, he got onto the lift and into the hunting blind with no issues. When Kress came out of the enclosure, his excitement was palpable.

“It could be life-changing for people,” said Kress. “That is how I felt. Just being able to do everything by myself, totally independent, be able to go to the field, get up in the tower, do everything on my own, get all my hunting equipment up to the tower by myself without any help. As a disabled hunter, you are not able to go out and do those things by yourself. You always have to have somebody with you. So, to be able to do something like that by yourself is pretty extraordinary.”

The moment was an emotional one, as Coley and company were moved by Kress’s reaction. Someone having the chance to partake in their passions without needing assistance is incredibly freeing, and it is that personal independence that makes this project so powerful. That was what Coley, Sutherlin, and Fitzgerald were aiming for, and Kress’s glowing review suggests they have hit the mark.

Kress will continue to have a role in the company as he has since been hired by Independence Hunting Towers to handle their sales. The business owners also picked the hunter’s brain on what ways they might make the prototype more convenient for users. So, what is the advantage of hunting from an elevated position? Sutherlin gave a brief explanation of why on Friday:

“Shooting from the ground, being on a ground blind, all your quarry, whether it be hogs or deer, they live on the ground,” he said. “They are accustomed to seeing threats come from the ground. So, when you are in an elevated position, that is not something they look for. So, it gives you an advantage to be up off the ground.”

Coley is proud to note that they buy and use as many American-made parts as possible. He estimates about 95 percent of their products will be comprised of materials purchased from US manufacturers – minus electric motors, which he notes are not produced nationally. Though the business is still fledgling – this elevated hunting blind is the first of its kind – the partners are preparing to take the prototype to the World Deer Expo later this month (July 19-21).

The event, which is arguably the largest annual deer hunting expo in the country, will be held in Birmingham, Alabama. As they will be getting their product in front of the eyes of as many as 40,000 enthusiasts, this looks to be the prime venue for showing off their proof of concept in person. The tour does not stop there, though, as the business partners will be making the rounds at other such shows around the southeast.

“We hope to make quite a splash,” Sutherlin said.